Disco de Behemoth: “Evangelion [Bonus DVD]”

Whether you can stand Behemoth's aural assault or not, you've got to give them credit. Its been nearly two decades since they began (as a horrible black metal band, mind you), and now just look at 'em, all grown up and ranked amongst the death metal elite. Some would brand them a Morbid Angel clone, but I say that Behemoth surpass and outshine a band like Morbid Angel, but I'd say they surpass them and have a more unique and original sound that has not been emulated by any other band to this day.

Their war-metal, blasphemous, eastern-tinged sound that they've introduced and honed on albums like

and

is in full force on their ninth LP Evangelion; Nergal's vocals are as hoarse and commanding as ever, like a sorcerer summoning forth the power of the Void itself; his lyrics a dark testament to the ancient times of humanity and religion. Inferno's drumming is as blisteringly fast as ever, with lightning fast double bass kicks, sharp, machine gun snares, and blast beats galore. On top of all that the guitars are just as technical, just as amazing, and playing those truly awesome and unique guitar riffs that we have come to associate with Behemoth.

The word that comes to mind when listening to Evangelion is majestic. The drums and guitars ebb and flow in a wave of death metal that is not only technical and brutal in its execution, but melodious and alluring, no doubt enhanced by the excellent production of the album; though I still wish the bass guitar was more audible, because their bassist is amazing, when you can hear him. Inferno's drumming is another highlight of the band's sound, and its some of the most chaotic and speedy, yet utterly precise drumming that I've ever heard. The drumming patterns that blew my mind on their previous two albums are in full force here, and its no less impressive. Equally intense are the guitars, switching from tremolo picking to death metal riffing with sheer precision and mastery; also the solos are quite nice, technical and fitting. The stunning thing about the guitar work is its ability to sound technical and heavy without losing melody and humanity; something that happens to many death metal bands. Nergal's vocals, which range from howls to his trademark scream are overdubbed and very commanding, providing a war-chant like quality to the songs. They are the essence of Behemoth's sound, and there is no other vocalist in the industry that can even come close to his demonic singing style. His lyrics are equally impressive, dabbling in the usual esoteric and archaic topics, adding another layer of epic to the overall sound.

Aside from the core aesthetics of the band, its the little things that really stand out; like the gang vocals on the album opener 'Daimonos', or the sitar outro on 'Shemhamforash', or the haunting breakdown on 'The Seed Ov I'. Another surprise is the track 'Ov Fire and The Void' which sounds like blackened death metal filtered through a pop music sensibility, and 'Lucifer', a slow, plodding and haunting ending to the album. Overall, Evangelion is a more mature album in terms of songwriting and execution; a smooth progression from the sound they introduced on Demigod.

Evangelion is a testament to the band's skill, showing us a more mature and able band who has mastered their craft of writing epic song structures, blistering blackened death metal and offering up a juicy slab of technical music that doesn't sacrifice melody and feeling for sheer brutality. Over two decades Behemoth have gone from that uncomfortable black metal band to the blackened death metal elite, and it fits them quite nicely.

Highly Recommended

5/5

Behemoth's sound has slowly but surely evolved into true greatness. "Demigod" really showed the power and talent that this band is capable of. With "The Apostasy", Behemoth showed that they were well onto something absolutly incredible. "The Left Hand Ov God" simply has to go down as one of the best Blackened/Death songs ever. The video is even more amazing and convey's Behemoth true creativity and power. But finally with "The Evangelion", they have really managed to burn their mark forever on the world of music and leave ashes in the wake. This album flows with an incredible sonic pace. There are no weak songs on the album, each song just lends to the next. "Ov Fire And The Void" is a true accomplishment of music greatness. The songs on this album are layered with incredible guitars, none bleeding over the other. Inferno's drums are devastating in their power, speed and sound. The album has an organic feel to it and has none of today's overprocessed, "tin can" sound. Nergal has really pushed the envelope and come up with a truelly great album, one I believe that will talked about for many, many years to come. If you have the chance to see them live as I have, you will find out they can pull all of the greatness off and add even more power, more hate, more granduer.

