North From Here wrote:
The most recent BaN has widened the gap for me. Lets throw out all the same-sounding mid-period BaN recordings and lets also throw out DsO's material before Si Momentum.
BaN has Ultima Thulee, Mem Vetusta I, Work Which Transforms God, Mem II and finally Mem III. (Mystical Beast was boring)
DsO features Si Momentum, Fas, Paracletus, and a host of good eps like Kenose, Mass Grave Aesthetics, Chaining the Katechon, and Drought.
I greatly enjoyed the DsO eps, particularly Kenose and Chaining, but have never felt that one of their full-lengths worked as a cohesive whole, but instead were collections of great and mediocre moments. On the other hand, I listed 5 full lengths from Blut Aus Nord which signify complete, transcendent listening experiences.
Listen to Ultima Thulee again...reminiscent of Enslaved, Negura Bunget, and Burzum right? But it is those bands from the mid-90s or perhaps much later? Work Which Transform God should have been recorded 10 years after Mem III, but it was recorded 10 years before. BaN has managed to sound both oddly futuristic and stuck in the black metal past throughout their career, and that should make their music timeless.
I think that you're probably right, but I simply enjoy DsO much more than I have ever enjoyed anything from BAN.