Satanica

Behemoth's early material really doesn't do it for me--not enough musical ability or identity. But all of a sudden, with this tremendous release, they broke the mold of the past forever and really tore into the scene proper with this awesomely focused and lethal album.

Naturally, the drums are triggered to hell and back, but Inferno's insane pounding (reference the fear-inducing beginning of "Lam" for the way blast beats ought to be) really lets you know that this is not only a whole new band, but a real band with real players. Nergal's homicidal scream/growl vocals really suit his lyrics, with a strong theme of anti-religion running through them, and his guitar playing took a quantum leap ahead in terms of quality and ability. His riffs are strong and solid, cleanly played, and catchy in that they are well-structured and carefully arranged. Of course, this is death/black metal, so you can't expect pop melodies; these songs are catchy because you can discern the riffs and hear what's going on perfectly.

For your best tunes, I suggest "Decade of Therion" for a ball-busting starter, going into "Lam", and the more progressive tendencies of "The Alchemist's Dream" and "Ceremony of Shiva". And then the best tune on the album, the last one, "Chant for Eschaton 2000", an ominous Morbid Angel-sounding number that builds from an eerie guitar intro (the riff of which recurs throughout the song) into a midpaced cruncher full of dark anger as Nergal snarls out his anti-Christian message through lyrics full of poetic allegory. Beautiful, and it went down a storm when I saw them live last year here in Houston, when they ended their set with it! Altogether an essential modern death metal album that takes the best of both worlds (death and black metal) and makes a sound all their own that is unstoppable. Get this one!!!