The S**t Ov God

Emboldened by the white-hot charisma of their leader, BEHEMOTH have steadily become the world’s favorite Satanic metal band. And no, GHOST don’t count. It was almost inevitable that Nergal and his comrades would get to this point. Since the release of the 2004’s transformational “Demigod”, BEHEMOTH have achieved a level of success that few thought possible.

Now well established as festival headliners and a safe bet for any bombastic arena tour, the Poles have a fearsome reputation and a consistent and substantial catalogue. The zenith of their rise to glory came just over a decade ago, with “The Satanist”, an astonishing modern masterpiece that recounted the extreme lows and euphoric highs of Nergal‘s battle with leukemia, while BEHEMOTH‘s unique blend of thunderous death metal and blackened, blasphemous atmosphere grew in stature and impact, almost in real time. Two further albums have followed, but while both “I Loved You at Your Darkest” (2018) and “Opvs Contra Natvram” (2022) maintained the same furious high quality, neither had the same impact or enduring appeal of their immediate predecessor. Becoming a huge mainstream band was never the goal, of course, but now that BEHEMOTH are a certified big deal, there is an obvious need for an album that redefines them for the future, preferably with a few stone-cold anthems thrown in. Ushered in by the recent release of its title track (quite possibly the catchiest BEHEMOTH song ever released) “The Shit Ov God” is just that.

Anyone that has enjoyed this band in the past will find plenty to enjoy here, but there has been a subtle shift in emphasis, at least in musical terms. “The Shit Ov God” sounds huge, powerful and uncompromising, with guitar tones that fester and seethe, and a monstrous, muscular overall sound that is so forceful that it frequently feels like an all-out assault. More importantly, BEHEMOTH‘s 13th studio album is an exercise in getting to the point. Despite a few iron-plated bangers, the band’s catalogue has often seemed determinedly hook-free, but “The Shit Ov God” finds a new way to make the same lyrical points, and to hammer them home with gleeful savagery. The title track is the obvious apex of this approach: an out-and-out singalong in BEHEMOTH terms, it is a gift for attendees at the future gigs, with a refrain that demands to be screamed, and a sentiment that can hardly fail to ring true in these divided, unequal times. This is blasphemy as defiance, and it’s thrilling: “If you are purity, I am born of filth! / You’re exalted in faith, I am driven by will…” Nergal snarls, neatly summing up his personal philosophy by leaving a giant, steaming turd on the altar of religious hypocrisy. The frontman has never sounded more delighted by his own heretical declarations, and the song itself is a merciless, jolting shot in the arm. Anti-Christian mission accomplished.

It would be a slight exaggeration to say that “The Shit Ov God” is full of songs that mirror its title track’s pugnacious simplicity, but BEHEMOTH are not pulling any punches here. “The Shadow Elite” is a glorious opener, with scything, black-hearted riffs that swarm like locusts, and that underlying grandiloquence that has so often made Nergal‘s songs sound like sermons from Hell’s depths. Again, the song has a towering refrain that cuts through the extremity like a machete, but the dense, disturbing atmosphere created by the guitars (and Inferno‘s peerless drumming) never recedes. The same applies to “Sowing Salt”, which bulges with deft, discordant melodic touches, but still satisfies every possible blastbeat requirement. In contrast, “Lvciferaeon” shrouds its warped hooks in a thick fog of nausea and confusion, wringing obsidian melodrama from a pristine clusterfuck of death metal might and black metal bile.

Lest we forget where BEHEMOTH come from, “To Drown The Svn In Wine” is a major highlight. Relentless, speedy and sophisticated, it is the most punishing thing the band have released in a decade. It feels like an amalgamation of most brutal moments from “The Satanist”, but with power and sonic clarity that far exceeds that earlier triumph. Inferno‘s drumming is particularly devastating. Next, “Nomen Barbarvm” is an act of pure, evil euphoria, with Nergal in his grotesque element, growling over pitch-black, prosaic riffs, and reveling in a mid-song detour into machine-gun thrash, replete with scabrous soloing. Cleverly, BEHEMOTH have become a benchmark for both underground extremity and heavyweight mainstream metal, and it is in songs like “Nomen Barbarvm” where that clash of ideas makes the most sense. This is satanic metal that belongs on a big stage, but the intensity of the message behind it has lost nothing from being exposed to a wider audience. And BEHEMOTH are still taking risks. “O, Venvs Come!” is a morbid, stealthy sprawl, with plenty of classic metal in its DNA. The sound of Nergal‘s blood boiling is discernible over the frenzied blasts and scabby-knuckled grooves, but a mid-song diversion imbues the whole thing with ghostly melodies, and a near-chewable sense of hellish majesty. The closing “Avgvr (The Dread Vltvre)” picks the pace up once again, bringing “The Shit Ov God” to a breathless close, as Nergal boldly proclaims the demise of gods and declares victory over their dusty corpses. For those who have fully bought into BEHEMOTH‘s world of inspirational devilry, it is another visceral, definitive moment.

Proof that bands can hit the big time without having to compromise on a damn thing, “The Shit Ov God” is BEHEMOTH‘s finest album in a decade, and a giant, widescreen, high-def middle finger to those who would seek to deny Satan another grand moment of glory in the metal realm. His loyal Polish advocates are, once again, an irresistible force.