The Satanist is the tenth studio album by Polish extreme metal band Behemoth. The album was announced on 31 May 2013[5] and released on 3 February 2014, through Nuclear Blast and on 4 February in Poland via Metal Blade Records and Mystic Production, respectively.[6] Release was preceded by digital download single "Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel" and 12" EP under the same title released on 4 December 2013.[7][8]
Background and history
"Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer" music video
The Satanist was recorded between February and June 2013 in Hertz Studio in Białystok, and RG Studio in Gdańsk, both in Poland, produced by Behemoth, Daniel Bergstrand, and the Wiesławscy Brothers.[9] The album was mixed by Matt Hyde at Hydeaway Studios in Los Angeles, and mastered by Ted Jensen at Sterling Sound in New York City. Colin Richardson was the initial producer for the album, but stepped down after four weeks due to creative differences.[10]
A music video was shot for the song "Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel" which was produced and directed by Grupa 13, and Dariusz Szermanowicz.[11] The video premiered on the Behemoth YouTube channel on 3 December 2013.
On 7 January 2014, Behemoth released the first part of their video prologue for this album.[12] Subsequently, the second part was released on January, 14, the third part was released on January, 21, and the fourth part was released on January, 29.[13][14] Earlier, on 28 January, the official lyric video for the song "Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer" was released.[15]
The song "In the Absence ov Light" contains a spoken word quote from the Witold Gombrowicz drama The Marriage (pol. Ślub) which states:
I reject all order, all ideas / I trust no abstraction, no doctrine / I don't believe in god, nor in mind / Forget all gods! I don't believe in God. Give me man! / May he be like me, troubled and immature / confused and incomplete, dark and obscure so that I can dance with him!/ Pretend to him! Ingratiate myself with him! / And rape him, love him and forge myself / Anew from him, so I can grow through him, and in / that way / Celebrate my marriage in the sacred human church!.[16]
The Satanist received acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 92, which indicates "universal acclaim", based on 10 reviews.[17] Joe DiVita of Loudwire noted that the album "sees the band shed away that skin as they simultaneously get back to some of their blackened roots while exploring new areas with… dynamic songwriting".[citation needed] The album claimed the top spot on Loudwire's list of the best metal albums of 2014, with Loudwire hailing it "a masterpiece from beginning to end, with absolutely no filler".[27]
Grayson Currin of Pitchfork wrote: "The Satanist is a terrific coil of most everything Behemoth have ever done well, a strangely hopeful vision of hell wrested away from its very grip."[21] The editorial staff of Dutch webzine Lords of Metal named it the third best album of 2014,[28] after a score of 93/100 for the initial album review.[29]
"It's a really intense album," observed comedian Bill Bailey. "And the music is so orchestral, almost: the guitars layered on and this sort of tornado of drums… It's epic. I listen to it when I'm cycling."[32]
Track listing
All music composed by Nergal. All arrangements by Behemoth. All lyrics written by Nergal, except where noted.
^For original quote in Polish: Behemoth, The Satanist, Nuclear Blast, Catalogue No. 27361 31040, NB 3104-0, Europe, 2014 For translation:Shallcross, Bożena (2002). Framing the Polish home: postwar cultural constructions of hearth, nation, and self. Ohio University Press. p. 71, ISBN9780821414361
^"Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 07.Týden 2014 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
