Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice, the third full length album by mysterious French black metal unit Deathspell Omega, is considered by many experts to be one of the best black metal albums of the twenty first century. The double record, which was released in 2004, takes its name from the inscription on the tomb of famed British architect Christopher Wren at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London (which he designed). It translates to “If you seek his monument, look around you.”
The album marked a radical departure for the band as they began to move away from straight black metal and into experimenting with more avant-garde and progressive elements. It is also the first entry in their trilogy dealing with the relationship between God, the devil, and man. The second and third records are Fas – Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem Aeternum (2007) and Paracletus= (2010).
Todays Black Metal Friday track is one of the many standout moments from Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice. This is “Drink the Devil’s Blood.”
Deathspell Omega is a French progressive black metal band. A great deal of secrecy surrounds the band. No one is sure exactly who the members are. They have no website, have never played live, and have never been photographed. The only thing that is clear is their ideology. The band has professed to be metaphysical Satanists and has declared that “all other interpretations of Satan are intellectually invalid.”
Listen to Deathspell Omega here below.
Over the course of five full-length albums and numerous splits, EPs, and compilations, the band has garnered widespread critical acclaim and respect in black metal circles. Their sound has evolved from straight black metal to a more progressive form incorporating chanting and ambient textures. Here from their 2000 debut album Infernal Battles, here is Deathspell Omega with “Extinction of the Weak.”
Students of the Unusual™ comic cover used with permission of 3BoysProductions
The Mercuri Bros.™ comic cover used with permission of Prodigal Son Press