Originally written by Drew Ailes
So Behemoth put out another album, making this their fourth full length since 1999. Why can’t other bands do this? I’m not talking about writing four mind-blowing albums in the course of five years, I’m just talking about even releasing four albums in five years. If that doesn’t give you respect for the occult-enthusiasts behind Behemoth, I don’t know what will. If there’s one thing they should be praised for, it’s their consistency. They’ve been releasing great albums that maintain their original sound, and Demigod is no exception.
With their trademark Polish death/black stylings, they tear through ten new tracks clocking in at about 41:00. They’ve kept their Morbid Angel tone, their huge production, riff harmonics, machine-gun drumming, and have continued to play some of the more inventive guitar solos in the genre. Beginning with a well written acoustic part, Demigod kicks off with “Sculpting the Throne ov Seth”, which has a Middle Eastern feel to it. There’s a light-speed dissonant riff played in the middle of it that needs to be heard to be believed. The vocals sound better than ever. On “Conquer All”, it sounds like there’s ten different copies of Nergal, all rabid and throwing up blood into your speaker. They spontaneously break into another excellent and infectious acoustic part at the end of “The Nephilim Rising”, giving the perfect preface to the following track, the blasting “Towards Babylon”. The guitarwork is honestly some of the best I’ve ever heard in terms of leads – I’m completely astonished when I hear some of the harmonies and solos, like the one on “Xul”, done by Karl Sanders of Nile. This entire album is incredibly impressive, even for a band that’s already established themselves as capable of producing some of the best metal around.
Lead vocalist and mastermind, Negal, mixed Demigod, and Daniel Bergstrand (Meshuggah, SYL, In Flames) mastered it. So lay your production worries to rest, as this is one of the heavier and more dense albums around.
If for some ungodly reason you still haven’t gotten into Behemoth, drop what you’re doing and go get Demigod. And get into it. There’s no excuse for not doing so. The album starts on an extremely strong note and just keeps getting better. Few bands that are hyped this much are actually worthy of it, so don’t miss out again.
