Satanica

Nergal is pissed as shit – he’s sold his soul to Satan and now you’re the one to pay. Pandemonic Incantations was the one where Behemoth were still attempting to refine their sound, so you can expect that with some refinement and some bargaining with death metal that the group would find their calling. The sound here… is… enormous – everything is louder than a wrecking ball crashing through your house. Nergal growls your face off, the riffs are tremors of doom, bass tears the roof off, and Inferno comes in to finish your pathetic soul. While I wasn’t a fan of Behemoth around the time they got big with Demigod, I did happen to enjoy this album quite a bit.

The tracks here carry that biblical / historic theme found on their previous album, except now it’s more intense. Again, this sounds rather tame compared to the more recent material, but it’s still like a death metal brick hitting black metal glass. Riff-wise you’d be correct to expect more middle eastern influenced leads, charging tempos, nihilistic tendencies, and some of the most contorted drumming you’ll ever hear.

The only thing about the guitars I find annoying are the stupid pinch harmonics – leave that shit to Zakk Wylde because it doesn’t work well here. It makes the whole thing sound artificial and mechanical – we’re supposed sound like we’re caught in a plague of locusts, remember? It’s not rampant, but you’ll know when you hear them. Bass is grumpy and deep as you’d expect, so behind the riffs you can expect a lot of hefty power. The songs themselves are between fast-paced and mid-paced, unlike Behemoth’s sister group Nile who seem to love making slow songs. The distortion of the leads isn’t raw, but instead grand and hypnotic – you’ll feel like you can’t help but be put under a ritualistic spell when hearing them. The only thing stopping you from giving in is Inferno’s drumming – the beast behind the curtain. He’ll blast away blast beats and double bass like stones on the pyramid – no mercy for anyone. This guy will trample over without thinking twice, and the problems with the snares and cymbals on the last album are completely fixed here, so only trouble awaits you.

However, the biggest one to fear is the traitor himself – Nergal. Selling his soul not only gave him a new look, but also a voice that will rip you in two. His growl isn’t as cavernous and low like on later albums, but it’s fierce, tireless, demonic, and possessed. He’s been juiced, and his roars here overcast every previous growl and scream he attempted.

With all albums come tracks that somehow outwit the other, but here shows our exception. On the outer layer, much of the songs sound exactly the same: fast/mid-paced, charging, loud, heavy, etc. Once again, the finer details in the riffs and melody do happen to give more than one expects to take. I’ve been listening to this album longer than the rest of Behemoth’s discography, and I can truthfully say that all the songs are varied and spark interest in ways that you’ll have to hear to understand. Again, many will argue that they sound the same, but that just shows how much attention to detail they pay.

I’d highly recommend you check this album out, as I did when I first got into the band. It was my introduction and serves as a better way to get into their death metal material than their black metal material. By this point, there was no turning back – Behemoth already sold their soul, but they didn’t sell out. They had come along way from their early days, and the only way to age from here was to mature.