A medical manual for aligning the humors or an apocalyptic warning of the end times? A medieval guide for bathing or a commandment from the stars? To date, no convincing theory of the Voynich Manuscript‘s purpose and origin has yet been put forth, but that hasn’t impeded its spread through the more esoteric branches of pop culture. The strange, 240-page document from the early Italian Renaissance period has even managed to infiltrate the deepest recesses of extreme metal, exerting its alchemical influences to twist and shape riffs and melodies into bizarre new forms. In this Sunday Sesh, we’re leveraging Toilet ov Hell’s extensive cryptography resources to crack the code behind the crushing doom of Omega‘s Eve. Strange things are afoot in the manuscript and beyond.

If you’re in the Toilet ov Hell Social Club, you’ve likely seen my recent devolution into a Dan Brown-protagonist-style obsession with Eve, an earth-shattering revelation of an album released late last year to little fanfare. Why is such a mysterious work of occult symbolism and snarling, massive doom x black metal riffs and sinister atmosphere so totally overlooked? How did I miss it? What secrets is it hiding? For this final question, at least, there was a clue.

Eve is not a simply album, it is rather a subconscious experience, an atavistic expression that tends to destroy our deepest convictions, which are always limiting and promising.

Cleverly based on the mysterious Voynich manuscripts, the OMEGA with this monumental work manage to bring us into the world of shadows, where everything appears in its mystical essence, but at the matter of fact you just glimpse it ..

Written in the 14th century is considered the most mysterious book in the world, so today it is not possible to understand what this book really does.

Eve is absolutely a journey into that abyss, interspersed in hyperspace, the home of the great ancients and from there conceiving the strange sounds of the ancient dance of the universe.

Where other forms of life are conscious of themselves. The place where things are not what they seem, but everything is just mentioned and the mind can take other directions to get lost beyond the boundaries of the person.

Eureka! The Manuscript! Surely this ornate folio would contain the clues as to how Omega managed to craft such a beguiling work! But as I started to work my way through the Manuscript, things only took a turn for the darker. Was I finding the secrets, or were they finding me? Was that a rap on my door? What does it mean to be interspersed in hyperspace? How the hell are songs this long so damn catchy?

Finally, after a couple hours years of work spent deciphering the bread crumbs scattered haphazardly upon the trail, I think I have an answer. Well, five answers. Or five clues. Five somethings, anyway.

This Plant with Bear Claws

On the second page of the Voynich Manuscript, we find this plant with what are clearly scaly bear claws in place of feet. As you are no doubt aware, the bear is divine in Finnish mythology. What you may not know is that some theoretical physicists believe bears and alligators likely have a common ancestor. Could that common ancestor be this plant, clearly identified by the ancient alien authors of the Manuscript? Based on the way Omega combine haunting, textural vocal effects (which symbolize the alligator) with big, hairy doom riffs (which symbolize the bear) in “Sidera,” the answer is likely. The root of the plant is the root of this mystery. Keep digging. The bear/alligator is the key.

This Creepy Carrot Thing

As Oksennus reminded us just this year, carrots are the organic backbone of death metal. And, as fate would have it, death metal is a major influence on the rank majesty of Omega. “Mater” could easily have been ripped straight from the Catacomb, it’s vestigial carrot spine still moist with the amniotic fluid of the earth “Mater” (British for Mother) that makes its grim, primal drumming sound all the more organic and lethal. Roots in the earth; roots in death metal. A healthy, balanced diet to align the ichors. The carrot is the key.

This Cyclops Guy

It is impossible to escape the baleful gaze of the all-seeing eye, even within the pages of the Voynich Manuscript. And that gaze clearly follows us into the forking paths of “Laudanum,” hypnotizing us with its opioid stare as our psyches are barraged by weird chants and undulating electronic effects and waves of intoxicating ambiance. As we sleep, the all-seeing eye sups up on our dreams, our only recourse to cry out in our waking terrors, much like Alexios Ciancio pierces the veil of laudanum (produced from the root of the cyclops plant) with his tortured shrieks. The eye is the key.

These Astrological Signs

Look, space is scary as hell. Eve is scary as hell. There’s clearly some weird nebula stuff going on here, with Omega likely attempting to summon space devils by aligning the polarity of Earth’s flower field with the coriolis tilt of the nearest infernal galaxy through the black geometry of Marco Ceccarelli’s understated yet potent percussive force. Need I say more? The stars are the key.

These Naked People Dancing Around an Alligator

I told you the alligator/bear was important. That critter at the center represents Eve. We are clearly the naked women dancing. The spiraling lines and stars are the mesmerizing guitar-and-bass interplay conjured by Mike Crinella and Adres. The letters are the riffs. Look how happy we are. We are free. The nudity is the key.

Five images. Five keys. Four songs. One blog. You do the math.

The codex is here.

The album is here.

Get crackin’.

Did you dig this? Take a second to support Toilet ov Hell on Patreon!