The beast stomps forth yet again.
Behemoth has long been an exemplar of innovation, not only insofar as the Polish extreme metal scene is concerned, but in the context of the stylistic development of the craft worldwide. Originally cutting their teeth in the obscure realm of 2nd wave black metal as far back as 1991 outside of its Nordic stronghold, this Pomeranian born power trio would send shockwaves across Europe and beyond by being among the first to successfully marry the haunting, atmospheric aesthetic of the aforementioned style with the impact-based brutality of its death metal predecessor.
The road since has generally been a straight line of further development and refinement of the once novel death/black metal hybrid, barring a few legal controversies and front man Nergal overcoming leukemia in 2010. With the same principle lineup since 2004 smash LP Demigod in tow, this fold stood primed to deliver numerous successive storms of auditory fury, of which 2025’s The Sh*t Ov God is the latest.
The tight rope of remaining faithful to the bleak and forbidding character of sound that typified Behemoth’s low-fi early days while embracing the pomp and bluster of modern quasi-symphonic death metal is successfully walked at every point of this 38-minute blast of rage. The most dynamic character remains Nergal, whose deep and menacing barks and episodic shrieks somehow remain wholly intelligible, all the while the mixture of blurring tremolo riffs and bludgeoning grooves from his guitar charts an elusive middle ground between Deicide and Immortal.
Naturally this is far from a one man show, as the insane drumming display out of Inferno at the kit and the steady rumbling quake of Orion’s bass work gives each song their full armored bodies, to speak nothing for the keyboard and sample contributions of each to give said plate-mail its elaborate insignias and ornamentation. Likewise, longtime session lead guitarist and de facto 4th member Seth throws in a few truly spellbinding shred segments to further enhance this album’s occasional tech death tendencies.
Brevity has generally been a reliable ally in Behemoth’s ongoing career, and The Sh*t Ov God exemplifies this fact in a manner not seen since their transitional period in the late 1990s. The stage is set with a concise explosion of riffs and blasting drums in “The Shadow Elite”, which manages to hit each point in this fold’s stylistic arsenal from the creepy ambient introduction to the varying extremes of blackened coldness and death-like putridity while barely breaking the 4-minute mark and even throwing in an ear worm chorus refrain to boot.
Subsequent rollercoaster rides through high-speed mayhem with jarring shifts in feel like “Sowing Salt” and “To Drown The Svn In Wine” hit with even greater impact in even less time, all the while Nergal’s riff work remains uncannily busy and unrelenting. The only slightly longer “Lvciferaeon” somehow manages to outdo every previously noted banger in terms of impactful moments, not the least of which being a captivating solo out of Seth in the midst of a blur of sonic chaos.
Though no chapter in this blackened sonic codex goes extraordinarily long, there tends to be a greater variety of contrasting moments to be found on those that go a little past 5 minutes in length. Arguably the most blatant example of Behemoth’s tendency to stir the stylistic pot a bit is the fist-pumping title anthem, which has all the bells and whistles of a typical death/black composition, yet somehow packages it into something almost akin to a catchy, groove-based take on the style that could be analogous to what Abbath’s side project I did for black metal almost 20 years ago.
“Nomen Barbarvm” and “O, Venvs Come!” both lean especially hard into the rich symphonic yet frosty black metal aesthetic, yet prove even more complex than previously noted songs, underscored by the two most technically charged solos out of Seth’s arsenal this time around. Things close off on the most aggressive and mayhem-driven fit of blackness of them all with “Avgvr (The Dread Vvltvre)”, chock full of unrelenting blast beats and tremolo riffs, yet also managing to bookend this auditory novella with a haunting acoustic guitar outro.
As a total package, The Sh*t Ov God offers up all the usual feats of extreme metal that fans have come to expect since the mid-2000s. The only real Persian Flaw in this offering is a lack of artfulness to the lyrics that come along for the ride when contrasted with the contributions of Polish poet Krzysztof Azarewicz to Behemoth’s repertoire from the late 90s through 2014’s The Satanist, or even the subtle eloquence of the material that immediately preceded it.
The message comes with a certain bluntness that doesn’t necessarily fight against the elaborate character of the music carrying it, but seems a tad static and repetitive in light of it. Then again, such an approach does lend itself to greater audience participation, which seems to be a big part of why these feel immediately familiar.
But one thing that Behemoth can’t be accused of is slowing down with age, and with nearly 35 years now at their backs, the immediate future looks like nothing but smooth sailing to new uncharted realms of darkness.
Musicians:
- Adam “Nergal” Darski / Lead and rhythm guitar, lead vocals
- Zbigniew “Inferno” Promiński / Drums
- Tomasz “Orion” Wróblewski / Bass, backing vocals
The Sh*t Ov God Track-list:
- The Shadow Elite
- Sowing Salt
- The Sh*t Ov God
- Lvciferaeon
- To Drown The Svn In Wine
- Nomen Barbarvm
- O Venvs, Come!
- Avgvr (The Dread Vvltvre)
Order The Sh*t Ov God here
Behemoth aren’t here to reinvent the wheel — they’re here to set it on fire and roll it straight through heaven’s gates. The Shit Ov God is a lean, mean, blast-furnace of an album that finds the band aging like warlords, not wine
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Songwriting
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Musicianship
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Originality
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