Si monvmentvm reqvires, circvmspice
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Allmusic | ,[1] |
Si monvmentvm reqvires, circvmspice is a 2004 album by the black metal band Deathspell Omega. The album title is Latin for ‘If you seek a monument, look around you’, from the epitaph of Christopher Wren’s tomb at St Paul's Cathedral.[2]
Musically, it represents a massive departure in sound from the band’s previous work, both for the increase in recording quality and for the pursuit of far more avant-garde and experimental directions than the band's previous work. The album is also intentionally structured in the manner of 1970s double albums, with each LP side opening with a "prayer" (side four, which opens with "Carnal Malefactor," being an arguable exception).
The track Malign Paradigm is a tribute to the Swedish black metal band Malign, and their track Ashes and Bloodstench.[citation needed] Drink the Devil’s Blood is a re-recording of a song of the same title appearing on the band’s first album, Infernal Battles. The re-interpretation of this station contains completely new lyrics dealing with a Eucharistic theme, in keeping with the more cerebral lyrical approach of this and subsequent releases.
Track listing
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "First Prayer" | 5:44 |
2. | "Sola fide I" | 5:14 |
3. | "Sola fide II" | 7:53 |
4. | "Second Prayer" | 4:41 |
5. | "Blessed Are the Dead Whiche Dye in the Lorde" | 5:47 |
6. | "Hétoïmasia" | 7:08 |
7. | "Third Prayer" | 3:57 |
8. | "Si monvmentvm reqvires, circvmspice" | 6:32 |
9. | "Odivm nostrvm" | 4:46 |
10. | "Jvbilate Deo (O Be Joyfvl in the Lord)" | 6:08 |
11. | "Carnal Malefactor" | 11:45 |
12. | "Drink the Devil’s Blood" | 4:32 |
13. | "Malign Paradigm" | 3:40 |
Total length: | 77:47 |
References
- ^ "Si Monumentum Requires, Circumspice". Allmusic. Retrieved 2011-11-30.
- ^ The text on Wren’s tomb is "Si monumentum requiris, circumspice", where requiris is active indicative second person singular present of the Latin word requiro (‘I seek’); the form requires is the future tense form of that word.