Behemoth The Satanist

Behemoth is a Polish blackened death metal band from Gdańsk. They are considered to have played an important role in establishing the Polish extreme metal underground, alongside bands such as Vader, Decapitated, Vesania and Hate. Over the years Behemoth has moved from traditional black metal into blackened death metal and then into modern death metal with each consecutive release. Until the late 1990s, the band played a traditional black metal style with heathen lyrical content, but soon changed to that of occult and thelemic themes written by their lead vocalist Nergal and Krzysztof Azarewicz. With the 1999 release of Satanica, the band demonstrated their presence in the death metal scene, while retaining their own signature style characterized by the drum work of Inferno, multi-layered vocals and Middle-Eastern influences.

That’s BEHEMOTH mastermind Nergal talking about the title of the band’s 11th and latest album, »I Loved You At Your Darkest«. While it certainly seems an unlikely title for a black metal band—especially one that called their last album »The Satanist«—its origin might surprise you even more than the words themselves. “It’s a verse from the Bible,” Nergal reveals. “It’s actually a quote from Jesus Christ himself. For BEHEMOTH to use it as the basis of our record, it’s sacrilege to the extreme.” Lyrically, »I Loved You At Your Darkest« revels in the kind of religious provocation that BEHEMOTH do best. “It’s very religion-driven, maybe more than anything we’ve done before,” Nergal offers. “But it’s not just cheap goading. I believe this is some deeper metal language. It’s art.”

Bleeding Gods, a blackened death metal band from he Netherlands, has managed to put together one of the best concept albums in quite a while (possibly the best all year) and create an album that stands alongside some of the best in blackened death metal…