Fully titled Veritas Diaboli Manet in Aeternum : Chaining the Katechon , this Single/EP is one track 22 minutes of typically deviant and caustic yet artfully malignant black metal from one of black metal’s very elite acts.
It’s hard to review one 22 minute song, but luckily Chaining the Katechon has various segments and sections that break the song up into more manageable reviewing. The track starts off with a typical DSO maelstrom of twisting chaos that’s somehow melodic. Then about 1:45 in DSO slow down and enter a unsettling, reverb drenched lope with a some more malevolence harmonics before a haunting ambient break kicks in about two minute later and unfurling into a creepy, slow discordance section which explodes suddenly at the 7:45 mark, making for a jarring transition.
And that’s what the EP is basically about-transitions. The band goes seamlessly and disturbingly from unbridled yet controlled mayhem, to psychotic whispers band back on a dime. The shifts at around the 14:00 mark on from silence to twisted lurch then to blazing vortex then to a controlled lope then a stunning but all to short lived menacing orchestral spurt (19:00) then to a simple percussive refrain are simply breathtaking. Of course its all layered with the bands brittle but biting guitar tone and some evil vocals.
In one track, DSO has squeezed in more malevolent magnificence than many bands have in one entire album. Heck, if the band filled out the EP and simply fleshed out each section onto a song, they would have a killer album.
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Great review, but dude, why do you use the word “lope” in EVERY review?? :-)
on Mar 25th, 2009 at 16:57Because it’s a great word.
on Mar 26th, 2009 at 05:45Because he likes the word? I tend to use the word cunt often as well. XD
Love these guys, didn’t know this was out.
on Mar 26th, 2009 at 06:07I dunno-just fits a lot I guess.
on Mar 26th, 2009 at 12:36