For those who don’t already know, Behemoth is (technically) a Blackened Death Metal band from Poland. This month brings us worldwide releases of their 9th full-length album, entitled Evangelion.

Behemoth has long been one of the most extreme Death Metal bands in the world… and it’s clear that they intend to stay the course. While the band has never wanted to confine themselves to one specific branch of extreme metal, the formula has almost always been a cross between the brutal side of Death Metal and the blurry, menacing atmosphere of the finest Northern European Black Metal. Evangelion does not deviate from that legacy.

As a longtime fan of the band, I can confidently say that for me, this is the band’s greatest achievement. The songwriting is easily on par with albums such as Thelema.6 and Zos Kia Kultus, but effortlessly blended with the band’s last two efforts’ speed, power and density. Personally I enjoyed 2004’s Demigod and 2007’s The Apostasy. But I still feel that both albums sounded unfocused, and at times, overproduced. I think many Behemoth fans would agree. Evangelion sounds much like a cross between the epic moments of the last album, and the very natural yet relentless sound of Zos Kia Kultus: Here And Beyond.

As far as brutality goes, the tremolo-picked and bomb-blast laden tracks are just as cacophonous and nasty as anything off of Demigod. Yet, the band’s vision for this record is nearly as diverse as The Apostasy. All around, this is the quintessential Behemoth. A honed and perfected version of the dense, blackened blasphemy we all know and love… Broken english and all.

There’s no shortage of blasphemy coinciding with the release, either. The original cut of the music video for the single Ov Fire And The Void got banned from YouTube within one day. Probably due to the demonic themes throughout, such as the band pulling apart and feasting on a fully nude angel. Check it out:

In case it wasn’t obvious, if you work in the type of establishment that frowns upon eating the flesh of nude angels, then this video may be unsuitable for viewing during business hours.

All 9 tracks are great, and in my opinion, this is the best Behemoth album to listen straight through. If you had ever thought that this wasn’t an “album band…”
Think again.

Evangelion
Metal Blade
August 11th, 2009

1. Daimonos
2. Shemhamforash
3. Ov Fire And The Void
4. Transmigrating Beyond Realms Ov Amenti
5. He Who Breeds Pestilence
6. The Seed Ov I
7. Alas, The Lord Is Upon Me
8. Defiling Morality Ov Black God
9. Lucifer