The God Hates Us All cover with the four golden crosses were the censured version. On the CD I bought when it was released had that as an inlay and when pulled out, revealed the real cover: A bloody bible with "Slayer" burned into the front. But awesome if Behemoth took inspiration from that Slayer cover - they both look rad!
This album sounds like they had 4-5 songs that they REALLY worked on over the last year. The rest comes off as he was like me waking up on a Monday morning and realizing my science project that I had 12 weeks to do and haven’t started, is due in 3 hours.
Went to their show recently in Vancouver and they sure know how to command the stage and attention just, yeah when they said "hey wanna hear something new" the audience was slightly mixed at that reception. Not as much excitement after it played so yeah take that for what it's worth. Satanist was toooooo good in comparison
Evangelion was their best album ever. This new one is pretty good. Go with Versvs Christvs if you like their newest stuff, Malaria Vvlgata for the older fans.
My impression is that The Satanist (although not being their best in my opinion) was the pinnacle of their sound,.. every advance in their aesthetics.. sound and relevance made that album… after that they’re just maintaining the same level of quality… which in itself is much more that any band on the genre could ever be capable of for sure… but as a longtime fan im just accepting the idea that I’ll probably won’t be star struck by another album of theirs… just wish they at least could revisit more of their old catalogue with their more mature sound like they did with their 30 years celebration… stuff lost in the Thelema 6 or even Demigod era like an “before the aeons came ”, “inauguration of Scorpio dome”, or “no sympathy for fools” that have that raging sound with some mid paced parts like it seems that their thing right now…
I remember Nergal wanted to end Behemoth after Satanist but that album, while being boring for me, made them bigger than ever. so my guess is, he will stick to safe formula in studio and focus on tour and spectacular stage shows. Evangelion was their best if you ask me and satanist is the ultimate hipster black metal album..
@@dekapitatorr couldn’t agree more.. but I do enjoy The Satanist… sounds like a great statement of “I’m alive fvck you” after his treatment that he needed to put out… Evangelion is my favorite and their best album… and I think an underrated one because I Metal in general got much of their aesthetics and level of production to a new level off based on the standards set on that era … in similar ways social media for bands are more common through that “hipster” style that Nergal had at that time (which doesn’t bother me)… though they’ll hardly admit that his vision was a game changer in the heavy metal scenario preferring to paint him as a sellout….
Remember when Behemoth hit us with Demigod, The Apostasy, and Evangelion all in a row? Yeah, it’s been all downhill since then. Anyways, great review as always. Cheers!
I'll start by saying...while I do really enjoy this album as well as a few beats on the last album, I totally get why people aren't so keen on this "new" Behemoth sound. That said, comparing it to the likes of Demigod and Zos Kia Kultus seems a little silly to me as they are completely different eras of the band. If it wasn't clear after The Satanist that they're not going back to that more brutal, rooted in death metal sound on Demigod, after ILYAYD and this one it should be abundantly clear they will likely never release a "Demigod 2". I honestly can kind of appreciate the fact that they aren't trying to plagiarize themselves over and over again like other bands in the death and black genre. There's nothing really "bad" here on the new behemoth in my opinion, just "different". One thing I do agree with on, however is, yes Nergal's social media presence can be obnoxious at times. Even the amount of trinkety shit on their website pisses me off at times: behemoth brand coffee, mugs, statues of himself, socks, candles, etc. You can tell the dude has a massive ego but I can still appreciate him as a musician.
I listened to this album while stoned and doing the dishes, and I got into it a lot more than ILYAYD. Perhaps the stoned element helped a bit, but that doesn't really matter since I have given it multiple spins after the fact while NOT stoned and the conclusion is the same; I really, really like it (except the cringey title and some of the lyrics). I got into Behemoth from Evangelion (thank you, Headbangers Ball) and listened to some of their earlier work, but I'm for the opinion that Evangelion was quite a turning point in their sound. While I enjoyed the prior work, I much prefer what came since that album. I absolutely LOVE 'Once Upon a Pale Horse', but I can easily understand why it's getting some shade. Did Behemoth take their foot off the pedal a bit? Yeah, kinda. Is that necessarily a bad thing? I don't think so. The same sentiment has been directed at Meshuggah with Immutable (AOTY contender for me), and I don't see it as a bad thing. In any case, new Behemoth is objectively better than no new Behemoth.
ILYAYD was right up there with the satanist for me. Every song sounded unique to itself and found new ways to be heavy with songs like Rom 5:8, Havohej, If crucifixion was not enough. There’s a lot of good stuff on it the singles didn’t stand up to the rest of the LP
Sucks that Nergal has gotten a bit cringe. I'll probably keep some of Behemoth's material on my playlist, but I'm more excited about a lot of other bands. The "cancel culture" fixation is kind of a deal breaker for me to keep Behemoth in my spotlight for now. YMMV.
