I Loved You at Your Darkest

Behemoth has been a staple in my metal diet since their release of Demigod and it only got more regular with the release of The Apostasy and Evangelion. From there I had a wealth of great blackened death history to explore and enjoy. The Satanist was a bit of a let down for me but it could have been much worse and I was dreading their next would follow suit. Unfortunately, I Loved You at Your Darkest is the album I was dreading. It's a progressive successor to their previous album, exemplifying the tonal shifts made on that last release. That being said, this is a very sad album. Even sadder than The Satanist in many ways yet still feeling dry. I was hesitant with the terribly named single "God=Dog" that was equally terrible (More on that later). Once "Wolves ov Siberia" dropped, I felt a little more confidence in getting a killer album, even though it was a little bland. It would always be a challenge to continuously release such amazing material like they've done for 10 full-lengths and eventually they would have to falter. Some of my nightmares were realized this day.

This is album produced a conundrum within me on the basis that 50% of it is quite boring, 25% of it is an obvious attempt to grab more mainstream listeners from the upper echelon (Lower?) of metalheads and the other 25% consists of bucking death metal and writing more of a blackened heavy rock/metal, if you will. It's experimental for this band, something they started on the previous release, but it is utilized more here and of which I am not a fan. These sections have a slower tempo, simpler drums, segmented chords, and a generally more groovy feel. Listen to the aforementioned "God=Dog", "Bartzabel", and "Rom 5:8" for an immediate example. I might enjoy this from another band, but we're getting cheated on the Behemoth of old that can write blistering blackened death complete with unique instrumental progressions and dare I say, catchy vocal patterns (This release does have a few here-and-there). This leaves me running to the comfort of songs like track 2, 4, 9, or 11 but to be left with raw Behemoth moments that have little character or real meat to bite into. There is a great rhyme in "Sabbath Mater" that goes "Love me orgasmically. Fuck me estatically". I like when death/black metal bands put in the effort to rhyme, which Nergak used to do more regularly. Now keep in mind that all this is coming from someone who really appreciated Songs of Love and Death, even though most of it can be traced to a particular folk/americana singer/song-writers due to the heavy imitation.

Nergal's vocals doesn't skip a single beat here. He lends his very unique voice to belt out screams of pure and concentrated evil. It's one of the real comforts I found in this album. If you didn't like the borderline clean singing in The Satanist then you will be further displeased here. I hate the kid gang vocals copy/pasted twice, once in "Solve" and once in "God=Dog". No, not a children's choir, that usually ups the evil in black metal. No, I mean gang vocals from kids. It was awkward in the video they released for it, and is still awkward here. The lead guitar yet again is left many times to ring random off-notes over the top of the song. There are a few solos that are unique, with an odd ball hair metal solo in "Bartzabel" and an overall great one in "Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica". The drums are fine enough for what is going on. They're more groovy than in any other release which fits the lighter feel to this album. Remember in Blessed are the Sick on the track "The Ancient Ones"? Well when it opens with a couple high rack tom notes I thought it was just straight silly the sound of them (more specifically I am talking about the original recording for their demo Abominations of Desolation as "Azagthoth"). Well guess what? The comically high toms are here and used 5 times through the release. 4 out of the 5 times it is the same high-low roll and stuck out like a sore thumb. The bass is very important on this release, and possibly more so than any other album. It has a chance to really weep in the background while the guitars mess around up high. A lot of the emotion is translated via the bass, which I like.

Honestly, it seems like Behemoth isn't good at being Behemoth anymore. I mean that in all honesty. Whenever they write a more traditional composition it's bland and boring. The only way they can make their songs stick out and be interesting is when they incorporate someone else's vocals, or trumpets, or completely change their sound to something more approachable and accessible. Pretty please, can the old Behemoth come out to play?

Favorite tracks:
--Bartzabel
--Sabbath Mater
--Wolves of Siberia

Technical skill: 58% Originality: 61% Song writing: 41% Production: 70% Accessibility: 68%