Trepaneringsritualen — The Totality of Death (Omega)

As with the first half of this impressive pair of releases, Omega is built around ten songs from Trepaneringsritualen's career, from compilations, unreleased tracks, digital only versions, and new reworkings of older pieces. Similarly, there is no overarching theme, which helps to keep each song to its own boundaries and listened to as an individual work standing on its own. Omega begins with a 2024 reworking of "Along/A/Cross/Abyss" from the Kalabalik2013 compilation cassette. This eleven year revisitation shows buzzing synth pulses and reverberations above a lightly crashing background layer with grim vocals. This one hits pretty close to home with me as the buzzing reminds me of the C64 game Impossible Mission and its really cool effects. Another 2024 reworking follows, this time in "Papist Pretender," the title track from the 2014 2x7". Similarly grim vocals move this track slowly forward as slow, industrial pounding ekes along in the distance. Definitely a mood builder, this then opens up a bit in the middle, bringing the elements to the front for a quick break before dipping to the distance to continue with the dark soliloquy. "Feral Me" is next, which is not only another 2024 reworking but also originally from the Papist Pretender 2x7". Slowly oscillating synths twist and move this one along with percussive bass adding a martial feel. Like the previous track, this has most of the work happening further in the background, less in your face with the grit and more focused on atmosphere. Increasing the terror factor, "Death Worship" from the T x R x P // Body Cargo split LP adds darkness and despair while following a similar format to the two previous entries. Slow and plodding, this haunting veil is like a ghostly fog coming from the speakers enveloping those in its path. A perfect theme for one's ride to go meet Dracula at his castle, "Death Worship" is a perfect blend of dark ambient and death industrial, Goldilocks'd right in the middle. The third and final Papist Pretender 2x7" 2024 reworking, "Castrate Christ (Sixth Hour)" builds upon the atmosphere so far established by the other PP tracks as well as the prior piece. Lowering the vocals into deeper depths, adding in a second set of hushed, hissed utterances, and utilizing a solid, dark background, "Castrate" is a blackened hunk of bleak electronics that showcases how far Trepaneringsritualen can bring his craft into the horrifying murk of one's subconscious. Another from the split with Body Cargo, "Gravfärd" is a longer, more ambient approach than what we've seen so far on Omega. With the darkness more upfront than what's come before, this one has a lot of strength behind it, propelling it forward and outward, exuding its ominous assertion through the air like a sonic seduction. Haunting and compelling, this is the type of track that will bring about a cold chill on the hottest day. "Two Crescent Moons Embrace the Sun" from 19 Beläten - En Sommar Av Plåga is the second work from this compilation ("Two Crescent Moons" is track 6 on Alpha), and definitely falls in line with the tracks so far on Omega. Structured very much like the Papist Pretender tracks, this one has the benefit of the music being more upfront and aggressive than those, giving a sense of urgency to the darkness. A bit faster and more propulsive than the prior song, this one leans more toward the industrial side of Trepaneringsritualen." Previously unreleased, "The First Adam" puts forth a sort of wind driven minimalism which speaks to the unknown terrors at our periphery, often hidden behind light obfuscation; although we cannot see it, we know that it is there lurking. Like "Gravfärd" from a few earlier, "Nine Glistening Daggers" captures the dark ambient aesthetic with its ominous atmosphere and slowly plodding hits, giving depth to the fog and a nice contrast to the somewhat singing synths. Very atmospheric, this comes from the Mors Omnibus I compilation from 2019. Closing out Omega, "The Crownless Sovereign" comes to us once again, although this is the 2024 reworking of the track already featured on Alpha. Less intense, this reworking pushes most of the action to the back, focusing on the long, slow build versus the features of the original. 

 

The Totality of Death (Omega) is a wonderful compliment to Alpha, and a great overview at different compositions of Trepaneringsritualen's career. Built mostly around reworking of older tracks, this shows the artist able to take his older works and manipulate them to suit his current taste or what his current vision for that song would be. While many won't alter their previous pieces, this allows Trep to further advance or take new paths with material already familiar to his audience and opens new creative doors based on already solid foundation. The pair of releases are both very strong and seem to tackle Trep's rarities in different ways.