The Satanist (album)

Last updated

I reject all order, all ideas / I trust no abstraction, no doctrine / I don't believe in god, nor in mind / Forget all gods! I don't believe in God. Give me man! / May he be like me, troubled and immature / confused and incomplete, dark and obscure so that I can dance with him!/ Pretend to him! Ingratiate myself with him! / And rape him, love him and forge myself / Anew from him, so I can grow through him, and in / that way / Celebrate my marriage in the sacred human church!. [16]

Critical reception and legacy

The Satanist
BehemothTheSatanist.png
Cover art (containing Nergal's blood) by Denis Forkas [1]
Studio album by
Released3 February 2014
RecordedFebruary – June 2013
StudioHertz Studio (Białystok, Poland), RG Studio (Gdańsk, Poland)
Genre
Length44:17
Language
Label
Producer
Behemoth chronology
Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel
(2013)
The Satanist
(2014)
Live Barbarossa
(2014)
Behemoth studio album chronology
Evangelion
(2009)
The Satanist
(2014)
I Loved You at Your Darkest
(2018)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 92/100 [17]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Exclaim! Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [18]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [19]
Loudwire Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [20]
Pitchfork 8.2/10 [21]
PopMatters Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [22]
Rock Sound Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [23]
Spin Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [24]
Teraz Rock Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [25]
Terrorizer Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [26]

The Satanist received acclaim from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 92, which indicates "universal acclaim", based on 10 reviews. [17] Joe DiVita of Loudwire noted that the album "sees the band shed away that skin as they simultaneously get back to some of their blackened roots while exploring new areas with… dynamic songwriting".[ citation needed ] The album claimed the top spot on Loudwire's list of the best metal albums of 2014, with Loudwire hailing it "a masterpiece from beginning to end, with absolutely no filler". [27]

Grayson Currin of Pitchfork wrote: "The Satanist is a terrific coil of most everything Behemoth have ever done well, a strangely hopeful vision of hell wrested away from its very grip." [21] The editorial staff of Dutch webzine Lords of Metal named it the third best album of 2014, [28] after a score of 93/100 for the initial album review. [29]

In 2019 the album was voted the "Best Metal Album of the Decade" by publications such as Loudwire, Consequence of Sound and others. [30] [31]

"It's a really intense album," observed comedian Bill Bailey. "And the music is so orchestral, almost: the guitars layered on and this sort of tornado of drums… It's epic. I listen to it when I'm cycling." [32]

Track listing

All music composed by Nergal. All arrangements by Behemoth. All lyrics written by Nergal, except where noted.

No.TitleLyricsLength
1."Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel" 4:25
2."Furor Divinus" 3:06
3."Messe Noire"
  • Nergal
  • Krzysztof Azarewicz
4:04
4."Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer"
  • Nergal
  • Azarewicz
5:35
5."Amen" 3:49
6."The Satanist" 5:33
7."Ben Sahar" 5:34
8."In the Absence ov Light" 4:58
9."O Father O Satan O Sun!"
  • Nergal
  • Azarewicz
7:13
Total length:44:17
Australian bonus track
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
10."Ludzie Wschodu" (Siekiera cover)Tomasz AdamskiAdamski4:11
Japanese bonus tracks
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
10."Ludzie Wschodu" (Siekiera cover)Tomasz AdamskiAdamski4:11
11."Chant for Ezkaton 2000 E.V."Krzysztof Azarewicz 5:10
12."Qadosh"Azarewicz 5:00
Special edition DVD (Live Barbarossa – Behemoth 26 September 2012, Ekaterinburg, Russia)
No.TitleLyricsLength
1."Intro" (instrumental) 2:44
2."Ov Fire and the Void"Nergal4:38
3."Demigod"Nergal4:11
4."Moonspell Rites"Nergal7:20
5."Conquer All"Nergal4:09
6."Christians to the Lions"Nergal5:05
7."The Seed ov I"
  • Nergal
  • Krzysztof Azarewicz
5:40
8."Alas, Lord is Upon Me"Nergal3:59
9."Decade ov Therion"Azarewicz3:46
10."At the Left Hand ov God"
  • Nergal
  • Azarewicz
5:11
11."Slaves Shall Serve"Azarewicz3:37
12."Chant for Ezkaton 2000 E.V."Azarewicz6:50
13."23 (The Youth Manifesto)"Nergal4:33
14."Lucifer" Tadeusz Miciński 9:34
15."The Satanist: Oblivion" (documentary) 25:04

Personnel

Production and performance credits are adapted from the album liner notes.

Release history

RegionDateLabel
Europe3 February 2014 Nuclear Blast
United StatesFebruary 4, 2014 Metal Blade
Poland Mystic
Japan5 February 2014 JVC Kenwood Victor
Australia7 February 2014EVP
CIS18 February 2014 [33] New Aeon Musick/Фоно/Metal Star

Charts

Chart (2014)Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA) [34] 78
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [35] 24
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [36] 88
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [37] 74
Canadian Albums Chart [38] 46
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI) [39] 14
Danish Albums (Hitlisten) [40] 34
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [41] 70
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [42] 7
French Albums (SNEP) [43] 52
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [44] 11
Japanese Albums (Oricon) [45] 86
Polish Albums (ZPAV) [46] 1
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [47] 45
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [48] 33
UK Albums (OCC) [49] 57
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC) [50] 4
US Billboard 200 [51] 34
US Independent Albums (Billboard) [52] 6
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [53] 9
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard) [54] 4
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard) [55] 3

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