Slaves Shall Serve

Released one year after Demigod, Slaves Shall Serve is a limited (5000 made) EP made around Demigod. The EP features seven tracks, including the uncensored video for Slaves Shall Serve.

Slaves Shall Serve is the opening track and is exactly the same as on Demigod. The same great song, beginning with 8 seconds of some of Nergal’s most brutal death vocals ever and then kicking it off with Nergal and Seth’s amazing guitar work. As usual, Inferno proves to the world that he is one of the world’s most talented drummers. Entering The Pylon Ov Light is exclusive to this EP, and the only song made entirely by Behemoth that is not present on Demigod. It’s one of the better songs out of the ones they made for this EP and Demigod. Not as brutal as the opening track but still in Behemoth’s usual range.

The next part of this EP consists of two covers. Penetration, is a Nefilim cover which is beautifully (it would be more appropriate to say brutally) done by Behemoth. I haven’t heard the original version but however it sounds, Behemoth made it into the best song available on this EP. The drum work is one of Infernus’ finest moments and the main riff is one of the most brutally addictive ones in Death Metal. Until You Call On The Dark is a cover of Danzig. I haven’t heard the original of this one either but it’s far from being as amazing as Penetration. It’s far too slow compared to the rest of the EP and actually features clean vocals…which I usually like with most bands but Nergal doesn’t seem capable to do them correctly. Maybe it’s simply my brain refusing to accept anything other then death growls coming from a Behemoth release.

The next two are live tracks. Demigod is the live version of Demigod’s title track, played at the 2005 Sweden rock festival. Behemoth is one of the best live bands I know, and this track and the next one prove it. Unlike some other bands’ live recordings which just sound like shit compared to the studio versions, this one conveys all the brutality and energy of Demigod’s title track. The next track is another track played live at the 2005 Sweden rock festival, and it’s none other than Slaves Shall Serve. The opening death growls aren’t as strong as on the album version but the rest is excellent. However, even though this EP is titled Slaves Shall Serve I think 3 versions of the same song out of 7 tracks is a little too much.

And finally we have Slaves Shall Serve’s music video. It consists of Behemoth playing in a dark atmosphere with everything shaking, as is the case for most extreme metal video clips and it also includes a bishop who seems quite unhappy and some ladies in corsets.

Slaves Shall Serve is one of Behemoth’s best new releases and I really consider it an important part of their current Death Metal evolution. Definitely essential for any fans of their new sound. It loses 8% for the more average "Until You Call On The Dark" and especially the misplaced clean vocals on it.