Evangelion

Behemoth have become something of an institution onto themselves, essentially developing the loose relationship that black and death metal have with each other in a very unique way. One could qualify their sound as being the peculiar marriage of Vader and Immortal, bringing the rapid fire brutality and monstrous vocalizations of the former in alignment with the unique melodic character of the latter. Of late this hybrid has been brought into a somewhat more pristine light production wise, to the point of resembling the polish of Metallica’s “Black Album”, which is probably the chief source of the band’s newfound popularity, despite being leagues above the most advanced deathcore or metalcore band in both technical prowess and songwriting.

Many approach their recent works, particularly “Demigod” up to the present as modern in character, which is a good bit misleading. I admit to being guilty of attributing this label to their recent works as well, of which I’ve been fairly lukewarm when compared to their 90s material in both their old and new style, but what does that really tell anyone about their music. When most think modern they tend to picture repetitive groove riffs, dumb down song structures, few guitar solos and a smattering of Industrial influences, none of which are to be found in this band’s sound. In fact, apart from the super clean and loud production and Nergal’s Piotr Wiwczarek inspired guttural barks, there’s almost nothing modern about “Evangelion” apart from it coming out this year.

While “Demigod” came off as just a bit too polished for its own good and “The Apostasy” was a little bit light in the songwriting department, “Evangelion” proves to be the strongest of their last 3 offerings. Part of this can be attributed to a somewhat more tasteful use of atmospheric affects and a more memorable set of ideas being put together just right. “Defiling Morality Ov Black God” and “Ov Fire And The Void”, in particular, just stand out with really well crafted Middle Eastern themes and blackened melodic riffs. This is the sort of stuff that Dimmu Borgir could be accomplishing right now if they weren’t so stuck in such a tight songwriting box, or later Emperor and Ihsahn’s material if it weren’t to the opposite extreme of wandering aimlessly in search of a coherent song.

Everything on here is consistently entertaining, avoiding a redundant Deicide approach of dwelling on a particular feel or beat for too long, and avoiding the overuse of blast beats common to this style. Inferno’s drum work proves to be adept, as well as aggressive, switching from blinding double bass blurs to restrained straight beats like a well tuned machine. When combined with the dense textures of dark thudding riffs and woeful tremolo leads, and the occasional flash of guitar solo intrigue, what emerges commands attention like a legion of war paint totting savages would. Particularly noteworthy is the closer “Lucifer”, which outclasses “Demigod” closing epic “The Reign Ov Shemsu-Hor” and actually comes close to matching some of Immortal’s post “Pure Holocaust” epics.

There are enough Theosophy junkies and head banging lunatics out there to keep bands like this going forever, but in the end all that really matters is the game of notes behind the ideology, and here Behemoth really delivers a formidable contribution to the sound. What they’re doing is very unique and new, yet will also likely outlive the recent deluge of brutal bands who thinking blast beating the listener into oblivion alone makes for a great album. They are one of the few bands out there that deserve the popularity they’ve received, and have achieved by doing the exact opposite of what many metal bands tend to do, which is water down a good idea. This vintage is as pure and strong as pure liquor, but will shock your ears rather than your liver.

Originally submitted to (www.metal-observer.com) on August 26, 2009.