BEHEMOTH - The Apostasy

The Apostasy is essentially a similar album to Demigod, which is surprising if we look at the significant style differences between the last Behemoth albums. Even though Nergal&Co. Chose to keep the death metal line taken with Demigod, The Apostasy manages without a doubt to surpass the previous release in brutality and intensity. Dominated by fury and extreme violence, the album avoids repetition with inspired riffs and experimental elements that break monotony, such as piano intros, whispers on Liberthene, acoustic guitar and Gregorian choirs on The Left Hand Ov God or the vocal duo of Nergal and Warrel Dane (Nevermore) on Inner Sanctum. I would have preferred if Behemoth had used the same vocal production technique as on Demigod, where Nergal’s growl sounded really ferocious by overlapping many vocal layers. However, on The Apostasy the Poles went for a direct approach, to better match the brutal and aggressive spirit of the songs, so Nergal’s voice, while not sounding bad, seems primitive compared to Demigod. The albums excels in the drum parts, due to Inferno and his inhuman drumming style: quick, precise, like an “infernal” machine, and those that were at the Bucharest show had the occasion to see for themselves. I don’t know if The Apostasy is the best album in Behemoth’s career, but it is certainly a release that consolidates their position as leaders of European extreme metal.
(+): guitar riffs, Inferno’s drumming, intelligent songwriting
(-):  similarities with Nile on certain passages and in subjects, the bass is virtually unnoticeable

Dragos P. Nota: 9