I've only listened once, I dig it. I'm gonna grab the vinyl. I didn't love the last one. I like a wide variety genres, so I'm not offended if they do some black n roll, blackened groove, or whatever.
I feel like, after Satanist, Nergal's been phoning it in. Nergal is older, richer, and focuses more on side projects with other music genres. I know it's impossible to to the Satanist, but I wish Bemoh would make the attempt..
I've heard from people from their circle that Seth is a heavy alcoholic and they can't trust him fully (or something along those lines) so that's why he's still a "session musician"
I didn't like Behemoth much until The Satanist, so I prefer the newer incarnation much more than the older stuff. To me, the whole package is tight, the visuals and the sound, the stage presence.. energy building, music for intentions layed. Blaines reviews dog or confilct with a lot of stuff I'm into so I take it with a grain of salt anyways. Different palettes for sure.
Fun story: a month ago i was tattooing at my shop in Costa Rica , while wearing an altars of madness shirt, and there this guy in his Mid 50’s or 60’s getting a tattoo with my brother. After and hour or something he suddendy asked me “ hey excuse me!, do you like death metal?” I literally replied “ i love death metal” haha. And then he told me his son plays guitar on a death metal band, and he started asking me if there is a death metal scene here in Costa rica (specifically in the tiny beach town we live….) to see if his son could come here and play a show. I told him that his son could try in the capital , and get in touch with bands here, there is always shows ,blah blah… and at the end i asked what was the name of his son band…. “Gutvoid” Ininstantly played it out of curiosity, and you know cause i asked him, and would be rude not to , after i said i loved Death Metal. Before the first song ended i was already telling him “ if your son plays here, he will be the best sounding band by far”
I think this album is better than the last one but not better than the Satanist so it's ok it's a good album overall. No complaints, also I don't find the lyrics 'cringe' or 'cringy', they are good compared to other metal albums.
Just stocked up on a couple albums I was missing, Metal Blade has them on sale(wink,wink). I guess I'll still buy it cause I'm weak and love it no matter what, even though I want another "Satanist" album.
I thought it was a great album - obviously not as good as their last 2 albums (ILYAYD my favorite) Nergals vocals are at an all time high as well as everyone elses playing abilities - PS The outro of Thy Becoming Eternal could and should be it's own song, that slow brooding black metal sound is so perfect
If 'The Satanist' isn't the best album in genre then what is Blayne? Genuinely interested in finding out. Also, I enjoy some of the grandeur of the newer albums, if I want something more high octane I listen to some Goatwhore of something similar.
Well, you can see the level of credibility when one of your favorite bands launch something and you do whatever else but listen the Record. I love when bands try to evolve. I'm on board! But behemoth, you know....i think they dont "blow my trumpets" with what they are doing in this recent era.
Yall should review I so let it be done by thee final chapter it there full length album it fantastic metal album it on bandcamp plzz yall missing out if you don't review it or check it out
It s very simple. Darski is no idiot and knows what sells well and he's delivered exactly that. Large metal mags will give the album like 9 points because you don't shit on a major NuBla release. Their top tier artists are not to be criticised and a label like that can enforce positive reviews, believe me....Non-metal mags will give them 5 stars because it still sounds new ad innovative to them and they have no clue....
No offence, but some of your criticisms are ridiculous. First off - The whole “using V’s in lyrics/titles” thing has been around since Behemoth’s earlier days (at least since Zos Kia Cultus if I remember right. Maybe even earlier). Also, it isn’t done just to appear “edgy”. It’s in reference to Nergal’s belief in Thelema/Crowleyism. Secondly, complaining about a Behemoth album having lyrics glorifying Satan??? This is death/black metal…the hell did you expect? Also, it’s not like the lyrics of the album are just “herp-derp, cancel culture bad!”. They’re as poetic and thought provoking as Nergal always has been. Musically, you bring up some valid points. I agree that Once Upon a Pale Horse isn’t very good for example. But yeah, a lot of your criticisms aren’t valid imo. Nothing personal, just my opinion 🤘
I am a big Behemoth fan and I am enjoying the new album but it definitely doesn’t measure up to the Classic’s from them, The new Gaerea album is Pretty Awesome though 👍👍🤘🤘
I mean, Behemoth hasn't released a stinker yet, in my opinion, but to me, this latest album isn't nearly as strong as their heyday, which for me are Demigod, Apostasy, and Evangelion (my personal favorite.) I do agree with Blayne that it kind of feels like they've been playing it safe ever since the Satanist came out, as if they loved what they did there and just want to keep doing that. Personally I don't mind Nergal having a big social media presence, I don't think it hampers the music they write all that much. But yeah, this new album is good, but not great, and certainly not amazing.
