siLLy puPPy While DEATHSPELL OMEGA’s second album INQUISITORS OF SATAN has been totally overshadowed by the releases that follow for good reason, it is by no means a waste of time checking out this album. While the debut showed an extremely talented band doing their best second wave lo-fi version of Darkthrone from the decade prior, this second release shows a major step up in the evolution of their sound. Far from the formidable behemoths of black metal beginning with the very next album, but hints of what’s to come.

The music itself is that good old school, raw and nasty mix of distorted buzz saw guitar riffing that becomes one with the bass to render the two indistinguishable, a frenetic drum workout complete with blastbeats and high quality raspy vocals to die for. This is a transition album between the primitive debut and the highly developed follow-ups. This album shows the debut of DEATHSPELL OMEGA’s propensity of alternating styles. While most of the tracks would feel at home on Darkthrone’s “Transylvanian Hunger,” there are many departures into purely black rock ’n roll where it feels like hell has gone to the 50s prom and just wanted some good time music from the past. The distortion and overall sound is the same but the contrast between the black metal sound and the old time feel is stark.

I guess i like this one a bit more than most. It hosts their long time fascination with Satanic metaphysics and shows a leap closer to the jangly dissonant progressive workouts they would hone into perfect. While not as spastic and unpredictable as the famous trilogy beginning with “Si Momvmentvm Reqvires, Cicvmspice” the seeds have been sown in an unholy place for them to fester into the great beast that would come. An enjoyable slice of lo-fi brutality if i do say. While hardly essential, i do not find this to be banished to the collector’s only bin because i actually really dig listening to this one for the amazing performances on board.

UMUR Inquisitors of Satan is the second full-length studio album by French black metal act Deathspell Omega. The band released a couple of split LPs with other black metal acts between their first two studio albums but Inquisitors of Satan is their second studio album with only Deathspell Omega songs. The album was originally released on LP limited to 350 hand-numbered copies but it was re-released on CD in 2003 by the Northern Heritage label.

The music on the album is old school black metal with lots of blast beats and raspy vocals. The songs have a raw and primitive sound and while there are some variation in the songs there is not much variation between the songs. It´s not long ago that I reviewed the Manifestations 2002 (2008) album which was an unreleased album that was recorded shortly after Inquisitors of Satan. The music on that album was very much like the music on Inquisitors of Satan but of higher quality IMO. Only a notch that is.

The musicianship is generally very good in Deathspell Omega but guitarist Hasjarl does stand out as being the creative force in the band. His playing conjures up images in my mind of cold baren wastelands with cripled trees and nothing but utter despair. No sun will ever shine.

The production is lo-fi but better than the early releases from the band and I can enjoy the music without being too distracted by bad sound quality.

Inquisitors of Satan is another release by Deathspell Omega that speaks only to hardcore fans of old school black metal and if I had to choose one album from the early period from the band it wouldn´t be this one. As I said above I find Manifestations 2002 to be the best release from the early period and I would purchase that one before purchasing anything else from that period. Inquisitors of Satan is a 2 star album IMO.