ALBUM REVIEW: I Loved You At Your Darkest – Behemoth

There is something about the underground extreme metal scene that is truly special. It is filled with artists that are truly dedicated and ruled by the passion of their art, almost entirely devoid of commercial interests. Some of the most innovative, emotional and enjoyable music available to us lies within the underground extreme metal scene, if you look for it. Here enters the anomaly that is BEHEMOTH. Having risen to the top tier of the extreme metal scene, BEHEMOTH enjoy huge amounts of success, headlining festivals the world over, touring to respectably sized venues and peddling merchandise on a level similar to IRON MAIDEN. Yet, the philosophy behind the band is an underground as it gets – the focus is on creating art, thought provoking, substantial and abrasive, not pandering to commercial demands. The Polish veteran’s eleventh offering, I Loved You At Your Darkest, continues this trend of artistic focus.

We are in the third era of BEHEMOTH. Originally a pure black metal band, the outfit released a series of demos and EPs, alongside two solid full lengths – Sventevith (Storming Near The Baltic) and Grom – which displayed a respectable knack for the true black metal style. Starting with 1998’s Pandemonic Incantations, BEHEMOTH took a violent swing towards a more death metal orientated sound, most evident on the classic 2004 record Demigod. However, while the basis of the sound BEHEMOTH channelled during this period was very much rooted in death metal, a blackened atmosphere and vibe was ever-present. The current era of BEHEMOTH begins with 2014’s critically acclaimed The Satanist. With The Satanist, and now I Loved You At Your Darkest, we see BEHEMOTH take a step back towards their black metal roots, confirming their stance as a blackened death metal band, but with emphasis on the “blackened.” Both records from this era have been the most artistic and emotional outputs in their catalogue, by some distance.

I Loved You At Your Darkest opens up with Solve, a just-over-two-minute intro track that introduces a child choir and perfectly creates an atmosphere of darkness and melancholic evil that permeates through the entire record. Following, the dive into the two lead singles from I Loved You At Your Darkest – the blackened blast fest of Wolves Ov Siberia and the chaotic, furious God=Dog. Where Wolves Ov Siberia, the first full track of I Loved You At Your Darkest, is an unrelenting, black metal blast, God=Dog is chaotic, moving from mind-shatteringly heavy to atmospheric, and reintroducing the child choir that led Solve.

As I Loved You At Your Darkest marches forward, Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica sees BEHEMOTH walk down a more melodic black metal route, if a touch of crushing death metal heaviness thrown into the mix. Blazingly ferocious and coupled with a nice, big chorus, it’s almost guaranteed that Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica will make an appearance in the live set on the upcoming tours. Easing up on the ferocity, but not even remotely on the unsettling, sinister atmosphere, we come to Bartzabel. Built on an incredibly emotional, dark atmosphere, Bartzabel perhaps the most melodic moment on I Loved You At Your Darkest, only occasionally stepping into the dark, brutal territory we have come to expect so far. Gregorian-esque chants and absolutely beautiful solo work complete what could perhaps be an unusual but notable live favourite.

The moment of respite offered by Bartzabel is short-lived, as I Loved You At Your Darkest approaches it’s ferocious mid-section. If Crucifixion Was Not Enough is a catchy, black metal burst complete with some excellent solo work, with a down-tempo, black-doom outro leading into the thunderous, crushing Angelvs XIII – which, again, features more stunning solo work towards the end of the track. Meanwhile, Sabbath Mater offers up perhaps one the catchiest moments on the record, with an chorus far more gargantuan than any extreme metal band has a right to.

Havohej Pantocrator stands as arguably the strongest track on I Loved You At Your Darkest, and one of the finest songs in BEHEMOTH’s extensive catalogue. Darkly atmospheric and entirely unsettling, the epic is simultaneously catchy and utterly savage. Traditional, blues-influenced soloing makes another appearance, as does the child choir from Solve and God=Dog. Altogether, Havohej Pantocrator is an utterly phenomenal song that needs to be included in the live set. Rom 5 8 keeps the dark atmosphere flowing with blackened, mid-tempo riffing before moving into a flown blown blackened death assault.

The final full track, We Are The Next 1000 Years brings an up-tempo, blast-beat driven affair. Clear vocal delivery brings a hooky sense to the body of the song, and speedy riff work drives the track to a drawn out, unsettling close. The outro track, Coagula, brings I Loved You At Your Darkest to a triumphant close with a vocal-less, blast heavy drive and dark, ominous riffing that builds to a militaristic climax. Coagula perfectly mirrors Solve, with similar musical vocabulary and even an identical run time of 2:04. Further, in a very BEHEMOTH fashion, solve and coagula, which are Latin for “separate” and “join together”, respectively, were tattooed on the arms of Baphomet in the classical image of the sabbatical goat created in the 1800s by French occult author Éliphas Lévi.

Despite their underground philosophy, there is a reason BEHEMOTH are at the top of the extreme metal pecking order. With live shows that are second to none, coupled with albums of such an untouchable quality as I Loved You At Your Darkest, there is no other place BEHEMOTH could be but at the top. On the surface, I Loved You At Your Darkest is another anti-religious record from a band in a scene that has always been at odds with religion. However, to only take that away from the album would do both the record, and yourself, a great disservice. There is so much emotion and so many thought-provoking layers to unwrap here – but packaged in a musical landscape that is exciting, aurally crushing, and above all, enjoyable. BEHEMOTH are regarded as one of the best extreme metal bands for a reason, and I Loved You At Your Darkest proves exactly why.

Rating: 9/10

I Loved You At Your Darkest is set for release on October 5th via Nuclear Blast Records.

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