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BEHEMOTH
Opvs Contra Natvram

Nuclear Blast (2022)
Rating: 7/10

Opvs Contra Natvram is the 12th dramatic instalment from one of metal’s “love them or hate them” acts. Yes, I adored the early 90s when Poland’s Behemoth existed within that second wave black metal hovel where everything felt archaic, primitive, thorny and obscure. Of course, bands progress and since the late 90s things began to change rapidly for the band.

Strangely, Behemoth has somewhat become the black / death version of Ghost, whether intentional or not. Their overtly satanic yet somehow rather comedic protests and rants have come nicely and frantically shrouded by what are now familiar frothing traits that at once combine symphonic majesty, cinematic brooding and mayhemic rushes of blasphemy.

In a sense, such drama and opposition has enabled more “commercial” seeking souls to adopt Behemoth as their voice, while the old school kids saw such “progression” as selling out. Either way, Behemoth remains a rampant, dark force of nature that isn’t given enough credit musically, probably due to their rather theatrical appearance and raving.

This new record, through all of its evil foaming and Gothic textures, remains a tad predictable, so be thankful for some of the searing lead work and the crushing percussion because these are the qualities which enable it to be so aggressive yet so thoughtfully structured.

At times I’m more than happy to focus on the music instead of Nergal’s expected commands, with ‘The Deathless Sun’ being a fine example of how the music, and deservedly so, takes centre stage. It’s also worth noting though that Behemoth continues to experiment, and rightly so.

‘Off To War!’ has an industrialised post-punk vibe, although it’s something that could easily be traced back to the latter part of the 90s when numerous, once grim black metal acts, were opting for colder, harsher and slightly more industrialised climes.

I also noticed too that the band does somehow seem rather glued to the impact of their opus The Satanist, and so while we hear a myriad of driving, gusty melodramatic trends on this album (‘Thy Becoming Eternal’) it is material that still draws heavily from 2014.

Behemoth still remains a furious entity. ‘Neo-Spartacvs’, ‘Malaria Vvlgata’ and ‘Versvs Christvs’ all manifest themselves as hate-fuelled charges, and for me the latter remains my favourite track just due to the images it conjures and its ability to echo around marble halls. Of course, Nergal remains steadfast in his commentary. “Rise up, thou wicked, and blow the doomsday horn,” he snarls, and it’s difficult not to be swept up by the black tides.

One certainly feels that what was once an obscure cult has now opened its gates to a myriad of disciples suggesting that through their energetic and decidedly evil outbursts, Behemoth is now a commercial commodity happy to punish its worshippers / victims with an all too familiar array of deadly blessings. I’ve never questioned the talent behind such bewitching spells, but at the end of the day no amount of aggression or malevolence can convince me. This is still relatively simplistic, yet effectively atmospheric black / death for the masses.

Neil Arnold

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