Artist – Behemoth
Album – The Satanist
Genre – Blackened death metal
Rating – 10/10
Behemoth are a Polish blackened death metal band. They began as a standard black metal band, but over time began to include elements of death metal, adding an interesting dynamic to their already aggressive and sinister sound.
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There is something oddly entrancing about a dark and subtly eerie atmosphere when it comes to music, and Behemoth manage to create this atmosphere in the most sinister and menacing way possible in their 2014 release, The Satanist. With the perfect balance of death metal and black metal, piled on by layers of hate, angst, and sacrilege, The Satanist delivers some of the most well-written and exciting material by Behemoth to date. Intense drum-work, sinister guitar riffs and leads, and vocals that could melt a small child’s skull, are merely understatements in the context of this album. There is much more depth in the unwelcoming, yet masterful, journey that is The Satanist.
The first thing that is quite notable about this album, is that the production is absolutely crisp. Opener and single ‘Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel’ starts the album off in a very ominous and moody nature, yet through its subtly eerie atmosphere the listener is well aware of the momentum that is building and will hit the listener like a truck when it is unleashed in full force. ‘Furor Divinus’, ‘Messe Noire’, ‘Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer’, and ‘Amen’ are blisteringly intense and punishing tracks that all have their own flavor, a factor that keeps this album exciting throughout. From the intense solos in ‘Messe Noire’ and ‘Amen’ to the heavy focus on symphony in ‘Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer’, everything feels fresh and the mix adds to that substantially. The guitars are always at the perfect volume, no matter what they are doing and the drums are in your face and heavy as they should be. Vocalist Nergal does all he can to make it clear that he is not a friendly voice, as he growls and shouts lyrics concerning Satanism, sacrilege and occultism.
The title track slows down the album a bit, without discarding any of the atmosphere as it still feels quite menacing. The ominous voices layered over Nergal’s, the sinister drums, haunting chord progressions, and chilling solo give this song one of the most evil vibes on the entire album. ‘Ben Sahar’ displays Behemoth’s blend of black metal and death metal very well, as many sections of the song portray the influences in a very obvious manner. ‘In the Absence ov Light’ provides a very interesting experience with a section containing acoustic guitars, spoken word, and even some saxophone lingering in the background. In a very uncanny way, this all comes together to bring about a rather melancholic mood. This feeling doesn’t stick for long, as it blasts right back into full speed and drifts back into a slower pace before finally fading out in an eerie, draining sound.
The last track on The Satanist is the epic itself, ‘O Father O Satan O Sun!’ The last seven minutes of the album brings out the most ominous, most atmospheric, and most intriguing track that could resemble a gargantuan beast in itself, an actual behemoth. This song is the greatest example, on this album, of Behemoth’s song-writing capabilities. It sums up The Satanist beautifully with a brief yet effective solo and tortured yelling to Satan at the very end.
Behemoth have truly outdone themselves with the modern metal masterpiece that is The Satanist. It is a menacing, angry and intense record that is determined to channel all of the hatred right into your skull without question. With some of Behemoth’s best material to date, The Satanist has proven to be well worth the wait.
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Review by Arden Collier
