Anticipation was great for this one. Behemoth’s last album, The Satanist, ended up on the top spot of my little end of year list. That album was one of those special ones that only comes along every so often. A clear masterpiece if there ever was one. A band trying to follow-up their grand opus is always faced with a daunting task.
So, how did Nergal and Co. fair in their attempt? Pretty damn good, I’d say. I Loved You At Your Darkest isn’t quite as grand of a statement as The Satanist was, but it still contains enough engaging moments to be considered a really good album. It feels like more of a stripped down Behemoth. You’ve got all of the trademark Behemoth hallmarks on this album with a smattering of Nergal weirdness thrown in for good measure. Having children’s choirs on metal records has always been kind of a weird thing to me. Most of the time is just sounds canned and lame. However, the opening of this album with a group of children chanting “Elohim!! I Shall Not Forgive!!!….Jesus Christ!!! I Forgive Thee Not!!” is downright fucking chilling. You’ve got the dorkily entitled “God = Dog” (and it’s God = Dog branded dog food as a tie-in. Bands gotta make money however they can!) as a first single and the song is actually a lot better than the title would suggest. Bartzabel seems to be the track most inspired by Nergal’s dark folk/country side project Me and That Man.
Overall, this is a solid Behemoth album. Not their greatest and not their worst. But, still this will probably end up being one of the better albums to come out this year and I think will help Behemoth to continue in their climb from the underground to a little more mainstream exposure.
4 flip flops out of 5
DISPATCHES FROM THE VOID 