BEHEMOTH - The Shit Ov God
Nuclear Blast
The last thing I really liked from BEHEMOTH was their live performance 2xCD and Blu-ray release, In Absentia Dei, from 2021. It was during the Covid bullshit so the band recorded / performed a live set in 2020 at a church in Pisarzowice, Poland. Musically the band did a great set and of course the video is an impressive performance albeit staged. But regardless they did it for the fans.
With that said yeah I'm a BEHEMOTH fan from a while back. I got into em when they were in their Blackened Death Metal phase in the mid-2000's. And just like many of you I continued to buy their new releases while simultaneously going back to pick up their early stuff.
So after giving this thirteenth full length by them a listen I went back to their early stuff for a reference. Now yeah I started with their early endeavors into Blackened Death because their Black Metal stuff is a Polish version of DARKTHRONE. Don't lie because it is and yet it's great. But I realized that I don't care for their early Blackened Death releases that much anymore.
Honestly BEHEMOTH's best era is from their 2004 full length Demigod to 2007's The Apostasy to 2009's Evangelion and ending with 2014's The Satanist. That's in my not so humble opinion and you can kiss my ass if you disagree. Everything from then to now, except for that live album, has not been so good to say the least. Which brings us to this latest release.
BEHEMOTH's The Shit Ov God is this Polish Extreme Metal band's shift away from that lackluster full length 2022's Opvs Contra Natvram. Musically yeah this is the band's traditional take on brutal sounding Polish Blackened Death. But the pioneering spirit of the past is not here in their overall presentation. Also some of the anger and brutality seems still toned down.
The first half of this album is heavy on melody and atmosphere as if they're trying to appease a more mainstream metal audience. The second half of this release is better since it contains more of their old style of heaviness. Add to that it doesn't contain any cheesy concert crowd repeating chorus bits. Musicianship is better as well.
The bottom line for this latest by BEHEMOTH is that it's good if you're an old time fan. I mean for a band that's been around this long. And has a core set of releases in their history which fans consider perfect. It's gonna be a tough chore to create perfection on a continuous schedule. Now of course if you're part of the lames-tream mainstream then you'll love this.
https://www.nuclearblast.com/de/
LISTEN HERE:
https://behemoth.bandcamp.com/album/the-shit-ov-god
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