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September 7, 2008 |
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01. Sculpting The Throne Ov Seth
02. Demigod
03. Conquer All
04. The Nephilim Rising
05. Towards Babylon
06. Before The Aeons Came
07. Mysterium Coniunctionis (Hermanubis)
08. Xul
09. Slaves Shall Serve
10. The Reign ov Shemsu-Hor
- Conquer All (Bonus Video Track)
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Boy, it sure has been refreshing to watch Death Metal grow up over the last ten years or so. For a genre that many initially wrote off as being too limited in creative scope and vision to evolve beyond it's most basic developmentary template, DM has ironically become the one subgenre of Metal that has arguably demonstrated the most evolution and growth of them all; it's influences creeping tendril-like across the Metal wastelands in a multitude of stylistic directions to spawn everything from Melodic Gothencore, to Black, to Grind, to Metalcore, to...well, you name the Metal subgenre and it’s a pretty fair bet that the fell hands of 'Death' have been laid coldly upon it at some point or another.
Among the most forward-thinking of the DM community are artists as diverse as NILE, CRYPTOPSY, VADER, DECAPITATED, DISMEMBER, ORIGIN, MORBID ANGEL, and of course CANNIBAL CORPSE to name but a few who continue to take this multi-faceted Metal subgenre further into uncharted terrain. Thanks in small part to the high level of quality present on their latest release 'Demigod', it's a sure bet that Poland's heretofore-relegated-to-second-tier-status DM warriors BEHEMOTH have arrived to usurp a high position on that list certainly for the course of the next year. To put it bluntly: this album slays!!!
Until recently, I didn't know a whole lot about this great act. Hailing from snowy Poland (likewise home to VADER and DECAPITATED), BEHEMOTH - including Nergal/guitars & vox, Inferno/drums, Orion/bass, and session guitarist Seth - have been kicking around for about a decade or so now, with numerous pummeling, occult-themed DM releases under their collective spiked n' studded black leather belts including most recently 99's 'Satanica', 00's 'Thelema.6', and 02's 'Zos Kia Cvltus'. Add to that appearances at prestigious festival events such as Inferno, Wacken, and With Full Force to name but a few and it becomes apparent that BEHEMOTH are a hardened and dedicated band determined to bring the onslaught for many years to come. With 'Demigod', Nergal and Co. have opted for a heavy yet technically advanced approach that is stylistically most reminiscent of NILE and CRYPTOPSY.
This is really quite musical and quite listenable material despite the overwhelming heaviness of it all. Arrangements are actually very progressive and advanced, yet tightly performed and possessing of more than enough driving riff, subtle hook, variety of tempo, and overall precision and clarity to remain engaging to the listener - a feat indeed for music as ultimately as cold and merciless as this is! For example, opener 'Sculpting The Throne Ov Seth' begins with an eery acoustic intro wired with dramatic tension before bursting out into full-throttle, 'Deathly' attack. 'Conquer All' storms forth behind a driving, central riff built on pure headbanging, old-school fury.
'Demigod' and 'Before The Aeons Came' likewise continue the assault with uncompromising fury and misanthropy. Overall this is quite a dark piece of work (even thematically much of this album seems to be based around Crowleyan Satanism and other quite sinister occult esoterica), flirting often with pseudo-Middle Eastern melodies, disharmonic chordwork and otherwise eclectic ideas that by all rights shouldn't work...but ultimately do! That's the genius of 'Demigod'. And again...the sheer level of musical prowess involved makes for such an enthralling listen that one is hard-pressed not to return again and again to seek hidden aural treasures which radiate from the darkness with all the luster of a highly polished black gem.
The end result of 'Demigod' is an album that is both a conceptually dark and shadowy affair offset by the polished-grey-steel light of superior and uncompromising musical and compositional genius. Definitely plays a large part in picking up and dusting off the creative mantle left behind by originators such as Schuldiner (R.I.P.), Azagthoth, and Sanders by example in forging ahead to ensure that Death Metal continues to remain a vital, creatively, and artistically-charged musical form. If you appreciate high art that can also pound the senses into dust and leave you wanting more, I daresay you can currently do no better than to journey into the inviting psychic catacombs of BEHEMOTH's 'Demigod'.
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