MANIFESTATIONS 2000-2001

Manifestations 2000-2001 is a compilation by French black metal act Deathspell Omega. This is not a best of album but rather a collection of songs that have already been released on other projects. There are six songs on the album. The first two songs were originally released on the 2002 Split EP with fellow French black metal act Mütiilation. The next three were originally released on the 2001 Sob A Lua Do Bode / Demoniac Vengeance LP with German black metal act Moonblood. The last song on the album Black Crushing Sorcery was recorded during the same session as the three latter songs but was released on the Black Metal Blitzkrieg V/A LP. This is the only song I haven´t heard before.

The music on the album is raw and simple old school black metal with a noisy lo-fi production. I can understand why some people would find this charming but that charm mostly eludes me. The sound quality differs between the two sessions and the sound on the two songs from the Mütiilation split is most enjoyable IMO. Black Crushing Sorcery sounds much like the other songs from the Moonblood split.

The musicianship is generally good but the compositions are rather one-dimensional and repetitive in nature. To enjoy this release you gotta have a strong love for extensive and intense blast beating, raspy vocals and little variation within songs and between songs.

Out of the two sessions that these songs come from I only partially enjoy the two songs from the Mütiilation split while all songs from the second session which is also an older session doesn´t impress me enough to warrant more than a 1 star rating when all songs are taken into account. Old school black metal fans might get something out of this but I would recommend that you listen to the Manifestations 2002 (2008) release instead if you want to listen to how Deathspell Omega sounded in their early years. Manifestations 2000-2001 is mared by bad sound quality and primitive songwriting.