Freudian Analysis of The Effects of The Works of Dei Tetra

This review will be divided into three separate interpretations using Freud’s structural model of the psyche.

ID-Blinding visceral rage.  Darkness.  Darkness.  Chaos.  Dissociation with the properties that make us human.  Decline.  Decay.  Darkness. The feeling of forward motion.  Motion towards further despair.  Boat ride when I was 9 years old at Playland in Rye, New York.  Terrified.  Ride called Ye Olde Mill.  Terrified.  On a boat moving through the darkness.  Stench of mildew.  Coolness on my face.  Darkness.  Motion.  Fear.  Deeper into the darkness.  Stench of decay and disrepair.  Speeding faster.  Cool.  Empty.  Echoes off in the distance.  Cool.  Rage.  Screaming in my mind.  Louder.  Maelstrom of malevolent terror.  Endless.  Alone.  Darkness.  Forward.  Forward.  Into the endless night.

Ego–Dei Tetra is a four piece black metal storm hailing from Thailand.  They play music that could be best described as overwhelmingly resentful of anything that resembles human decency.  They are a riot of violence, a catastrophe of death and horror.  It’s the type of stuff you desperately long to throw on in a coffee shop to scare the bejesus out of the endless legions of latte sucking My Morning Jacket fans that seem to pop up at every turn nowadays.  Their recent split with Naetu (Revelations of Blasphemy) is the perfect illustration of their wanton lust for all that is sinister.  It blasts out of the gate and repeatedly smacks you in the face to the point of shrill disorientation.  You wobble around the ring like Sonny Liston trying to pick up one more paycheck to score a fix.  It’s positively destructive stuff, not recommended for the faint of heart.  Two or three more listens to their catalog will more than likely morph me into a venom spewing gargoyle seeking out stray cats as sustenance.  This is the sort of stuff that makes men set fires.

Super-Ego-There are positive and negative aspects to getting deeply involved in this band’s work.  On the positive side, it’s excellently played music that clearly exhibits talent and thought.  For the narcissistic undergrounder, it won’t hurt at all to mention to your friends that you have recently gotten heavily into the Thai Black Metal scene.  I mean, how much further underground is there?  It’s like telling people you are deeply into Ukranian polka music.

On the negative side, there is the fact that this stuff is purely evil.  It’s hard to keep your head clear of madness and sorrow when this stuff is on.  It’s probably best to not have it on in the car when you are taking your 4-year-old over to swim lessons at the local YMCA.  Years from now, they may be in an orange, state-issued jumpsuit looking at the camera and telling Geraldo “I had a pretty normal childhood, outside of the fact that my dad played me a lot of Thai Black Metal.”  It’s an ugly world and sometimes you have to choose your poison, the trick is not to choose too much of it.