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This is a band that I have heard mentioned quite often although I had yet to hear anything from them myself until I received their latest album "Thelema 6". Almost everything that I heard was positive so I was quite curious when I first put it in the CD player to see if all the praise was deserved or not.

Behemoth are a death/black metal band from Poland and on this release I think they have a lot more in common with death metal than they do with black. There is also quite a bit melody in this as well although I would hesitate to throw this in the melodic death metal genre, as this is much heavier than most melodic death metal. Track one starts out with a spoken intro that sounds like it were taken from a television or radio interview. I have no clue who this person is or who they are affiliated with but when he says that most of the human race should be eliminated it pretty much lets you know what style of music you are in for... :). This is definitely some extreme death metal played at a very high level with interesting songs that are varied and easily distinguishable from each other. The musicianship is excellent with highlights for me being the drum and guitar work. The majority of this album is blast beats but there are quite a few tempo changes to keep things interesting and to give each song its own character. The guitar work has a lot of great rhythm's as well as melody lines and solo's that add that extra spark to the music. Another thing I really liked was the liner notes next to the lyrics for each one of the songs explaining where the idea for the song came from. It just gives an extra dimension to the lyrics and music when you understand where they came from. It also shows how intelligent and well read this band is.

Now for the bad part although it is really not that bad… :) I am of the same opinion as Michel when it comes to bonus tracks at the end of albums being separated by numerous tracks of silence before getting to the actual song(s). I really just don't understand the purpose of this as it is only a waste of time and not to mention highly annoying. Tracks 12 thru 22 are time wasters that are 10 seconds each before moving on to the next track...ANNOYING!!! I do have to admit however that when you finally get to the bonus tracks the annoyance level fades rather quickly. The first time through the album I was sitting in my recliner with the headphones on watching the seconds tick off on each of the time waster tracks when track 23 starts and has this weird kind of ominous background music that sounds like an intro and then all of a sudden this screaming voice comes through the headphones that I swear made me jump about two feet in the air. I will have to assume that was the reason for the time waster tracks to lull you into this sense of quiet before trying to give you a damn heart attack and playing the four bonus tracks… :) I do like the fact that this album has four bonus tracks rather than just the customary one or two which almost gives you the feeling of getting a bonus EP along with the album, especially when all four tracks are very good.

Overall I would say if you are a fan of death metal this would definitely please you. Even if you have just a passing interest in the genre this is well worth picking up. Recommended.

Track by track

Antichristian Phenomenon-8
The Act of Rebellion-7
Inflamed with Rage-7.5
? (some language I don't know…heh)-8
Natural Born Philosopher-7.5
Christian to the Lions-7
Inauguration of the Scorpio Dome-8.5
In the Garden of Dispersion-8
The Universe Illumination-8.5
Vinum Sabbati-9
23-9

BONUS TRACKS (starting at track 24)

Malice-8.5
Sarcofago-8.5
Hello Space Boy-8
From the Pagan Vastlands-9