Artist: BEHEMOTH
Album: THE SATANIST (CD)

Year: 2014
EAN/UPS: 727361310424
Media type: CD

“»The Satanist« is magic. It’s dangerous. It’s adventurous, and it’s organic,” states Nergal, the driving force behind BEHEMOTH since their inception in 1991, and brief exposure to the band’s tenth album more than supports this statement. While instantly recognizable as the work of the Polish blackened death quartet it takes their sound in previously unimagined and riveting directions. A writhing, densely layered, brutally violent and sinister record, it is quite unlike anything ever unleashed within the canon of heavy music. As such it demands attention, offering ever greater sonic and emotional depths with every listen. “You may hear the title and think it’s very primitive and one-dimensional, and yes it is, but when you look beyond that it’s as primitive as it is complex and multidimensional, and that applies to everything about the record.”

Having returned to full force the band were ready to once more move forward, and they began work on what would become »The Satanist«. While many bands might be concerned with how to follow up a record as devastatingly powerful - and successful - as »Evangelion« Nergal faced no such doubts. “I don’t race myself, and I don’t need to prove anything to anyone. »Evangelion« was a very important record to us, and yes, it was very successful too, but in making »The Satanist« it wasn’t a point of beating that. The point was to do what was organic, and make a natural and honest and sincere album, and that’s it. Now the record is finished I like to think of it as an album that is just so different that you can’t really compare it to our previous works, which is the best outcome I could hope for.” One thing is inarguable, and that is the record is the most sonically rich and complex released under the BEHEMOTH name. With layer upon layer of sound it has great sonic density, but there is intricacy to this, and nothing is forced or contrived. “I don’t have a kid but I think the process of raising one is comparable: you invest a lot of your energy and effort and wisdom and money and you educate them, but there’s never a one hundred percent guarantee he’s going to become a lawyer and not a serial killer. It’s the same story with the records - we supply the elements but we just don’t know how these elements mixed together are going to come out, and I think it’s fortunate that we don’t have one hundred percent control over it! It makes for something special.”

The title of the record itself is undeniable in its power, and Nergal sees it as capturing the primal wisdom that the band have always tried to maintain. “To me it’s not pretentious at all. It’s very straight up, very sincere, and a devastating, conquering statement. There’s no compromise or bullshit or gimmicks. What I love about it is that it just speaks for itself. On one hand it’s a very black and white title: »The Satanist« is like a fucking nail through the hand of Jesus Christ, period. No more, no less. But then again, as with everything else you put a hundred people together and ask them what the name »The Satanist« means to them and you’re going to hear a hundred different opinions, which they can then discuss and fight over.” Likewise, Nergal views the lyrical content of the record as similarly open to interpretation, encouraging this. “There’s a lot of symbolism and reflections and impressions in there, and it’s using millions of metaphors to express a certain very sinister and very captivating atmosphere, but there are no answers. People always like to have a deeper insight into what we do, but that’s not what we want to give with this record. The way I see it is that between us we can make a huge fucking pyre and set the world on fire, but what we’re doing is just giving you the matches, giving you the spark, what you want to do with it is up to you. Personally, if I sat down with the lyrics in front of me I too would probably come up with a lot of different interpretations and concepts, it’s a never ending process, and that’s exciting to me.”

TRACKLIST CD:

01. Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel
02. Furor Divinus
03. Messe Noire
04. Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer
05. Amen
06. The Satanist
07. Ben Sahar
08. In The Absence Ov Light
09. O Father O Satan O Sun!

LINE-UP:

Nergal | vocals & guitars
Inferno | drums
Orion | bass
Seth | guitars