Blasphemy never ends for Behemoth.
Since their last album, the band has been touring and playing festivals, but Nergal (vocals/guitar, Me and That Man), Inferno (drums, Azarath, Terrestrial Hospice, Witchmaster), Orion (bass, Black River, ex-Vesania) and Seth (guitar, ex-Nomad) have found the time to create The Shit ov God, their thirteenth album, to celebrate their thirty-fourth anniversary.
The album kicks off with a bang with The Shadow Elite, a new composition that already serves as the band’s opening live track, and which wreaks havoc with both its overpowering riffs firmly rooted in Black Metal roots and its powerful vocal parts. The dissonant harmonics seem almost gentle compared to the waves of fury the band delivers, just as on Sowing Salt, which sounds almost martial at times and much more tortured at others, especially on Nergal‘s vocals, which become almost plaintive before returning to their usual rage. The Shit ov God takes over with a slower, more majestic rhythm, accompanied by Androniki Skoula (Chaostar) and Haldor Grunberg (Untervoid, Mentor), but still allowing a few bursts of fire to remind us of the band’s striking power on the unifying choruses that have already proved their worth on stage, before Lvciferaeon darkens the atmosphere a little more. The album continues with To Drown the Svn in Wine, which sweeps us along in its frantic rush of violence, regularly mollifying us before bursting into flames to create a gripping final. Nomen Barbarvm takes us back a few years with its slow, blasphemous rhythm, but also those soaring choruses that give it a very special flavor throughout, then it’s harmonics again that tint the sound of O Venvs, Come! the next composition. I find the rhythm relatively accessible, not least thanks to the many melodic touches contrasted by the vocalist’s roars, but Avgvr (The Dread Vvltvre) will plunge us back into raw darkness with solid, unhealthy riffs accompanied by ominous screams or vocal outbursts, as well as a wrenching solo to carry us through to the album’s final moments, which finally close with a hint of sweetness.
Behemoth are still on the rampage, continuing to explore the spectrum of musical darkness after all these years. It’s a safe bet that die-hard fans will find on The Shit Ov God something to reconnect with their rawer roots, while others will prefer the more recent influences.
90/100