### Behemoth: Thelema .6

#### 06/08/07 || theProphet

I first heard of Behemoth when I was flipping through an old guitarist’s magazine and came across an advert for their album “Demigod”, described as the “New release from the world’s most EVIL band.”

The part of being most evil especially caught my interest so I went home (actually I went home about 4 hours later cause I was in school, and I’m too much of a pussy to cut class), donned my eye patch, boots and shoulder-parrot and ventured out on the World Wide Web to get my hands on a couple of songs by this exciting new EVIL. The first title that really stood out was “Christians to the Lions”, which by the way is one of the most EVIL song titles ever conceived, no doubt making a lot of bands crying in frustration of not making it up first themselves.

I was immediately struck by the EVIL opening riff in the song, followed by the very EVIL lines “Behold, bastard son, I am the EVIL one!”, delivered by an obviously very EVIL vocalist. I did however realize that the song was in fact not from the aforementioned album, but from a previous opus of EVILness called “Thelema .6” (which is a title that can never end a sentence because it looks ridiculous, try typing it and see). I decided to investigate it further.

After this sensible, well planned introduction, on to the ACTUAL REVIEW then…

The album starts with a very EVIL statement about killing people, which sets the mood right away. This is followed up by a slow, dramatic riff, showing the black metal roots of the band. It’s all very suggestive, and if you close your eyes you can see lines of naked people walking towards some big fucking incinerator, in which they are shoved by some EVIL looking demon. And by the way, the track is called “Antichristian Phenomenon”, and it has got its own EP, well deservedly, I might add.

I’ve decided not to write a track-by-track description of the album, instead I will use the very cunning device of doing the beginning, which I just did, the middle, which just happens to be “Christians to the Lions”, which I have done loosely, suffice to say it’s a badass song. And appropriately last, the last tune.

This is, the magnificent, wonderful “23 (The Youth Manifesto)”, I have no idea what 23 has to do with youth, but I do not doubt it’s a number of significant relevance. However the opening part of this beauty is absolute magic, if the opening riff in “Antichristian Phenomenon” was atmospheric, this is VERY atmospheric. Anyhow, this is one of my absolute favorite Behemoth tracks, ever, and this one track alone is worth the price of the entire CD. It’s really that good.

Production- and musicianship-wise, “Thelema. 6” surpasses all the earlier works by the band. The production is not as streamlined as the follow ups, but on the other testicle this helps to make the album a little rough around the edges, and that is really my cup of virgin blood. All members of the band show that they are very adept at handling their respective instrument, and Nergal’s vocal performance is stunningly brutal and EVIL (there it is again) and shows that he did an amazing job, even before he was technically assisted with dubs and fuck knows what.

To sum it up, this album features some of the greatest songs Behemoth has ever created, two of them; “Christian to the Lions” and “23 (The Youth Manifesto)”, are in my Top 5 of Greatest Behemoth Songs Ever Made. But it doesn’t stop there, the album is as packed as Oscar Wilde’s anus ,with catchy, brutal tunes of EVIL.

If you’re already a Behemoth fan, I’m surprised you don’t own this already, and hence don’t give a fuck what some reviewer has to say about it as you already have your OWN FUCKING OPINION!!! If you are not a fan, I don’t get why you’re reading this review at all. And finally if you’ve never heard about the band this is a great way to start this acquaintance of EVIL.

8 incinerator manning demons out of 10.

- Information
- Released: 2000
- Label: Avantgarde Music
- Website: www.behemoth.pl
- Band
- Nergal: guitar, vocals
- Havoc: guitars
- Novy: bass
- Inferno: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Antichristian Phenomenon
- 02. The Act of Rebellion
- 03. Inflamed With Rage
- 04. PAN SATYROS
- 05. Natural Born Philosopher
- 06. Christians to the Lions
- 07. Inauguration of Scorpio Dome
- 08. In the Garden of Dispersion
- 09. The Universe Illumination (Say ‘Hello’ to My Demons)
- 10. VINVM SABBATI
- 11. 23 (The Youth Manifesto)