Album Type : Full Length
Date Released : 31.01.2014
Label : Nuclear Blast
The
Satanist, album tracklisting :
1. Blow Your
Trumpets Gabriel 4:25
2. Furor Divinus
3:06
3. Messe Noire 4:04
4. Ora Pro Nobis
Lucifer 5:35
5. Amen 3:49
6. The Satanist
5:33
7. Ben Sahar 5:34
8. In The Absence
Ov Light 4:58
9. O Father O Satan
O Sun! 7:13
The
Band :
Nergal |
vocals & guitars
Inferno | drums
Orion | bass
Seth | guitars
Review
:
When
you entitle an album The Satanist,
it’s pretty obvious what the content will consist of. With such a bold album
title, not just any band could pull off such a statement. However, Poland
Whilst
being tagged in the extreme/black metal category, The Satanist takes its inspiration
from so many places musically. There are blast beats, soaring guitar solos,
brass sections, howling dogs and devilish choral sections littered throughout. All
this coupled with gruesomely heavy riffs and some of the most snarling and
sneering vocals ever committed to record.
The
aforementioned track, Blow Your Trumpets
Gabriel, opens the record. A sparse lonely riff and a chiming drum and bass
combo begin the path down a 45 minute journey of sinfulness and tension filled
blasphemy.
Furor Divinus is a relentless
three minute, traditional black metal affair with the bass low in the mix and
the guitars and blasting drums at the forefront. This is certainly a track for
the black metal purists. Messe Noire’s
centrepiece is the truly glorious solo, however the guitars that back the
chorus sections of the track are particularly unnerving. They shimmer up and
down in a fashion that could make you feel queasy.
The
mix of styles and motifs in the first three tracks is dizzying but it is so
hard to stop. This is addictive. Ora Pro
Nobis Lucifer again makes use of a brass section. The marching pace of the
bass and guttural gargles is all once again brought to life by Inferno’s
exhilarating drumming. The Satanist’s
title track begins with a march to war style opening before settling into a mid
tempo groove flanked by the choral choirs and a warm sounding bass. The blast
beats kick in towards the end of the track before another completely blazing
solo that comes a very close second to Messe
Noire’s effort leads to a brass let outro. Ben Sahar’s crushing guitar tone weighs heavy, and takes the album
into real chest beating territory which leads to the closing duo of tracks.
In The Absence Ov
Light
breaks in the middle for a spoken word section that is set to a haunting
acoustic guitar section before a full on black metal onslaught of blast beats
and dense riffs take the album to murky new depths. The solitary drum beats
towards the end are akin to being bludgeoned around the head without
submission. Closing tack, O Father O
Satan O Sun! is a lengthy track that opens with a devilish choir singing at
an uncomfortably high and constant pitch. If Satan wanted a soundtrack to
approaching his unholy lair, this would be a contender. An early solo again
shows the band leaning to a traditional rock style. The mid section of the
track erupts in a cacophony of noise that again leads down a harrowing path of
riffs and spoken word elements. Nergal’s screams of O Father O Satan O Sun! is
frightening.
The
Satanist, I believe, will go down as a landmark in extreme metal. It is a
benchmark for the genre in 2014. I would go as far to say that this is as close
to a masterpiece as you are going to get. The difference between this album and
many others like it is that The Satanist is borne out of real life struggle
(Nergal’s battle with Leukaemia). Every word, riff and beat is full of the
swagger of a band knowing they’ve created something special. Every element of
this album works and if you want a starting point with extreme music, this is
it. It is truly magnificent, and deserves all the adulation it will no doubt
get.
10/10
Words by : Dominic Walsh
You
can buy it here
For
more information :
www.behemoth.pl
www.facebook.com/behemoth
www.nuclearblast.de/behemoth
