Behemoth - Demigod

*=Staff's pick	Sculpting The Throne Ov Seth* Demigod* Conquer All* The Nephilim Rising Towards Babylon* Before The Aeons Came* Mysterium Coniunctionis (Hermanubis)* Xul* Slaves Shall Serve* The Reign Ov Shemsu-Hor

Genre	Death Metal	Nergal	Vocals
Tracks	10	Nergal	Guitar
Runningtime	41 Min.	Seth (session)	Guitar
Label	Regain Records	Orion	Bass
Release	08 Nov. 2004	Inferno	Drums
Country	Poland	-	Keyboards
Similar artists	Hate, Morbid Angel, Nile

Behemoth's Demigod is the bands latest release, and it was recorded at Hendrix Studio in Lublin, Poland, produced by the band's frontman Nergal and mastered by Daniel Bergstrand at the Dug Out studio (Mörk Gryning etc.) in Uppsala, Sweden. Demigod is released on Regain Records, a label which is getting a better and better line-up among their signings, or what else can be said about band such as Marduk, Defleshed, Samael and Danzig just to name a few.

Before listening to the Demigod I looked back on the Zos Kia Cvltvs -02 album to fresh my mind up a bit. An album that I for a long time now have held as their best release. Behemoth have had a very struggling past with several line-up changes, something that perhaps have contributed to their sound. They did start up in the early 90´s as a pure blackmetal band with influences from the Norwegian scene at the time, but over the years the heavier tunes have became more and more obvious. And when the Pandemonic Incantations -98 came with a total new line-up, including the extremely talented drummer Inferno, it was obvious that Behemoth have turned their twisted riffs a step further into the world of death metal. A path they have followed with success since then, ending up with albums such as: Satanica -99, Thelema 6 -00 and the Zos KIA Cvltvs -02.

About this record then: Demigod kicks of with a great acoustic intro to the first song, Sculpting The Throne Ov Seth. A song that shows that Behemoth is still on the track. Extremely great blast and grind parts along with unearthly heavy riffing and cool melodies. Everything that makes it so special with Behemoth are there. The attacking and furious drumparts, the pounding bassdrum that is so characteristic to their breaks and sticks, almost following the riffs in an indoctrined way. Their song writing and structure in their music are things that make Behemoth reach other dimensions than many similar bands do in the scene of today.

The production is in my ears as good as it gets, unbelievable good guitar sound with a depth that seems to have no end. The drums are sheer perfection. Delivered at highest speed and technique without getting noisy, disharmonic or boring. The voice of Nergal is perhaps a bit darker and even more intense than it ever have been. Songs like Demigod, Conquer All, Towards Babylon, Xul including a guest appearance from Karl Sanders of Nile and the Slaves Shall Serve are utter and complete masterpieces. If you mix the Thelema 6 And Zos Kia Cvltvs albums and add some more rage and even more characteristic riffs, Demigod is the album you'll get. An album that is hard to resist. In my opinion Behemoth are about to take the form of Death Metal to another level and I'm ready to declare this album as one of the best recordings ever. If not, certainly the best one this year...

See also review of: The Satanist , Evangelion , Evangelia Heretika

Production	Vocals	Compositions
10	9	10

Summary
10 chalices of 10 - Tim