Looking through the comments here, it seems a lot of the people who like this are people who started listening to Behemoth at the Satanist and haven’t moved backwards in their catalogue. I’ve got no problem with that, but it explains the difference of opinion v Blayne is clearly a fan of their earlier work, and if you listen to listen to Evangelion or Demigod for example, you will hear how bludgeoning, how vital and powerful it is. IMHO, these albums are the essence of what Behemoth should be. If you love the Satanist, ILYAYD, and this, then more power to ya, but for me they sound phoned in compared to the absolute arsewhippinng that the earlier albums deal.
Good review. First listen I would absolutely agree with you. More I listen to the album the more I like it. I don't follow and didn't know Nergal did all that social media stuff, shit sound cringe. While the album doesn't match up to their glory days, it's a lot better than ILYAYD, which, yes, I know, is a low bar, but still. I give it 3.5 dark sith (synth) Lords with golden inverted crosses (which are actually plastic) and say "live, laugh, love".
Get Gearea -mirage they are the new torch bearers of black metal. Though Limbo is probably my favorite, mirage is really good. Might prove better over time
I'm pretty new to this band. I've listened to The Satanist and I Loved You At Your Darkest Hour a few times and enjoyed them. I haven't listened to any of their earlier albums. I listened to Opus Contra Natrvam yesterday and enjoyed it. Interestingly, Once Upon A Pale Horse was one of my favorites. Perhaps it's because I'm a hard rock fan first and foremost. AC/DC is my absolute favorite band and in my opinion they kick many heavy metal bands ass on the stage.
Based on interviews, Nergal is a big AC/DC fan these days (more than he used to be); a hard rock influence in his recent work makes sense. I like Once Upon A Pale Horse too. Sure, it might be simple, but that can work. The new album isn't my favourite (that would probably still be The Satanist) but it's still strong; I'd give it a lot more than 2.5/5 Definitely check out their older material too. Evangelion is excellent, as is Demigod (a lot of people feel like Behemoth fell off after Demigod; I disagree, but it's still a great album).
Yeah. The fact that the masterful Hard Rock groover went over the reviewers head is pretty mind numbing. As if he doesn't have enough pummeling metal on his shelf or in his streaming app. The lack of respect for older bands pushing their song writing in artistic directions is so strong in the extreme metal scene. Really is a bummer. Creativity is what drew me to the sound in the first place. It was different than what I'd heard elsewhere. So seeing skilled veterans of death or black metal be honest about their influences and allow more and more of their genuine desires pull through is inspiring and welcome imho. It's been said that Inferno likes new wave. Yep.. drum machine music. Amongst other things. Absolutely nothing wrong with letting the man play some of those beats and relax his aging body a bit during sets. Groove is king imho. Speed is an achievement at best, and a gimmick at worst. Most people with discipline can learn to play fast. A smaller selection of those will have true groove. And if anything.. thats where I'd fault Behemoth. They aren't THE best musicians from this elusive soul/groove stand point. But they aren't the worst and the album still rocks. My biggest, and only true complaint is the mixdown/engineering of the album. It isn't even "bad" per se. I do think it's odd enough that it's contributing to the mixed responses. I listened to the album 3 times through in a rental car with a very basic sound system and it just sounded terrible. In my personal Lexus I can sort of understand its direction... but then when I watch the music videos on my phone I really feel I know what they did. It's maximized to sound good on phones. It sounds really really really fucking nice through my Galaxy S22 built in speaker. And I personally don't appreciate that decision. I get it. I don't like it. I want it to sound full and rich on a nice system with proper dynamics and frequency response.. not this neutered version. Maybe someday we can get 2 versions of albums. NIN tried it with Hesitation Marks, but that was two mastering passes... to really make a difference it should be the mix and master. Sorry for the rant. This review seriously bummed me out and it was nice to see someone comment about how badass Once Upon A Pale Horse is. 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻☠️☠️☠️
I love Behemoth as a band, I listened to the singles they released and decided this album wasn't for me. I'm much more interested in all of the great material coming out of Everlasting Spew Records (Burial, Fossilization, Writhing, Helslave.)
Is this album perfect? Nah. However, it really seems like a good chunk of this was just complaining about Nergal the character, which made the album worse. I usually distance myself from that kind of opinion which is maybe why I really got into this album. Mainly it just feels more organic than ILYAYD which was my biggest complaint on that album.
I seem to be in the minority here in that...I really liked ILYAYD. This one hasn't grabbed me as much yet but need to give it a few more listens, I don't think I'm as down on it as Blayne but it's certainly not blown me away
Nergal flipping off churches in Instagram posts, applauding when ppl were banned from social media due to censorship but then begging for money and claiming he suffered a great injustice and HIS rights to free speech and artistic expression were being trampled on..and putting something about the queen on a shirt was something a 14 yr old does to piss off his mom and look edgy at school. Two of the videos for the singles weren’t giving what Behemoth is capable of.. so I didn’t have high hopes Metal bands getting commercial success either results in better work or half assing thinking fans will just eat up whatever they churn out.
