Messe noire

After the premiere of the (fantastically received) album "The Satanist", Behemoth set off on a long concert tour, during which they presented their latest work in its entirety, additionally enriching the setlist with a few best-known compositions from previous years. I managed to catch the guys twice on "Live Satanist" and each time was great: amazing musicians, phenomenal show in terms of visuals, crowds of fans in front of the stage, and, of course, polished, hypnotizing songs, skilfully combining black metal atmosphere with death metal brutality. The release of a concert album from this period was only a matter of time. And so, in April 2018, "Messe Noir" hit the market: a recording of the show from Warsaw, additionally enriched with the "official bootleg" from Brutal Assault and numerous videos promoting the (then) last album. The release is available as a DVD+CD or Blu-ray+CD, while I base my text on the latter, slightly more expensive version.

Although the main dish of "Messe Noir" is a concert in video form, the CD itself is packed in a digipak of standard dimensions, just like a normal CD. Visually, the release is impressive: an atmospheric (and thick!) cover with artwork by Denis Forkas, and a 48 (!) page booklet inside, containing high-quality, black-and-white photos of the band, both from backstage and rocking out on stage - it's been a long time since I put something so nice on my shelf. It's a pity, however, that there's a fly in the ointment: the transparent pages with the lyrics are basically unreadable and both the CD and the video discs are inserted into black envelopes, from which they have to be slid out - even if you're careful when inserting/removing the CDs, scratches will appear on them after a while. The result was that Behemoth's live album looked worse six months after its release than albums that are almost twenty years old.

The CD itself, entitled 'Messe Noir: Live Satanist', is... well, everything the name suggests, that is the whole album performed live. The sound of the band is strong, but also selective, Nergal's furious vocals (very different than on the LP) sometimes make you shiver, the audience, audible from the very beginning, gives everything. It's really good. And only one thing does not give you peace: why the concert from Warsaw is so short? "Messe Noir" on vinyl contains additional tracks played that evening (including the furious "Pure Evil and Hate" or the bone-breaking "Ov Fire and the Void"), while the CD ends with "O Father O Satan O Sun!". Due to this, the album is somehow relegated to the level of a mere curiosity, because if you have a choice between the studio album and the live album with the same tracklist, the vast majority of people will choose "The Satanist". It would be a different matter if we got the full recording of the show: then, apart from excellent new compositions, we would also have a mini-set of the greatest hits on a single CD.

Fortunately, there are no more cuts on the Blu-ray disc: not only do we get the full recording of the show from Progresja, but also a set of videos and... the second concert, this time from Brutal Assault. The menu, based on Forkas' works, is aesthetically stunning, but how about the 'essence'? I, of course, approached the whole material a bit "from the back side", starting with the clips. There are a total of six of them in the "Cinematic Archive" section, including one new:"O Father O Satan O Sun!" All of them are characterised by high production values, while my favourites are: the disturbing "Messe Noir" by Zev Deans and the extremely dynamic "Ora Pro Nubis Lucifer", showing Behemoth in concert action. However, someone from the team responsible for this section of the concert album clearly overslept, as the videos can vary dramatically in terms of volume. After some of the clips, I had to turn the TV down only to return to the previous settings a few minutes later, which was extremely annoying. Also annoying are the "end credits" permanently embedded in the video, needlessly introducing a moment of downtime. In my opinion, they could easily be cut out and simply added to the "Credits/Crew" option in the menu, where we could find a list of people responsible for particular jobs.

The main dish on "Messe Noir" shows Behemoth refining their stage show almost to perfection - the line between concert and theatre has never been so thin with them. We have blood spitting, bizarre poses, burning decorations, pillars of fire and the controversial sharing of the wafer with the "faithful" or the prayer played from the tape. If for someone it will be the first meeting with the "Live Satanist" show, every track will be a surprise. The whole thing is dynamically edited, the 1080p image is razor-sharp for most of the concert (in some places the blue lighting gets in the way), the camera work can surprise you (a wonderful flight through black confetti!), but I have two minor comments. First off: the visuals. The band decided to embellish their Warsaw show with animations played on two big screens set up on the side of Inferno's throne and while from the audience's level it might have given a nice effect, unfortunately, the cameras set at a sharp angle were not able to catch the image and for most of the film we are haunted by white sheets. The second problem is more serious, as it concerns Seth's solos: during the more impressive performances the musician stands in such a place that we can't see what the hell he is doing. No camera catches him - the editor did his best to get out of this situation, but still the effect is, at least, questionable. Whether it's "Messe Noir", "O Father O Satan O Sun!" or "Ov Fire and the Void" - we can't see shit. To "sweeten" it, it's not any better at the second concert...

'Cos yes, "Messe Noir" is not only a concert from Progresja, but also a performance during the Brutal Assault festival. The setlist is of course identical, except that, due to the time constraints, the band had to throw out three tracks. Despite the fact that we are dealing with an "official bootleg", the video presents no less professionally than from the Warsaw gig. Of course, there are no visualisations, filters, impressive slow-mo or other such "tricks", but also thanks to that it is so... I don't know, more authentic? Instead of screens there are iconic, black, two-headed eagles, against which the musicians look even more ominous (I missed this view during the concert in Progresja), but apart from that: the show is very similar to the one in Warsaw. Here, too, Seth has positioned himself rather awkwardly, except that the Czechs quite quickly tried to make up for the situation. As far as "Messe Noir" was lost, on the following tracks you can see at least... well, anything, and certainly more than in Poland. "Live Assault" is very enjoyable to watch and in places the group comes off even better than in the main show. The biggest drawback of this concert is probably the fact that often in wider shots we see official "brutal" stalls with beer and food - and this effectively spoils the dark atmosphere of the show. But that's the beauty of festivals, isn't it?

The concerts promoting "The Satanist" were almost perfect and while I cannot say that about the release documenting these events, it is not that "Messe Noir" is a poor concert album; on the contrary - for 50 zlotys we get a piece of decent music, additionally beautifully packaged. And it is all the more pity that this musical diamond has been left with small scratches, which somewhat spoil the image of the whole. They do not allow us to enjoy its beauty in full. Envelopes on the CD, lack of all tracks in audio format, minor technical and production errors - it may not be a big deal, but it is an irritation nonetheless. Nevertheless, I encourage you to reach for "Messe Noir" - despite minor flaws, it's still a product worth attention, and who knows, maybe the things I mentioned won't bother you. If you were on the "Live Satanist" tour, it will be a nice souvenir for you, if not - you'll have a chance to see the Pomeranian Beast in top form and in glorious 1080p. Well, unless you reach for the DVD...

Originally written for www.metalside.pl