Polish black metal legends Behemoth are back with their follow-up to The Satanist, this time around their new album for Metal Blade Records is titled I Loved You At Your Darkest, the latest platter of blasphemy from Nergal (guitars, vocals), Orion (bass, vocals), and Inferno (drums, percussion). The band is as epic as ever, mixing their trademark black metal style with plenty of bombast, choirs, special effects, as well as some basic rock elements, all aiding to what is a very solid collection of songs that further add to the Behemoth legacy.
One of the first things that stand out are the childrens choirs on "Solve" and "God=Dog", which at first seem sort of distracting but then reveal themselves to be quite a nice complement to the bands extreme metal style, especially on the latter, which is actually a pretty memorable tune. "Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica" just flat out rips, a furious slice of metal with obvious barbs thrown at the Catholic church, Negal even tossing in a tasty guitar solo, which, he does quite often throughout the album. "Bartzabel" is more of an atmospheric, moody track, Gregorian chants all over the place supporting Nergal's throaty roar, while "If Crucifixion Was Not Enough" blends in some blast beats and shred guitar into its otherwise mid paced black metal attack. If you want some old school Behemoth, look no further than the brutal "Angelvs XIII" and the raging "Rom 5:8", two blistering neck breakers that contain all the elements we've loved about this band for well over two decades, but it's "Sabbath Mater" here that wins the award for most bombastic, evil & epic track, the band firing on all cylinders with savage vocals, pulverizing riffs, gymnastic drumming from Inferno, choirs, and keyboards, all creating this massive wall of sound. "We Are the Next 1000 Years" is another standout, Inferno's blasting creating all sorts of havoc underneath Nergal's mix of tremolo picked and traditional metal riffing, keys & acoustic guitar adding a haunting touch to this excellent track
For a band with so many outstanding albums to their credit, they just keep pumping out new ones every couple of years and never disappoint. I Loved You At Your Darkest is Behemoth at their very best, and there's no sign of them slowing down anytime soon.
See more about this release on our recent YouTube show!
Track Listing
- Solve 2:05
- Wolves ov Siberia 2:54
- God = Dog 3:59
- Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica 4:50
- Bartzabel 5:01
- If Crucifixion Was Not Enough... 3:17
- Angelvs XIII 3:42
- Sabbath Mater 4:57
- Havohej Pantocrator 6:05
- Rom 5:8 4:23
- We Are the Next 1000 Years 3:24
- Coagvla 2:05
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