Review by Sheri Bicheno for MPM
It’s almost unbelievable that 34 years of Behemoth has existed – looking back on their catalogue and evolvement, the Polish rulers of Black Metal aided in bringing a whole generation into the realms of blackned genre.
Now with thirteenth offering The Shit Ov God, we get ready to see what three years since Opvs Contra Natvram looks like…
Frontman Nergal has no problem admitting that the controversial title was intentionally selected to be provocative and confrontational, which you’d expect nothing less from Behemoth.
Opening with The Shadow Elite, it wouldn’t be Behemoth without a grand and terrifying entrance.
Rumbling orchestrals with an impending tone of cataclysmic dread and malevolent power, the track folds into a frenzy of blast beats and crashing riffs.
As Nergals vocals shred through the components of stormy riffs and Infernos’s prestigious blast beats mark the opening of the album, the melodic twists overturn with huge soundscapes injecting speed and chunky bassnotes of Orion.
A raw and distorted kick off.
Sowing Salt starts as a melodic rainfall of riffs and Nergal adopts a woeful wailing before launching into a tirade of guttural depths.
Driven by Inferno’s pummeling anchorage of the drums, the track shifts between blackened groove infusions and the intense speed of Seth’s strings. A stunning solo is interjected into the speed of the track, giving space for a beautiful mood amongst the chaos of the track.
Title track The Shit Ov God is a raw, bloodthirsty offering with stinging guitars and operatic injections.
Huge anthemic soundscapes encapsulate this track with a slower vibe to really dig you into it.
A sonic assualt takes you between slow, heavy slabs of uncompromising rawness until about halfway through the track, the melodics of guitars kick in and bring a tirade of blood rage into the track.
Some stunning solos wind into the mix and take the moods into intense depths.
It’s a Behemoth track through and through.
Lvciferaeon is by far the most heavy absorbing track on the album. Starting with blast beats hard enough to hammer your face in blending with winding melodics of both guitars, there’s a huge use of an undertone of harmonies that brings forward the riffs that pummel into the track.
Nergal’s vocals are raw, joined by barking backing vocals talking philosophical entities amongst the chaotic and ritualistic moods that we’re morphed through.
I love the melodics and twisting solos in this track – painting a true vision of despair and intenseness to the guitars that make this track so purely dark.
To Drown The Svn To Wine – talking of intense. THIS track is one of my favourites of the album. We’re given that signature threatening tone of Behemoth with the blast beats and constant hammering of kit – but also the tempo changes here are absolutely marvellous.
The speeds kept up with the change in direction of the drums keep this track from being at risk of sounding like any other Behemoth track amongst the winding riffs that melt into harder and faster riffs than before.
Catching a bridge with some dark but elevated swirls of harmonies into the hardening riffs, catharsis lives here – touching your core with some sadness, desperation and swings of moods between aggression and depressive dispositions.
Then all comes crashing together at the end with a female vocal that directs us to a danger fuelled darkness and here, reminds me a little of Rotting Christ with their abilities to use vocal harmonization from operatic singers to inject a dramatic effect into the track.
Nomen Barbarvm kicks off with a stunning melodic shimmer of guitars and subtle drums beneath chanting screams and atmospheric visuals before blending into a hard hitting plethora of riffs and hammering drums.
This is a more clear cut track vocally, Nergals’ vocals take on a heightened roar in his delivery and keeps back the rawness of the styles hes displayed through the album for the most part. Never leaving that despairing tone in his voice, this has more edges of clearer gutturals in places.
The guitar work in this track is spectacular.. Switching between gritty blackened riffs to a speed bullet exchange of groove infused notes and blistering solos that quicken more and more before melting into a ritualistic melody – its a lot going on but LAWDY, against the drums and the amazing kitwork with cymbal teasing is gorgeous!
O, Venvs Come! Is another favourite of mine on the album – the stunning melodics start off singular and creeping until we’re entwined into both guitars delivering a dark and beautiful duo melody with the cheeky fret sling here and there.
This reminds me a little of O Father O Satan O Son! In terms of the root of the sound. The darkness engulfs the track and makes it a beautiful chaos.
The shift in tempo rages in again on this track and pulls you through a vortex of different speeds and moods alongside some choral backing with the catchiness of the drums, making this track one of the most spectral of the album.
Avgvr (The Dread Vvltvre) serves as the closure of the album with an inferno of epic soundscapes and reigning a terror shadow over the album. Ghostly screeches amongst the pace of the guitars and blast beats of the kit give this an operatic touch alongside Nergals’ roaring vocals.
A huge finale, with Orion’s bassnotes taking some centrestage throughout the last offering gives a metallic, low ebbed frequency to the track amongst the heightened intensity to reach the end.Symphonic atmospherics drift through this track towards a bloodthirsty end and finalises the album with a lulling guitar note… to be continued.
Still showing that the craftsmanship is very much still strong, The Shit Ov God will be sure to keep followers of Behemoth on their toes and submerged into a vat of darkness – just as expected. Taking their sound still strong onwards over 30 years later, this is not just a blackened death metal offering but also has nods to their hand in groove infused notes and genre blending in places
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