I really like the album. The cover reminds me of Slayer's God Hates Us All. Musically it's well put together and doesn't sound like it's dragging along like their previous effort which still had some good tunes on it. Aside from the latter singles, 'Once Upon a Pale Horse' is probably my favorite and that's coming form a guy who's favorite Behemoth albums are Demigod and Evangelion.
I just found this record rather tame. I did enjoy this more than the last Behemoth album but, with that said, this record comes off as some safe Behemoth album which just sounds in of itself a blasphemy to say. I couldn’t recall anything major regarding this album.
I know everyone loves The Satanist but although I like it and I think it's good, with some excellent tracks (Furor Divinus!!) it was already a shift with half of the album not suiting my taste. Demigod and The Apostasy are my top probably.
Totally agree with you Blayne on the Satanist. Nothing real memorable. I miss this band when they released Demigod or The Apostasy. The blackened death metal they provided I thought was very well done.
I started watching their Opus contra culturam he on YT and I thought: great visuals! That's an awesome idea. But the songs are boring AF and I just had to change to something more interesting like the great british bake off.
It is sad to see once good band go this way. Nergal fully lives in his delusion that he’s some sort of genius, upper-class cork sniffing rocker. He throws around lines like "yea maybe I will buy a bunch of this artists’ paintings", while he didn’t write an inspired riff in a decade.
So many of these black metal dudes are convinced they’re these iconoclastic, free-thinking philosophers when they’re just edgy teenagers who never grew up.
Behemoth have always had a choppy track record, they have had many over hyped releases, some underrated releases, fans who like their faster material and fans who enjoy their slower stuff. This is an interesting, diverse record with elements from their whole career throughout. Secondly, judging an artist for their social media presence when you yourself are an 'underground metal fan', comedian and you tuber is a little ironic.
It's a good album, just not quite up to previous Behemoth standards. Honestly I think bands like Schammasch are doing this sort of metal better these days.
Huge props to the art team for the recent updates. Looking sick!
I would have loved to see Gaerea get the Overkill review this week
Fantastic album.
Indeed. Wonderful album.
Clearly the better record
Me too. The new album is pretty fun
What about DSO? Oh, sorry... forgot the soyboy hates "sketchy and non RABM" approved bands.
That album cover is like a high definition version of God Hates Us All
The God Hates Us All cover with the four golden crosses were the censured version. On the CD I bought when it was released had that as an inlay and when pulled out, revealed the real cover: A bloody bible with "Slayer" burned into the front.
But awesome if Behemoth took inspiration from that Slayer cover - they both look rad!
That’s exactly what I thought when I saw the cover
Once Upon a Pale Horse is an absolute banger (pun intended) and I love this damn album.
This album sounds like they had 4-5 songs that they REALLY worked on over the last year. The rest comes off as he was like me waking up on a Monday morning and realizing my science project that I had 12 weeks to do and haven’t started, is due in 3 hours.
That's a pretty sound analogy, guy :)
So fucking real
Went to their show recently in Vancouver and they sure know how to command the stage and attention just, yeah when they said "hey wanna hear something new" the audience was slightly mixed at that reception. Not as much excitement after it played so yeah take that for what it's worth. Satanist was toooooo good in comparison
The Satanist is masterpiece from start to finish
The Satanist was the first low point for me but compared to the next two albums its pretty good
Demigod is peak behemoth
The satanist is my least favourite album for sure. I miss the evangelion days
Satanist is crap!
Album sounds killer to me 🤘🏻🤘🏻bands who never make the same record to me are truly inspiring
Personally, ScepticFlesh is much better at the whole symphonic death metal thing, and much less cringe.
For sure!
Nah, every symphonic death metal is cringe
I absolutely love the new album. In fact, it's my favorite of this year
*_Sounds like Behemoth did a Satyricon._*
Are we getting a revocation review?
Evangelion was their best album ever. This new one is pretty good. Go with Versvs Christvs if you like their newest stuff, Malaria Vvlgata for the older fans.
The album is focused more on their artistic album cover than it's music itself...that's for me....
Demigod is a killer album...
Artistic album cover? Pretty much a copy and paste from Slayer God Hates Us All.
My impression is that The Satanist (although not being their best in my opinion) was the pinnacle of their sound,.. every advance in their aesthetics.. sound and relevance made that album… after that they’re just maintaining the same level of quality… which in itself is much more that any band on the genre could ever be capable of for sure… but as a longtime fan im just accepting the idea that I’ll probably won’t be star struck by another album of theirs… just wish they at least could revisit more of their old catalogue with their more mature sound like they did with their 30 years celebration… stuff lost in the Thelema 6 or even Demigod era like an “before the aeons came ”, “inauguration of Scorpio dome”, or “no sympathy for fools” that have that raging sound with some mid paced parts like it seems that their thing right now…
I remember Nergal wanted to end Behemoth after Satanist but that album, while being boring for me, made them bigger than ever. so my guess is, he will stick to safe formula in studio and focus on tour and spectacular stage shows. Evangelion was their best if you ask me and satanist is the ultimate hipster black metal album..
