After their last album, Behemoth had a lot to live up to. Creating a follow-up to a masterpiece like The Satanist is no small feat. Were they up to the challenge and put pure madness on record once more? I listened to their new LP “I Loved You At Your Darkest” to find out.
My initial impressions are that this is one album that you should listen to as a whole. The songs flow into each other really well, like it’s trying to tell a story. A very evil story about demons and things. As such I attempted to enhance the atmosphere by making myself a glass of (evil) mulled wine. Sacramental wine would better fit the band, but you work with what you have. Mine has rum in it, which you certainly don’t get at church. What I’m getting at is that if you’re intending to listen to this record, plan ahead, allocate time and buy the most expensive headphones you can afford.
The first track Solve is a nice Latin sounding number in the biblical sense. Children chant about Jesus Christ in a language I can’t understand, who are soon overlayed with the first of many crushing chords. This then segued into one of the album’s singles Wolves ov Sibera (with an extra v for extra cvlt). Solve and Wolves both sound like they are two parts of one song ala Judas Priest’s The Hellion/Electric Eye. They certainly made the right choice making this a single, as this song epitomises the classic Behemoth style. A brutal wall of noise that’s built upon many instrumental layers. It’s a hell of a start.
The children make a reappearance on the next track God = Dog, helping to maintain the overall cohesive feel of the record. I admit the title is a little on the nose, but the song itself is killer. It has a great blend of tempos and tones that contrast really well. Nothing feels out of place, everything feels like it goes exactly where it’s meant to. We even get a guitar solo, which is awesome and really cool!
A cool thing about Darkest is that the band really mix up the style, so it’s not just all blast beats all the time. For example, Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica has a surprising amount of groove to it. I could even picture myself dancing along to this at the local goth club. Likewise for ROM 5:8 they really draw on their black metal influences. Along with probably everyone else who will listen to the LP, I looked up the Bible reference out of curiosity. The passage referenced reads “But god commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” I’m not entirely sure what it means, but Behemoth twist it into something appropriately sinister.
I was quite fond of If Crucifixion Was Not Enough. If there’s any song that’s going to get the crowd running into each other at the live shows, this is it. It’s still the blackened death metal everyone loves, but it’s got that thrashy edge that always makes for a good mosh. This paired nicely with Sabbath Nater, another good pit worthy track.
One of my personal favourites was Havohej Pantocrator. There was just something really spooky and unsettling about it. It’s like the soundtrack to a surrealist horror film by the Italian director Dario Argento. Behemoth would certainly give Goblin a run for their money.
The album closer Coagula is top notch and makes me feel like I’ve been on an epic journey. It has swelling strings, pounding drums as if the war elephants are marching, it’s just great. This must be what Dante felt like after dealing with all those allegories of contemporary Italian politics. I have no idea why I keep thinking of Italy while writing this; probably all the Catholic imagery.
There’s no two ways about it, I Loved You At Your Darkest is amazing. It left me drained and exhilarated. I can’t imagine what it would be like to write an album like this and somehow make it come out as coherent, but by god Behemoth have managed it in excess. It’s been one hell of a ride. Now where’s my wine…
If you’re in Perth and want to hear it prior to release, it’s going to be played in full at The Boston on Saturday the 29th as part of the monthly Hornography metal club.
Track Listing
1 – Solve (Intro)
2 – Wolves ov Siberia
3 – God = Dog
4 – Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica
5 – Bartzabel
6 – If Crucifixion Was Not Enough
7 – Angelvs XIII
8 – Sabbath Mater
9 – Havohej Pantocrator
10 – ROM 5:8
11 – We Are The Next 1000 Years
12 – Coagula (Outro)
