Track By Tracks: Ultimate Satan - The Opus Satanas (2024)

Project: Ultimate Satan was formed initially as an exploration exercise, focused on growth in spirituality, songwriting and production. To push our boundaries stylistically, compositionally and instrumentally. Moving from traditional death metal, technical death and deathcore
stylings, fusing them with blackened, atmospheric and symphonic elements. We designed the band from the ground up to push and grow and explore new grounds and be something bigger and better for ourselves and metal.

To understand the lyrical content of the album you have to understand the album's intent:

‘Opus’: an artistic work, or a group of works on a large scale.

‘Satanas’:

Satan, in our use case, means the embodiment of the self.

The Opus Satanas is made up of two movements comprising three figures each. We are a small, elder band from Australia. We play and write metal for ourselves, not for fame or money; but for the enjoyment of composing and performing at the peak of our abilities. This release was crafted instrumentally during the devastating Australian bushfires of 2020 and the lyrics and vocals were penned and verbalised during the first covid lockdown in 2021.

All of the lyrics to our songs, we like to give our personal reflections but leave them open enough for external interpretation. We also included multitudes of samples from various sources from different time periods. This way it allows others to bring in their own individual interpretations without causing intertextuality debates whilst still delivering a positive satanic message.

Movement 1: Malleus Maleficarum

The first movement Malleus Maleficarum was named after “The Hammer of Witches’ a treatise written by German Catholic clergyman Heinrich Kramer in 1468. Calling witchcraft heresy which was a crime punishable by death, stating that death was the only certain way to end the "evils of witchcraft." This movement flows through concepts of persecution and the struggle it causes, while crafting self-affirmations that begin to seed the spiritual growth of the self to overcome the torment that has been visited upon them by external forces.

Figure 1. Symphony Es Infernus

As the song opens there is a sample dialogue taken from the first trailer for Diablo 4. We found it suitable as at its core this song is from the perspective of two different people's evocation of Lilith Liftoach. As we were starting to explore different writing concepts and techniques, we had the idea to write from both a male's and a female's perspective.

Why make a song about an evocation you might ask; well invocations for us are a form of self-affirmation. Have you ever assembled a dream board or goals board? If you imagine it and ritualize it, then it becomes real for you. You breathe life into your own creation through intent and perseverance.

In some satanic literature, Lilith is known as the guardian of the undying flame, the source of satanic knowledge. However, in modern times, she has become somewhat of a patron saint for women's rights and suffrage. We wanted to explore both of these concepts from the aforementioned perspectives.

Figure 2. Humanity’s Last Breath

Humanity's Last Breath is a story of the expulsion from the church of a child and the lies and deceit that the church used to try and force them out and turn their community against them. It talks about how their family stayed by them, choosing to not buy into the lies. However, it also talks about how easily the community turned against them and its effect on the rest of their lives. This song stands as a reaffirmation, a satanic prose. A reaffirmation is much like a vent or rant, almost like a diary entry, a safe place to let out your rage and allow a healthy grieving process. Getting things out and setting them free is really the first step in allowing you to begin to heal and let go.

The samples used throughout are from season one of True Detective delivering some interesting theories about religious piousness and those that use religion to defend their actions.

Figure 3: Is This How Freedom Dies

Is another reaffirmation, however, we tried to leave its intent as open-ended as we could to allow the listener to make what they want from it without going too deep into the specifics of personal political gripes and views on law and order.

The song has a sample taken from The Network; a 1976 film with a news anchor who has an emotional breakdown on live tv as he is being removed from his position. His delivery remains as relevant as ever to the issues we face today.

Movement 2. Lex Talionis

Lex talionis refers to the legal principle of exact retaliation. This movement builds upon the first movement's themes, whereby ostracisation and torment have created the seed for inner growth and the desire for the complete cessation of existence. The movement flows into concepts similar to Nirvana, with the ultimate goal of enlightenment being nothingness. The true power of revenge is to grow the self and have the external effects be futile.

Figure 1. The Infallible Void

The sermon begins as we evoke ancient knowledge and follows as we question our spirituality and explore our own darkest space. To stare into the infallible void is unforgiving. Meditations and void worship are ages old. To find your own inner power sometimes you have to look into the darkest pits.

We took some creative liberties with some lines from the late great Frank Langella and the sample from Morgan Freeman was taken from his readings of a Warhammer Chaos Legion Codex. It was reordered and arranged to help us convey the internal voice of self. To help you move through your suffering and attain nothingness.

Figure 2. Footprints In The Sands Of Time:

The song begins with a reading of ‘The Psalm of Life’ a poem by H.W. Longfellow as read by Tom O’Bedlam. It talks of the frailties of the soul and war. Encouraging that you too should leave your footprints in the sands of time.

This song follows the history of duality and the birth and rise of Abrahamic religion through the use of Egyptian lore; the story of Osiris and what we have dubbed Osiris’s curse. Historically there has been appropriated iconography of Isis and Horus as Mary and Jesus, this tale is told through Egyptian imagery as an inversion of this.

It also follows the Egyptian concept of having to meet the Weigher of Souls and or delivering the seven spells that guarantee entry into the afterlife. The song follows those spells through the ages, including the rise and fall of the Roman Empire. The sample is taken from the movie The Gladiator, reminding us that if we are at peace; we are already dead.

The song continues to follow the spells through World War 2 and questions if as humans have we even evolved at all. The song finishes upon the reminder reminding that everyone should find their calling and seek to evolve and be accountable for their actions.

Figure 3. Nocturne Immortalis

The album concludes with an unreleased track from the Eschatonic Records vault. The track was originally composed and demoed for Inhuman Remnants, however, Dazferatu’s piano lines breathed new life into the composition, and thus Project: Ultimate Satan was born. This was a song that was thought would never see the light of day and be in the dark forever, so when it became clear there was life left in it, we aptly named it The Night Eternal, The Nocturne Immortalis.

Lyrically we wanted this song to retouch all the different concepts expressed in the album and for those who only listen to one of our songs, this is the totality of our offering.

“Be sanctified by the flame

Cradle and cocoon within the void

Let the blackest light mark your path

And live to your fullest potential

Remember the night eternal

Darkness fades your light will live on

The Nocturne Immortalis”

Ave Satanas

JDecay

Project: Ultimate Satan