@@dekapitatorr couldn’t agree more.. but I do enjoy The Satanist… sounds like a great statement of “I’m alive fvck you” after his treatment that he needed to put out… Evangelion is my favorite and their best album… and I think an underrated one because I Metal in general got much of their aesthetics and level of production to a new level off based on the standards set on that era … in similar ways social media for bands are more common through that “hipster” style that Nergal had at that time (which doesn’t bother me)… though they’ll hardly admit that his vision was a game changer in the heavy metal scenario preferring to paint him as a sellout….
Whilst I didn’t think this album was pulling up any trees I still enjoyed it
Remember when Behemoth hit us with Demigod, The Apostasy, and Evangelion all in a row? Yeah, it’s been all downhill since then.
Anyways, great review as always. Cheers!
Yay I have been waiting for this review
Thank you Blay for the Terra recommendation, shit goes hard.
Thanks, Blayne. Appreciate the effort.
I'll start by saying...while I do really enjoy this album as well as a few beats on the last album, I totally get why people aren't so keen on this "new" Behemoth sound. That said, comparing it to the likes of Demigod and Zos Kia Kultus seems a little silly to me as they are completely different eras of the band. If it wasn't clear after The Satanist that they're not going back to that more brutal, rooted in death metal sound on Demigod, after ILYAYD and this one it should be abundantly clear they will likely never release a "Demigod 2". I honestly can kind of appreciate the fact that they aren't trying to plagiarize themselves over and over again like other bands in the death and black genre. There's nothing really "bad" here on the new behemoth in my opinion, just "different".
One thing I do agree with on, however is, yes Nergal's social media presence can be obnoxious at times. Even the amount of trinkety shit on their website pisses me off at times: behemoth brand coffee, mugs, statues of himself, socks, candles, etc. You can tell the dude has a massive ego but I can still appreciate him as a musician.
I listened to this album while stoned and doing the dishes, and I got into it a lot more than ILYAYD. Perhaps the stoned element helped a bit, but that doesn't really matter since I have given it multiple spins after the fact while NOT stoned and the conclusion is the same; I really, really like it (except the cringey title and some of the lyrics). I got into Behemoth from Evangelion (thank you, Headbangers Ball) and listened to some of their earlier work, but I'm for the opinion that Evangelion was quite a turning point in their sound. While I enjoyed the prior work, I much prefer what came since that album. I absolutely LOVE 'Once Upon a Pale Horse', but I can easily understand why it's getting some shade. Did Behemoth take their foot off the pedal a bit? Yeah, kinda. Is that necessarily a bad thing? I don't think so. The same sentiment has been directed at Meshuggah with Immutable (AOTY contender for me), and I don't see it as a bad thing.
In any case, new Behemoth is objectively better than no new Behemoth.
ILYAYD was right up there with the satanist for me. Every song sounded unique to itself and found new ways to be heavy with songs like Rom 5:8, Havohej, If crucifixion was not enough. There’s a lot of good stuff on it the singles didn’t stand up to the rest of the LP
I love you and your dad?
@@joshmeehan8085 we love you too buddy
ILYAYD => Behemoth's Endorama
Personally I thought that album was a big letdown
Sucks that Nergal has gotten a bit cringe. I'll probably keep some of Behemoth's material on my playlist, but I'm more excited about a lot of other bands. The "cancel culture" fixation is kind of a deal breaker for me to keep Behemoth in my spotlight for now. YMMV.
It’s weird to see Nergal has become a cringey edgelord
@@jennylee5003 when was he not?
New Revocation review?????
I've only listened once, I dig it. I'm gonna grab the vinyl. I didn't love the last one. I like a wide variety genres, so I'm not offended if they do some black n roll, blackened groove, or whatever.
Love the new motion graphics!
Very good review. Thank you!
I feel like, after Satanist, Nergal's been phoning it in. Nergal is older, richer, and focuses more on side projects with other music genres. I know it's impossible to to the Satanist, but I wish Bemoh would make the attempt..
Thank you. I thought I was the only one that felt this way.
I've heard from people from their circle that Seth is a heavy alcoholic and they can't trust him fully (or something along those lines) so that's why he's still a "session musician"
I've never heard that take. I'm not sure I believe it though, because he's been with them since 2004. I'm sure they could trust him by now...
I’m pretty sure it’s because Nergal always envisioned Behemoth as a three-piece band
It has nothing to do with that. They simply don't need a fourth member. Plus if you are a heavy boozer you can't play tours with 40+ dates.
cehaem2 Literally every rockstar from the 80s would disagree with that lol
@@pariskotsaros good one,lol
I didn't like Behemoth much until The Satanist, so I prefer the newer incarnation much more than the older stuff. To me, the whole package is tight, the visuals and the sound, the stage presence.. energy building, music for intentions layed. Blaines reviews dog or confilct with a lot of stuff I'm into so I take it with a grain of salt anyways. Different palettes for sure.
