Before we start, if you see the band name and the album name and expect anything other than a metallic clusterfuck of epic Lord Of The Rings proportions, then you deserve any shock you get.
And onwards we march.
The Satanist marks the tenth release for lords of the modern wave of black metal, Behemoth and boy does it gets off to a great start. Opener and single ‘Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel’ acts as a slow, grinding build up which explodes into the blast-beat fuelled, growl-drenched powerhouse of darkness and discordance that sets the tone for the rest of the album. If you didn’t have a bible handy to rip up before you started listening, by the end of this opener you’ll sure as hell be scrambling for one.
One factor of Black Metal that acts both as a blessing (I’m not entirely sure if that’s the most appropriate word for this release but what can you do?) and curse (probably more appropriate), is the fact that in the last few decades, it hasn’t exactly evolved to any great extent musically, meaning you almost always know what’s in store for you which unfortunately can verge on being boring or predictable. But unlike the foundations of a Church some rabid fans may have set upon, this release just doesn’t seem to decay at all. From the very get-go, you’re kept interested through some great dynamic variety, groove changes and atmospheric breaks, traits that can all-to-often be overlooked in this sub-genre.
Lyrically, singer Adam “Nergal” Darski has really provided on this one. Few metal lyricists and singers have the conviction behind what they are actually saying to do it cleanly or to simply do it as spoken word, but Nergal clearly does. With his understandable singing style and the band’s notorious top-grade production, he can’t hide behind a rough, faint noise that gets lost in the mix like a lot of metal vocalists can, he can’t afford to write un-inspired clichés, Nergal has to put thought and method into what he’s putting out there and you can really pick this up in some instances, especially the closing rant of the album, where he speaks in such a style you could swear you were reading from an ancient opposition to the bible as it was being written…
“O Lion-Serpent Sun, The Beast that whirlest forth,
a thunder- bolt, begetter of Life!
Thou that flowest! Thou that goest!
Thou Satan-Sun Hadith that goest without Will!
Thou Air! Breath! Spirit! Thou without bound or bond!
Thou Essence, Air Swift-streaming, Elasticity!
Thou Wanderer, Father of All!
Thou Wanderer, Spirit of All!”
The drumming for this album also deserves a special mention. Gone are the days of black metal/extreme metal drummers merely being self-aware metronomes, shooting out blast-beat after blast-beat. The drumming plays a huge role in creating some of those dynamic features with creative fills and low, rumbling tom rolls resembling thunder whilst also drumming at the speed of light when needed, (best heard in closing track ‘O Father O Satan O Sun!’), thus pleasing the black metal fundamentalists.
Overall, while The Satanist has taken, tweaked and perfected most of the core elements of Black Metal, it is still Black Metal. You’ll either love it, draw pentagrams on everything you own and buy the entire Anton LaVey collection, or you’ll just hear noise. I however, am the former.
9/10
Reviewer: Thomas Peasley
I’ve always found Behemoth a tad overrated, despite enjoying a handful of their albums over the years. However, this one has really struck a chord with me. They sound fired up, and the song-writing is far more dynamic when compared with their past couple of albums. I would consider them closer to death metal than black metal these days but either way it’s a great album. Good review.