Behemoth | The Shit Ov God | Nuclear Blast Records

 

 Behemoth was formed in 1991 in Gdańsk, Poland, by frontman Adam “Nergal” Darski. Emerging from the early Polish black metal underground with albums like “Sventevith (Storming Near The Baltic)” and “Grom”, the band began evolving toward a heavier, more expansive sound with “Thelema.6” (2000) and “Zos Kia Cultus (Here And Beyond)” (2002), helping establish the hybrid known as blackened death metal. Over time, they gained international acclaim through albums such as “Demigod” (2004), “The Apostasy” (2007), “Evangelion” (2009), and the widely influential “The Satanist” (2014). Across controversies, health struggles, court cases, and reinventions, Behemoth has become one of the most recognized names in extreme metal. The core of the group remains Nergal (vocals, guitars), Inferno (drums), and Orion (bass), with a rotating cadre of collaborators over the years. Known for their dramatic visuals, theatrical performances, and intellectual leanings, the band has continuously forged its own path—despite resistance, or perhaps because of it.

 “The Shit Ov God” is the work of a band that has decided to double down rather than retreat. With over three decades behind them, Behemoth releases their most confrontational and vitriolic album to date, leaning fully into the provocative without apology. The title alone serves as a gauntlet thrown, a challenge that reflects a broader ethos that has long surrounded the band: confrontation as expression, resistance as identity.

The eight songs on this release are tightly constructed, aggressive, and steeped in symbolism. The lyrical content ranges from corrosive mockery of religious institutions to ritualistic invocations, grief, defiance, and spiritual desecration. Across the entire album, Nergal’s vocals are venomous and resolute, neither theatrical nor distant. The lyrics often fuse Latin, English, and esoteric phrasing, a familiar trait in Behemoth’s language, but this time wielded more venomously. Songs like “To Drown The Svn In Wine” offer meditative torment and ceremonial despair, while “Sowing Salt” weaponizes spite into rhythmic warfare. The atmosphere is thick, but not muddied; the sound is layered, yet tight and cohesive.

The production, handled by Jens Bogren, is uncompromising. Every element has weight and clarity, yet none detract from the suffocating aggression that underpins the album’s core. The instrumentation is both relentless and detailed. Inferno delivers dense, complex drumming without losing clarity or pacing, while Orion's bass work maintains depth beneath the dense walls of guitars. The guitar tone is sharp and cruel but avoids sterility. The use of dissonance and melodic motifs in several songs adds a level of spiritual unease that is neither ornamental nor expected.

Visually, the album is tied to the same level of intent. With cover art by Bartek Rogalewicz and Dark Sigil Workshop, the imagery is cryptic and sacrilegious, matching the defiant spirit of the music. It functions not as decoration but as a visual expression of the album’s title, ideology, and emotional reach.

The band’s commitment to expanding its identity while sharpening its focus results in a work that is equally precise and unpredictable. While many peers calcify into patterns, Behemoth seems more resolved to test boundaries not through novelty, but through intensity of purpose. There is no sense of nostalgia here, no pandering to fan expectations or genre trends. The direction is internal and unflinching.

In this way, “The Shit Ov God” occupies a distinct position in the band’s chronology. It refuses embellishment, rejects comfort, and embraces the dialectic that has always driven Behemoth's output: chaos and control, devotion and desecration. This is not an album constructed for consensus; it is a statement. It speaks from the margins, stares into the abyss, and then sets it aflame.

Score: 8.0