Deathspell Omega: Les Mystères De Satan

With the release of their newest album, "Paracletus" ("Comforter" or "Holy Spirit" in Greek), Deathspell Omega has completed it's unholy trilogy of Satanic spiritual awakening which includes albums "Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice" ("If you seek his monument, look around you" in Latin) and "Fas-Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum" ("By Divine Law, go you Cursed, into the Eternal Fire" in Latin).

The band has essentially created their own mythology within the metal underground by shrouding themselves in mystery (they have done just a handful of interviews, never play live, and have never revealed their true identities). As one might imagine, this has not only created a lot of (well deserved) hype, but also put the focus completely on the music as well as the concepts behind the music.

The primary lyrical concept behind their music is humankind's metaphysical relationship between "Satan" and "God". Their faith is what I would characterize as the most in depth Satanic philosophy in metal. They claim to practice a style of Orthodox Satanism with a heavy emphasis on the metaphysical. Despite the inherent contradiction of the name, they claim that the word "Orthodox" simply implies their acknowledging Satan as being of "divine essence":

"Let me say though that the main implication of the word "orthodox" in this context is a proud statement of the recognition of Satan being of divine essence, of the location of Devilworship on a religious and metaphysical level. The easy escape of using the word ideology instead of confronting oneself with the real challenges only portrays the terribly low level on which the major current of 'Satanism' is crawling."
- http://ezxhaton.kccricket.net/interview.html

Taken literally, the "orthodox" in Orthodox Satanism would imply that there is already a generally accepted canon of Satanic doctrine. In reality there is no standard Satanic doctrine, and it appears as if DsO reject the teachings of Anton Lavey, and therefore his infamous "Satanic Bible" which many take as the codified, universal explanation of Satanic ritual and practice. Instead, the members of DsO have taken influence by not only the Bible and other Judeo-Christian texts, but also texts as wide ranging as the writings of post-surrealist George Bataille to those of centuries-old Gnostic prophet, Mani. One could argue that there is really no other Black Metal band that has as in depth a grasp on their Satanic ideology, philosophy, and/or belief.

It appears as though the members of DsO are forging their own style of Satanism and they are using their own music as a catalyst to chronicle their spiritual journey. In other words, their music IS the journey:

"Professing a belief, or rather describing the different stones that pave the road on the quest that true faith implies, is synonymous with being active, it witnesses of spiritual evolution, of gains and of losses."
- http://ezxhaton.kccricket.net/interview.html

Additionally, as mentioned earlier, their music has been void of individual ego by choosing not to reveal their true identities. When asked why DsO choose to remain so mysterious, "they" answered somewhat esoterically:

"First and foremost, we want to avoid at all costs this very human illusion of being important and gladly leave these fifteen minutes of fame, as Warhol brilliantly put it, to whoever wants them. In regard to what we are trying to understand and dare to praise despite the immense restrictions of human understanding, we are nothing."
- http://ezxhaton.kccricket.net/interview.html

Within the interpersonal framework of a band, there is always individual ego involved.
The fact that they choose not to reveal their individual identities in some ways allows the music to develop a stronger identity of its own. However, if you remove the public existence of any said individual egos, and in some ways ignore the "human illusion of being important", the music, in a way, develops it's own identity. This is not to say that the music is "humanized" as a result. In the case of DsO's very inhuman and other-worldly style, the listener is discouraged from humanizing the music. Therefore, coming full circle, the identity that DsO's music develops, is that of their Satanic spiritual journey.

Now it should be said that at least a part of DsO's notoriety is due to the hype that surrounds the band. One has to take into account only the breadth of their concept, complexity of their lyrics, and caliber of musicianship to know that the hype is indeed warranted.

So I implore you, reader: join DsO, and take the journey into the everlasting fire.

- Judge Dredd