Good on you for acknowledging different opinions instead of just hating on the reviewer. We need more people like you lol
@@tannerhuskins330 no no no, he must be called “soiboi” and whiny commie bb! That’ll show him!
I thought the album was OK, slightly improved from ILYAYD. For me, the real star of the show this week is Gutvoid. Great stuff
Fun story:
a month ago i was tattooing at my shop in Costa Rica , while wearing an altars of madness shirt, and there this guy in his Mid 50’s or 60’s getting a tattoo with my brother. After and hour or something he suddendy asked me “ hey excuse me!, do you like death metal?” I literally replied “ i love death metal” haha. And then he told me his son plays guitar on a death metal band, and he started asking me if there is a death metal scene here in Costa rica (specifically in the tiny beach town we live….) to see if his son could come here and play a show. I told him that his son could try in the capital , and get in touch with bands here, there is always shows ,blah blah… and at the end i asked what was the name of his son band….
“Gutvoid”
Ininstantly played it out of curiosity, and you know cause i asked him, and would be rude not to , after i said i loved Death Metal.
Before the first song ended i was already telling him “ if your son plays here, he will be the best sounding band by far”
@@isra9x197 so cool! Cheers 🤘
Spot on review Blayne.
Long gone are the days of Demigod.
Just listened to Thelema 6 and damn wtf happened to them
My initial thought of Thy Becoming Eternal was Behemoth trying to sound like Cattle Decapitation but failing miserably.
don't really think you can call it blackened death anymore :P
SETH RULES
ON GUITAR!
I think this album is better than the last one but not better than the Satanist so it's ok it's a good album overall. No complaints, also I don't find the lyrics 'cringe' or 'cringy', they are good compared to other metal albums.
Just stocked up on a couple albums I was missing, Metal Blade has them on sale(wink,wink). I guess I'll still buy it cause I'm weak and love it no matter what, even though I want another "Satanist" album.
Every band loses its momentum eventually. It's happened to all the titans, and now I guess it's Behemoth's turn.
Is it as horrific as their Cure cover though?
There is no good explanation for Gaerea not being the subject of this video. Very good chance “Mirage” will be AOTY.
White Ward’s False Light for me so far.
I thought it was a great album - obviously not as good as their last 2 albums (ILYAYD my favorite) Nergals vocals are at an all time high as well as everyone elses playing abilities - PS The outro of Thy Becoming Eternal could and should be it's own song, that slow brooding black metal sound is so perfect
If 'The Satanist' isn't the best album in genre then what is Blayne? Genuinely interested in finding out. Also, I enjoy some of the grandeur of the newer albums, if I want something more high octane I listen to some Goatwhore of something similar.
tbh The Satanist was just the polish Version of any Rotting Christ Album
Well, you can see the level of credibility when one of your favorite bands launch something and you do whatever else but listen the Record.
I love when bands try to evolve. I'm on board! But behemoth, you know....i think they dont "blow my trumpets" with what they are doing in this recent era.
Yall should review I so let it be done by thee final chapter it there full length album it fantastic metal album it on bandcamp plzz yall missing out if you don't review it or check it out
It s very simple. Darski is no idiot and knows what sells well and he's delivered exactly that. Large metal mags will give the album like 9 points because you don't shit on a major NuBla release. Their top tier artists are not to be criticised and a label like that can enforce positive reviews, believe me....Non-metal mags will give them 5 stars because it still sounds new ad innovative to them and they have no clue....
While I love older Behemoth more, I dont hate their new stuff. I dont love it, but I accept it.
No offence, but some of your criticisms are ridiculous. First off - The whole “using V’s in lyrics/titles” thing has been around since Behemoth’s earlier days (at least since Zos Kia Cultus if I remember right. Maybe even earlier). Also, it isn’t done just to appear “edgy”. It’s in reference to Nergal’s belief in Thelema/Crowleyism.
Secondly, complaining about a Behemoth album having lyrics glorifying Satan??? This is death/black metal…the hell did you expect? Also, it’s not like the lyrics of the album are just “herp-derp, cancel culture bad!”. They’re as poetic and thought provoking as Nergal always has been.
Musically, you bring up some valid points. I agree that Once Upon a Pale Horse isn’t very good for example. But yeah, a lot of your criticisms aren’t valid imo. Nothing personal, just my opinion 🤘
Yeah. It seems like a lot of the reasons for hating this record have to do with nergal rather than the music. Seems unfair.
"They’re as poetic and thought provoking as Nergal always has been." Princess, please!
I thought the new Machine Head was a great comeback album
Yep I love it 🤟🤟
It absolutely is, new MH is 9/10.
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Still Deathless sun is great song. So yeah I am dumb, LOL
Agree, Seth should be a permanent member long time ago!!!
