From their humble beginnings to a globe-straddling phenomenon, Behemoth have come a long way over the course of thirty-one years. Driven by the charismatic and ferociously dedicated Nergal, the band have carved out a fearsome reputation, both on stage and on record. With the band’s back catalogue an impressive body of work that runs the gamut of extremity, from the grim black metal of the band’s early records through to the majestic death of I Loved You At Your Darkest, Behemoth have cemented their position at the peak of their profession thanks both to a steadfast refusal to compromise and a commitment to sonic evolution that has seen the band continually embrace new challenges. Now back with their twelfth album, Opvs Contra Natvram, Behemoth continue their uniquely impressive journey into the darkest realms of death metal.
Opening with the eerie, schizophrenic Post-God Nirvana, Behemoth evoke an atmosphere of dark ruins, as tribal rhythms combine with layered, ceremonial vocals and cinematic soundscapes to impressive effect. In contrast, the deliriously short and impressively caustic Malaria Vvlgata clocks in at just over two minutes, the band injecting a punkish disdain into their delivery. Maintaining the pace, The Deathless Sun is no less brutal, but the execution is more typical of the band than its rapid-fire forebear. It’s a solid track, and although it starts out with a sense of business-as-usual, it builds to an impressive climax as the band incorporate symphonic elements into the mix. A very different track to what has gone before, Ov My Herculean Exile offers a moment of (relative) calm. However, with the slower pace comes a greater sense of atmosphere, while the clarity afforded the vocals allows a greater appreciation of Nergal’s lyrics. Dark and doomy, it clearly shows Behemoth have yet to run out of ways with which to surprise their ever-increasing audience. Next up, Neo-Spartacvs sees Nergal once again demonstrating his ability to weave historical depth into a contemporary narrative as he relates a well-worn tale to his own struggles with the Catholic Church. Deploying an angular guitar riff that stabs and slashes at the listener, Neo-Spartacvs ends the album’s first half on a high, and it stands as one of the album’s most exacting pieces.
Opening the album’s second half, the searing Disinheritance sees the album blazing past as the band demolish everything in their path. Aided by an impressive production that sees every aspect rendered with clarity despite the myriad elements in the mix, Disinheritance underscores the band’s skills of arrangement, and it’s well worth listening on headphones to fully appreciate just how much they put into even the heaviest moments on the album.Written prior to the current, tragic events in Ukraine it is, nevertheless, almost impossible to listen to the ferocious Off To War! outside of that context. Certainly, it gives greater weight to lyrics such as “are we defenceless prey in the predator’s eye?” and the track is as thought-provoking as it is musically ambitious. Similarly, Once Upon A Pale Horse sees the band exploring new textures and ideas, adopting a leaner sound that veers into Satyricon territory at times. Still heavy, but a different kind of heavy to the closed ranks of tracks like The Deathless Sun, Upon A Pale Horse is a dynamic and imaginative piece of music. With the album’s end looming, the epic Thy Becoming Eternal adds vast choirs to the mix, resulting in a neo-symphonic sweep that is darkly hypnotic, but it’s the closing Versvs Christvs that truly underscores Behemoth’s continuing evolution. Piano led, and with a mix of half-spoken poetry and clean vocals, it holds all the more power in its hands for the subtlety of its arrangement and, while it builds towards a brutal climax, there is a sense of dynamic here that really underscores the heavier moments. It is a fitting conclusion to Behemoth’s most experimental album to date, and it leaves the listener wondering just where this most remarkable of bands will go next.
Complex in arrangement, devastating in delivery and rendered with a darkly beautiful production, Opvs Contra Natvram is one of Behemoth’s most ambitious offerings to date. Still bruisingly heavy, the band have allowed a greater sense of light and shade to creep into the mix, resulting in an album that feels like a genuine journey through Nergal’s fevered imagination. There’s much to explore here and, like the band’s previous two offerings, it’s easy to imagine listeners still unpacking the record’s dark delights in years to come. A dark, mature masterpiece form a band who continue to push the boundaries of their field, Opvs Contra Natvram is impressive indeed. 9/10
