Behemoth – “Messe Noire: Live Satanist” [Album Review]

Part of a package which includes a live set recorded at Brutal Assault Festival in 2016, along with various other treats, the audio portion of Messe Noire: Live Satanist comes recorded in front of their home crowd in Warsaw, Poland and sees Polish satanic metal heavyweights Behemoth cementing their place at the top of the extreme metal pack. Now, as those who have crossed paths with Nergal and his henchman at any point in the last twenty-odd years will testify to, it was only a matter of time before Behemoth claimed their crown, however, as demonstrated on Messe Noire, surely nobody expected them to be as far ahead of the trailing pack as they are.

Smashing through their genre-destroying classic The Satanist in its entirety, Behemoth are quite simply on fire in front of their rabid fanbase. From the opening onslaught of “Blow Your Trumpet, Gabriel” through to the final bars of “O Father O Satan O Sun!”, every moment of Messe Noire is pure black-hearted evil. Over the years, others have come promising so much but, in the end, capitulated, disappearing back into the underground. Not Behemoth though. Messe Noire is a flawless display of satanic metal with the band on point with everything from Nergal’s harrowing howls to the thundering blasts of cold, relentless metal.

Black Metal sermons like “Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer” have the kind of air about them that, even without the visual accompaniment, send a real shiver down your spine and get the hairs on the back of your neck standing on end. Those on the outside of the extreme metal world may see it as a bit of a joke but, as Messe Noire displays, extreme metal is far from that and, as you listen to the band tear through “The Satanist” with menacing power, the words “real deal” can’t be far from your lips.

Now, as has been well documented, in recent years Behemoth have had a tough time of it, both on a band and personal level. Thankfully, having come through their troubles clearly stronger than ever, Messe Noire shows just how high this group have set the bar for the remaining, chasing pack.

Messe Noire: Live Satanist Track Listing:

01. Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel (Live)
02. Furor Divinus (Live)
03. Messe Noire (Live)
04. Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer (Live)
05. Amen (Live)
06. The Satanist (Live)
07. Ben Sahar (Live)
08. In The Absence Ov Light (Live)
09. O Father O Satan O Sun! (Live)

Run Time: 50:39
Release Date: April 13, 2018

Check out this clip of Behemoth performing “The Satanist”.