Hard to believe it's been nearly 5 years since the last Behemoth record, but Nergal's cancer battle pretty much put a halt on musical activities for this veteran Polish extreme metal juggernaut. With the singer/guitarist hopefully now kicking the deadly C's ass, he's put the band back in action and delivered a stunner in the form of The Satanist. Somewhat of a return to some of their earlier sounds, The Satanist shifts slightly from the complex death metal of more recent recordings and brings back some of the dense black metal elements from the first half of their career.
As you can probably tell by the title of the album, the lyrics here are completely epic and, well, satanic themed. Nergal's vocals are venomous, and some of the best he's delivered in years. Many of the arrangements rely less on brutal, complex riffing, but instead contain textures and tones that create a wall of sound not heard from Behemoth in quite some time. Orion's bass is up front and center in the mix, rumbling with mean intent on the raging "Amen" or the ungodly "Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer". In spots you can hear some orchestrations, as on "Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel", and there is a fair amount of lead guitar work, with Nergal & Seth really ripping it up on the raging title track. Inferno's drum blasting drives the awesome "In the Absence ov Light", a furious slice of epic, progressive black metal (complete with a tender middle section with spoken word vocals and acoustic guitar), while the haunting closer "O Father O Satan O Sun!" contains Nergal's most anguished, tortured vocal performance on the CD, complete with more wicked lead guitar, booming bass, and layers of jagged riffs & orchestrations.
Not your typical Behemoth album by any means, The Satanist really is a triumph when you consider all the events leading up to its creation. This is an album of moods, textures, and epic storytelling, but still plenty brutal with the expert musicianship you'd expect from the mighty Behemoth. Probably not something that will immediately click with you on that very first listen, The Satanist reveals much after multiple spins and will no doubt delight those extreme metal fans who crave something a little more epic. Highly recommended!
Track Listing
- Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel
- Furor Divinus
- Messe Noire
- Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer
- Amen
- The Satanist
- Ben Sahar
- In the Absence ov Light
- O Father O Satan O Sun!
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