I Loved You at Your Darkest

I feel a need to come clean with this record - more than I would like to, at that. When it comes to Behemoth, I very much was familiar with them for what they represented, prior to having first heard them. I had convictions that told me to ignore them, to not hear what they would offer, for god knows why, and yet... I could almost hear a warcry, a sounding of horns when the release of "The Satanist" came to pass. I'm willing to admit that, in fact, "The Satanist" was the first album that I had ever heard from this band... and I loved it. Unlike any album before it, I adored it with burning passion, a passion alone that still lingers as I write this review. I came to learn the events leading to this album - Nergal's bout with leukemia, and the five year wait that ensued with it - and, in a way, I came to understand that, indeed, "The Satanist" was as much a personal adventure for them as it would become for us. I feel that, in a way, this factor alone is what made that album a monumental success.

I know, you're gonna ask: Well, why spend a whole paragraph telling us about your experiences with "The Satanist" instead of this album? Why tell us these things? In reality, I'm telling you this solely because I feel there's an irony to it all. In a way, this album is its own microcosm compared. We came together and, in fact, loved Behemoth at their darkest, as they would release a firestorm across the world. A firestorm massive enough to shadow all that came before it. It's an irony that, in hindsight, is almost comedic, as this album feels like the complete antithesis of all that had come before it; a thunderous clap followed by silence. This album's a depressing borefest for me... one of which took me by surprise at first, but not of which I didn't fear.

Where to start... well, why not the sound itself? Inherently speaking, it isn't at all abhorrent. In fact, I actually quite like how the album sounds. The instruments on their own are perhaps the cleanest they've ever been... and after having to deal with the distorted drums of "The Satanist", it's perhaps the most pleasant thing about this album. I hope the two guys that mixed and mastered, Matt Hyde and Tom Baker, are proud of their work on this album, as it is a stellar step forward, and a welcome one. The way these instruments work in conjunction together is simply... unparalleled, compared to what Behemoth has released before it.

It's a lot to praise the master, and I'm aware that such a notion probably isn't fair if I'm writing a negative review... but it's important to consider, when these aspects have to produce a payoff. One may ask, what's the payoff? Well, not a lot, you can be damn sure! This album has momentum issues up its ass! It legitimately felt as though Behemoth had no idea how to pace this album... and the intro song itself, "Solve", almost perfectly exemplifies that on its own. Hell, most the short track lengths do better work for it than anything else. But "Solve" feels like a special case to me, as... it's been a while since Behemoth has really done a track like it. If my memory serves me, I believe the last one we saw was on "The Apostasy", in the form of "Rome 64 C.E.". In a way, the real point of intro tracks like this is to help the listener identify the general sound of the album their about to listen to, or even build a momentum that the album is able to carry throughout. In this case, "Rome 64 C.E." has a better grasp, because... in the end, it knows what it is. A song that sets a mood in the starting seconds, and the sound to follow shortly after. A dynamic and bombastic soliloquy, quite similar to a numerous amount of albums preceding it and coming after it. Meanwhile, "Solve" doesn't feel like it really means to identify the sound at all. It's a somber build to a heavier sound, but the direction isn't interesting enough. The momentum to it just simply doesn't seem to exist.

Moving forward from that, the album itself almost scarily has music that sounds like it would better belong on an extended edition of "The Satanist". Most of the songs have a sound that feels as if it wishes to mimic the things people liked. You can tell that, too - half the time, on the faster, heavier songs, the guitarwork sounds like something straight out of "Furor Divinus". The drums as well have a similar issue... and yeah, maybe going to make that accusation isn't fair, but it's a glaring fact. This album feels as though Behemoth took the success of "The Satanist" and said, "...well, alright. Let's just make more of it. People will love it, right? It's not like we can top The Satanist. Guess we shouldn't even try to, let's just throw away our originality and cash in on this album!"

In the end, this album takes as many steps back as it tries to take forward. It's a sad notion, in my eyes. If Behemoth could move forward with the sound of this album, but bring back the momentum, the driving force that made the albums before it feel impassioned and good, I feel as though we would have another great record on our hands. Hell, they have all the right elements in place! The sound is good, the crew to master and mix it is good, they just need the spark to make it work. Honestly, it's almost disappointing that I have to say that I despise this record in such a way, but... fuck, man, there's not a lot of good here. For an album that I had placed all my hopes in, for an album I hoped would be fantastic... it's a drag. It's boring. It's not original. It's just Behemoth.

Maybe we need something more than just "Behemoth" these days.