Why don't you own "Paracletus" yet?

I'm not kidding, if you don't own Deathspell Omega's Paracletus from last year, you're seriously limiting your enjoyment of all that is beautiful, dark and unholy! This is the last in a trilogy by the French Black Metal outifit, and for my money the best of the three; the first two being 2004's Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice and then 2007's Fas – Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum, both outstanding ventures of bone-jarring, near experimental Black Metal mastery.

Out of the gate, “Epklesis I” hammers home the spine-chilling effect DO can create with nothing more than juxtaposing peculiar keys and shifting those all over the map. In essence it is oddly familiar to The Dillinger Escape Plan in this respect, yet on Paracletus like their previous efforts, the band constructs these in such a way as to remain firmly in a modern Black Metal framework, be it a small circle of bands that inhabit this area with them. A song such as the opener conjures moments of horror film scores where the twangs of discordant strings are used to jar an audience and put them on the edge of their seat. DO then take this, add blasting but more often odd-timed drums and compile it all to create a suffocating, troubled soundscape which permeates their continually engrossing ventures. On the heels of this is a blistering lament in “Wings Of Predation”, a more traditional excursion of twisted Black Metal, while still keeping entrenched in their own mire of hair-raising darkness. Unlike Fas – Ite, Maledicti, In Ignem Aeternum, which got a little hindered in its attempt to undertake a more experimental sound, Paracletus is most certainly a solid, if off-putting, Black Metal album. Aspa’s vocals seem trapped between BM screeches and an authoritative condemnation of the entirety of existence. He is both sermonizing and damning at the same instant, and that only adds to Deathspell Omega's horrifyingly beautiful torment. For good measure the band also throw in a slower, more methodical dirge in “Dearth” without losing any of the albums caustic effect. Through some of the tracks on the album, the band returns to a chilling but simple refrain which would otherwise disturb some, but played by an outfit like DO it borders on a sweet hook; a tormented, malevolent excursion that warms a Metalheads bullet-spiked cockles.

I know many will already have this record, but if you don't, run and buy it. Now fucker!