I'm a native of Poland and it sure is great to hear something like this coming out of a country I feel is so deprived of heavy metal.

Definitely get this over Vader's Necropolis. Those Polaks disappointed me greatly, but I still love them. Behemoth has taken their throne for best Polish Death Metal band.

I do not recommend this for someone who does not like death metal. I recommend this album to Behemoth fans and death metal fans in general.

This review should be helpful enough, so death metal fans enjoy and non-death metal fans stay away. Simple enough :)

I've been a fan of Behemoth for about four years now. They're truly one of the best and most tightest and powerful death metal bands today. I've got both "Demigod" and "The Apostasy" which are both awesome albums and two of my favorites as well. For their latest full length release, 2009's "Evangelion" (their first with the mighty Metal Blade Records), Behemoth have returned, and they're no doubt more tighter, faster, and brutal than ever before. This album is an absolute brutal, raging, ripping, ferocious, and unrelenting blackened death metal tour de force that is like a towering inferno of pure epic brutality, and it's also the best album that Behemoth have to offer thus far, no question about it. The overall production here is just tight and incredible, of course with some help from Colin Richardson (Machine Head, Slipknot, Trivium, Napalm Death) who handles the mixing duties to make the band's performance more tighter and powerful than ever before. This album has all the classic traits that Behemoth are very well known for: Super angry demon-like vocals, incredibly tight drumming, fast raging and crushing guitars, phenomenal lyrics and songwriting, what more do you need? Nergal's vocals are more angry, ferocious and commanding than ever, he's like an angry beast being awaken from a deep sleep. The guitars are in top form here as both Nergal and Seth lash out brutal, chaotic, and heavy riffs, fast, fiery tremolo picking leads, and awesome mindblowing solos, while Orion soars high with thick, heavy basslines, and of course Inferno's drumming is just incredibly tight, furious and god-like with wild, rapid firing machine gun-like blast beats and maniacal, ripping double bass kicking. Words can't even describe how amazingly incredible Inferno is behind those drums, he's truly one of metal's best and most tightest drummers today.

"Evangelion" starts off strong with the excellent opener "Daimonos" which boasts fiery machine gun-like blasting, brutal slaughtering riffs, vicious throat ripping roars, and a pair of killer solos to boot, while the menacing follower "Shemhamforash" features more angry, commanding vocals, terrorizing riffage and soloing, and more machine gun style drumming, and there's also some cool middle eastern-esque sitar noodling near the end. Track three "Ov Fire and the Void" is another one of my favorites here that continues the musical terror, and is highlighted by some bursts of fast tremolo picking leads in the beginning, and there's also lots of double bass pedal kick action throughout this song, and there's also a shrot but sweet melodic solo by Seth, and great vocals from Nergal as well. Other standout tracks here on "Evangelion" include "He Who Breeds Pestilence", "Transmigrating Beyond Realms ov Amenti", "The Seed ov I", and "Defiling Morality ov Black God" which all continue the hellacious intensity. "Transmigrating Beyond Realms ov Amenti" and "Defiling Morality ov Black God" are both wild and furiously vicious blast fests that are both highlighted by more of Inferno's tight and powerful machine gun-like drumming, and the incredible 8 minute closing song "Lucifer" which is growled commandingly by Nergal in the band's native language Polish. In all seriousness, this is an amazing closing song you must hear to believe. For an added bonus, we are treated with a bonus DVD which documents the making of "Evangelion" as well as the album photo shoot, which is great.

The overall conclusion is that fans of death metal, black metal, blackened death metal, or just extreme metal period will be extremely delighted and blown away by "Evangelion". This album is definately Behemoth's best release thus far, and a true testament to their skills not only as musicians but as a whole band as well. It simply shows that these guys get better and better with every album the offer. This my friends is exactly how extreme death metal should sound like. Highly Recommended!!

This is the first Behemoth for me.

I never thought myself listening to black metal until I discovered Dissection.

I love the general atmosphere and brutality of the music and I won't stop here.