I am a big Behemoth fan and I am enjoying the new album but it definitely doesn’t measure up to the Classic’s from them, The new Gaerea album is Pretty Awesome though 👍👍🤘🤘
On Point Review!
I like the album alot but I've always been more into death core and metalcore so maybe that's why I'm enjoying it so much
fair review
I mean, Behemoth hasn't released a stinker yet, in my opinion, but to me, this latest album isn't nearly as strong as their heyday, which for me are Demigod, Apostasy, and Evangelion (my personal favorite.) I do agree with Blayne that it kind of feels like they've been playing it safe ever since the Satanist came out, as if they loved what they did there and just want to keep doing that. Personally I don't mind Nergal having a big social media presence, I don't think it hampers the music they write all that much. But yeah, this new album is good, but not great, and certainly not amazing.
Looking through the comments here, it seems a lot of the people who like this are people who started listening to Behemoth at the Satanist and haven’t moved backwards in their catalogue. I’ve got no problem with that, but it explains the difference of opinion v Blayne is clearly a fan of their earlier work, and if you listen to listen to Evangelion or Demigod for example, you will hear how bludgeoning, how vital and powerful it is. IMHO, these albums are the essence of what Behemoth should be. If you love the Satanist, ILYAYD, and this, then more power to ya, but for me they sound phoned in compared to the absolute arsewhippinng that the earlier albums deal.
Totally agree
Good review. First listen I would absolutely agree with you. More I listen to the album the more I like it. I don't follow and didn't know Nergal did all that social media stuff, shit sound cringe. While the album doesn't match up to their glory days, it's a lot better than ILYAYD, which, yes, I know, is a low bar, but still. I give it 3.5 dark sith (synth) Lords with golden inverted crosses (which are actually plastic) and say "live, laugh, love".
Get Gearea -mirage they are the new torch bearers of black metal. Though Limbo is probably my favorite, mirage is really good. Might prove better over time
I love how Blayne seems like he’s holding in a fart the whole time😂
I'm pretty new to this band. I've listened to The Satanist and I Loved You At Your Darkest Hour a few times and enjoyed them. I haven't listened to any of their earlier albums. I listened to Opus Contra Natrvam yesterday and enjoyed it. Interestingly, Once Upon A Pale Horse was one of my favorites. Perhaps it's because I'm a hard rock fan first and foremost. AC/DC is my absolute favorite band and in my opinion they kick many heavy metal bands ass on the stage.
Based on interviews, Nergal is a big AC/DC fan these days (more than he used to be); a hard rock influence in his recent work makes sense.
I like Once Upon A Pale Horse too. Sure, it might be simple, but that can work.
The new album isn't my favourite (that would probably still be The Satanist) but it's still strong; I'd give it a lot more than 2.5/5
Definitely check out their older material too. Evangelion is excellent, as is Demigod (a lot of people feel like Behemoth fell off after Demigod; I disagree, but it's still a great album).
Yeah. The fact that the masterful Hard Rock groover went over the reviewers head is pretty mind numbing. As if he doesn't have enough pummeling metal on his shelf or in his streaming app. The lack of respect for older bands pushing their song writing in artistic directions is so strong in the extreme metal scene. Really is a bummer. Creativity is what drew me to the sound in the first place. It was different than what I'd heard elsewhere. So seeing skilled veterans of death or black metal be honest about their influences and allow more and more of their genuine desires pull through is inspiring and welcome imho. It's been said that Inferno likes new wave. Yep.. drum machine music. Amongst other things. Absolutely nothing wrong with letting the man play some of those beats and relax his aging body a bit during sets. Groove is king imho. Speed is an achievement at best, and a gimmick at worst. Most people with discipline can learn to play fast. A smaller selection of those will have true groove. And if anything.. thats where I'd fault Behemoth. They aren't THE best musicians from this elusive soul/groove stand point. But they aren't the worst and the album still rocks.
My biggest, and only true complaint is the mixdown/engineering of the album. It isn't even "bad" per se. I do think it's odd enough that it's contributing to the mixed responses. I listened to the album 3 times through in a rental car with a very basic sound system and it just sounded terrible. In my personal Lexus I can sort of understand its direction... but then when I watch the music videos on my phone I really feel I know what they did. It's maximized to sound good on phones. It sounds really really really fucking nice through my Galaxy S22 built in speaker. And I personally don't appreciate that decision. I get it. I don't like it. I want it to sound full and rich on a nice system with proper dynamics and frequency response.. not this neutered version. Maybe someday we can get 2 versions of albums. NIN tried it with Hesitation Marks, but that was two mastering passes... to really make a difference it should be the mix and master.
Sorry for the rant. This review seriously bummed me out and it was nice to see someone comment about how badass Once Upon A Pale Horse is. 🤘🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻☠️☠️☠️
The only thing I love about their new album is that I love it. 🤘
That was too generous... too generous.
