I Loved You at Your Darkest

After ten albums, almost all high-level, culminated with the excellent last four works, acclaimed by fans and critics, it was a difficult mission even for a band like Behemoth to create a new album that was close to the level of precedents and that also gave a breath of freshness. Well, for Nergal and his companions the mission has largely failed miserably. Already with the first two singles the hype for ILYAYD had lowered, but the release of the third single Bartzabel two days after the release of the album, some hope for another good work was rekindled.

The eleventh effort of the Poles opens with the intro Solve, in which immediately appears a chorus of children which praises a religious song (the same as the first single God = Dog): if in the intro the chorus (quite annoying in the long run) can be accepted as an introduction to the album, in the single it appears totally out of place and the repetitiveness of the riffs does not help to make God=Dog better. The recycling of riffs is a constant in this full length and this can be seen in many other songs (Wolves of Siberia and We Are The Next 1000 Years, two songs that are almost identical in the initial part) and this greatly lowers the rating of the album. There is no lack of convincing episodes: Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica, a very dynamic song with a heavy rhythmic base, a fast solo and a beautiful acoustic part; the highly unusual but effective Bartzabel with a very catchy and melodic refrain that alternates with very powerful deadlifts. However, they aren't absolute masterpieces, but only good tracks that stand out easily in the midst of the many banalities of this album.

Summing up, ILYAYD certainly has the advantage of being very sliding and also give a fairly pleasant listening, but the drop in inspiration is seen (or rather, is heard) because of the continuous repetition of riffs, always too similar to each other, and certainly represents a step back from the last albums.

Now, however, I would like to focus on the title: "I loved you at your darkest". A rather strange title compared to those who have used the band in the past. It is possible that it was not a coincidence and that there is a meaning behind the title. Even Nergal and the others will have noticed in the studio of the creative decline occurred in recent years? So, we fans, have we to continue to love Behemoth at their darkest?