BEHEMOTH — The Satanist (review)

BEHEMOTH — The Satanist album cover Album · 2014 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
siLLy puPPy
BEHEMOTH never fail to amaze me in how they constantly change their sound and don't fall into the stagnant pitfalls that many extreme metal bands often do. On their 10th studio album THE SATANIST they clearly are resurrecting the black metal side of their blackened death sound complete with beautiful packaging resembling a kind of black arts liturgy prayerbook replete with imagery, symbolism, poetry and barely legible lyrics. In addition to the emphasis on the black metal sound, they seem to add a lot of sludge riffing both of the slower Neurosis variety and of the more aggressive Mastodon type. The blackened death fury is on full display at key points but the album also has slower more retrospective moments.

Ever since DEMIGOD the band has been adding more sophistication to their sound without sacrificing the true metal spirit and brutality that they have made their own. The band officially only consists of the three members Nergal, Orion and Inferno but the list of guest musicians is a staggering numbering of 14 adding the subtle additions of hammond organ, sax, cello, trumpet, trombone and even a flugelhorn. You gotta listen close to even hear some of these because they are so buried in the heavy din to be hardly noticeable. The production crew is just as impressive and the sound is very good. The mixing of the instruments is impeccable and it simply sounds like a lot of time was spent polishing this beast's horns until they sparkled.

This album seems to be universally praised citing that the band has evolved past the pure mechanical brutality of the last decade into more varied and sophisticated songwriting. I would have to agree with this consensus but unlike many I actually really love the pure adrenaline drenched and balls-to-the-wall approach showing no mercy for oxygen breaks, however I realize that churning out the same album repeatedly would become dull rather quickly and not garner the universal respect that the band has gained. They have scored a hit once again by constantly evolving their sound into new arenas and upping the complexity yet remaining true to their name. BEHEMOTH is a beautiful ugly beast that surely must have earned a low place in hell at this stage in their career.
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