They lost me after the last album and Nergal's online antics just makes me laugh (not in a funny way). What a fall from grace for them...
I really enjoyed this album 😅
10:00 I agree with this score but it looks like someone will be pissed lol
I'll just echo most other comments. Definitely a step up from I Loved you at your darkest, but not Satanist level. I would give it 3.5
I love Behemoth as a band, I listened to the singles they released and decided this album wasn't for me. I'm much more interested in all of the great material coming out of Everlasting Spew Records (Burial, Fossilization, Writhing, Helslave.)
So if "the satanist" isn't "the black album of the genre" (a term admittedly absurd and overused), which album(s) are? (In your opinion)
Is this album perfect? Nah. However, it really seems like a good chunk of this was just complaining about Nergal the character, which made the album worse. I usually distance myself from that kind of opinion which is maybe why I really got into this album.
Mainly it just feels more organic than ILYAYD which was my biggest complaint on that album.
Once Upon A Pale Horse sounded groovy as hell imo
I seem to be in the minority here in that...I really liked ILYAYD. This one hasn't grabbed me as much yet but need to give it a few more listens, I don't think I'm as down on it as Blayne but it's certainly not blown me away
Love the album. Think it's fantastic.
I wish the title for this video was "Opvs Contra Natvram albvm review"
Nergal flipping off churches in Instagram posts, applauding when ppl were banned from social media due to censorship but then begging for money and claiming he suffered a great injustice and HIS rights to free speech and artistic expression were being trampled on..and putting something about the queen on a shirt was something a 14 yr old does to piss off his mom and look edgy at school. Two of the videos for the singles weren’t giving what Behemoth is capable of.. so I didn’t have high hopes
Metal bands getting commercial success either results in better work or half assing thinking fans will just eat up whatever they churn out.
Whys Blayne reviewing Behemoth did he lose a bet?
I really like the album. The cover reminds me of Slayer's God Hates Us All. Musically it's well put together and doesn't sound like it's dragging along like their previous effort which still had some good tunes on it. Aside from the latter singles, 'Once Upon a Pale Horse' is probably my favorite and that's coming form a guy who's favorite Behemoth albums are Demigod and Evangelion.
I just found this record rather tame.
I did enjoy this more than the last Behemoth album but, with that said, this record comes off as some safe Behemoth album which just sounds in of itself a blasphemy to say.
I couldn’t recall anything major regarding this album.
This Album is Perfect
IMHO Evangelion is a perfect metal album. Everything after it has not measured up, then again how could it?
I like the deathless sun and the last track too 😅
Not a fan of the more commercialised sound they're going for on this and ILYAYD. Evangelion is still my personal favourite.
The Satanist IS the pinacle of genre wether you like it or not. ILYAYD was boring for the most of the songs, but this new thing is awesome. I love it.
best looking Sodom Agent Orange shirt ive ever seen i have to have it!
You should really review the debut album from a french metal band called BURNING DEAD, it may have Come out last year but is worth checking out
I know everyone loves The Satanist but although I like it and I think it's good, with some excellent tracks (Furor Divinus!!) it was already a shift with half of the album not suiting my taste. Demigod and The Apostasy are my top probably.
I like their old stuff Demigod and before
Totally agree with you Blayne on the Satanist. Nothing real memorable. I miss this band when they released Demigod or The Apostasy. The blackened death metal they provided I thought was very well done.
yup, its not even the best behemoth album
I’m so ready! Such a personal and emotional listen 🤘
Big Behemoth fan but this is a 1/5 for me. Just terrible. Great shutout to the Celestial Grave album -- stuff slaps!
I started watching their Opus contra culturam he on YT and I thought: great visuals! That's an awesome idea. But the songs are boring AF and I just had to change to something more interesting like the great british bake off.
It is sad to see once good band go this way. Nergal fully lives in his delusion that he’s some sort of genius, upper-class cork sniffing rocker. He throws around lines like "yea maybe I will buy a bunch of this artists’ paintings", while he didn’t write an inspired riff in a decade.
So many of these black metal dudes are convinced they’re these iconoclastic, free-thinking philosophers when they’re just edgy teenagers who never grew up.
Behemoth have always had a choppy track record, they have had many over hyped releases, some underrated releases, fans who like their faster material and fans who enjoy their slower stuff. This is an interesting, diverse record with elements from their whole career throughout. Secondly, judging an artist for their social media presence when you yourself are an 'underground metal fan', comedian and you tuber is a little ironic.
I'm a huge Behemoth fan and these takes weren't spicy, these takes went down smooth
It's a good album, just not quite up to previous Behemoth standards. Honestly I think bands like Schammasch are doing this sort of metal better these days.
I love the new CD. It's a simpler release. I think it's excellent 🤘👍🤘.
I Loved You at Your Darkest was pretty lame, I am worried that this one ain't no different 😞.
Now do Mortuous