Deathspell Omega / S.V.E.S.T. - Veritas Diaboli Manet in Aeternum

French acts Deathspell Omega and S.V.E.S.T. (Satanas Vobiscum Et Spiritum Tuo) have combined forces on this split release, which comes as a gatefold LP or two separate MCD's. Deathspell Omega offers us, true to form, a 22 minute long single track without choruses, hooks or any kind of standard song structure. I'm glad to hear that unlike on some other of their releases, the drums are not overwhelming, but very well balanced, letting the guitars break through even the densest walls of blasting drums. Not that there is a lot of that; for most part of the track the tempo is rather slow, with occasional bursts of chaotic drums breaking up the stillness. The guitars switch between beautiful, melodic riffs and harsh dissonant walls of sound, making the track anything but boring despite it's long duration. The vocals are deep and rasping or hissing, which suits the music perfectly.

The production is excellent, dynamic and very well balanced; it never feels like the instruments are competing for space.

I do feel that this might be Deathspell Omega's most approachable release so far. However, it also feels like their most safe release so far, and I hope they don't continue down that path. If you've listened to any kind of ambient or industrial black metal before, this shouldn't be hard to grasp at all. This combined with the fact that the 22 minute track offers a great variation of styles and tempos probably makes this a great place to start for anyone who isn't familiar with Deathspell Omega. This release is worth 8/10 as far as I'm concerned.

S.V.E.S.T. gives us three tracks with a total length just a second shy of 23 minutes. The first thing that strikes you is the production, and it's not because it's good. The sound is tinny and weak, and the guitars sound shrill, with a distortion that sounds cheap. The drums lack depth and power, and the vocals don't stick out, but rather get mixed in with the horribly distorted guitars. There are also keyboards on at least one track, but they leave no lasting impression, since they are more or less only used for simple droning effects.

The music is more straightforward than that of Deathspell Omega, but paradoxically it's much harder to listen to, because of the poor production. We do move more towards a kind of old school black metal riffing here, with parts that are more of a harsh ambient style, all interspersed with the occasional embarrasingly bad guitar solo part that does nothing more than add to the already schizophrenic feeling of the music.

I will give S.V.E.S.T. a 4/10. Had the production been better and the guitar solo parts been cut from the track, I would have given it a 6/10.

Band link: http://www.myspace.com/deathspellomega