This is one of the most difficult albums for me to review. Everything about it is stellar to me, but I can’t quite put my finger exactly on the elements that make it so great. I encourage you to spend more time listening to the album rather than trying to glean the quality from my bungling words here. However, I will do my best.
If you listen to extreme metal of any kind and have not seen the video for "Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel," you must be living under a rock. This amazing track opens the album and is by far one of the best introductions ever. Most of the elements at play here help to sum up what to expect from the album. There are minimalist, doomy sections with grim, caustic growls from Nergal. There are your more decidedly “Behemoth” moments of completely chaotic blastbeats. The riffs are memorable, and the atmosphere is as thick as fog.
This album could be considered a sister album to Evangelion, as it shares many of the same elements. But if that is the case, The Satanist is the prodigy child. There is an increased focus on melody and scope. Behemoth expertly lace haunting choir parts, horns, and other instrumentation into their dark compositions. Yet they keep them fairly low in the mix in most cases. To me, this differentiates The Satanist from other symphonic albums. Rather than being loud and bombastic, the subtle inclusions give a more eerie effect. It is as if we are hearing the echoes of ghosts or the distant cries of hell.
Production here is miles above anything Behemoth have done in the past. Gone is the murky boominess of Thelema 6, the clangy bass of The Apostasy, the overwhelming loudness of Demigod. Everything comes through clearly thanks to an increased focus on overall composition and well-crafted slow sections to better emphasize the fast ones. As a result, each track has more of an identity than on previous albums. This does not sound over-polished either. The band sounds very live and doesn’t suffer from a compressed feel. I’d compare it to the nice balance achieved by Blackwater Park.
I could go on and on about all of the devastating factors going on in Nergal’s life during this recording that make this accomplishment even more astounding, but I’ll let the music do the talking. Aside from the aforementioned single, "Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer," "Amen, Ben Saher," and "O Father O Satan O Sun" are among the standouts. But honestly, this is one of the few albums that I keep every track with me at all times. There are plenty of detractors out there who seem to want more of the same, but they are fools. This is one album that deserves every bit of praise being heaped on it. I have listened to every Behemoth album and find a different enjoyment in each of them, but none grip me the same as this one has. If you want to listen to Satanica, listen to Satanica…it didn’t go anywhere. Nergal is so happy with this one, he has stated that they may never make another album again. This could be one of the best swansongs ever.
PART TWO (from my Metal Storm review)
What's my favorite scary movie? The Shining. With its subtle, psychological terror and slow-build that only Kubrick can pull off, it's a masterpiece. Sure, I get down with the gore-ridden creature features too. Everything from Evil Dead to Friday the 13th is cool in my book. Why is this relevant? Aliens. Okay, now you are more confused. Let me elaborate further. I think a lot of long-time fans come to a Behemoth album expecting a certain level of violence. Demigod, Thelema.6, Zos Kia Cultus; these classics are the "Aliens" of the Behemoth discography. Explosions, flame-throwers, disembowelment, "Game over man, game over!" I'm right with you, popcorn ready. The Satanist, on the other hand, is "Alien." Swarms of xenomorphs are replaced with a single, lurking threat in the shadows. The emphasis is on tension as each innocent is picked off one by one and dragged to their grim (and unseen) demise. While both styles are equally valid, I find the imagination to be a far darker place than anything directly fed to my senses.
I tend to rate an album along three criteria: enjoyability, musicianship, and innovation. I'll start with enjoyability. As a fan of thrillers, this album has it in spades. From the simple, catchiness of "Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel" to the cathartic cries of "O Father O Satan O Sun!", there is nary a moment that does not grip me to the core. I love this album with the exact same intensity I did the first time I listened to it. I still find myself frequently growling along to "Messe Noir" and playing double-bass under my desk to "Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer." I may know that Dallas is going to die in those vents, but I'm still on the edge of my seat every time he goes in there.
Regarding musicianship, subtly wins me over in this department. What Alien lacks in creature effects, it makes up for with careful editing, cinematography, and pacing. The same can be said for The Satanist: it may not have the most technical guitar parts or original concepts, but damned if the songwriting doesn't know how to spin straw into gold. Rather than being symphonic in the bombastic sense of Dimmu Borgir or later Septicflesh, Behemoth take a more understated, chamber music approach. This atmosphere combines with the earworm melodies in such a way as to build something that is cohesive without losing a sense of what makes each track special.
I have already begun to allude to innovation in saying that the ideas here are not new. They are, however, a big step for the group. While much of the present territory was explored on Evangelion, it was not done with this level of mastery. Think back to the first time you saw that chestbuster burst from Kane's torso. Would that have been nearly as disturbing without the quiet dread building so long before? Dynamics are a big part of what makes The Satanist a slam dunk for me. The dreary, gothic and menacing parts make each crescendo hit that much harder. Those looking for a truncated example need look no further than the first single. The final moments of that track work so well only because of all the time spent lulling a certain hypnotic sense of fragile safety. This is in stark contrast to the more balls-to-the-wall approach of albums like Demigod.
In the end, this is a well-deserved 10. Those familiar with my Metal Archives reviews know that I don't give out too many, but the The Satanist soars on black wings with its staying power, songwriting, and dynamic progression. Those looking for something more blunt and direct would be better served elsewhere, but fans of Ridley Scott and Giger (RIP) will rejoice at the slow burn. In space, you CAN hear Nergal scream.