Behemoth – Demonica.

Behemoth fans are in for a treat with this release. Demonica is a 2xcd 23 song compilation box set compiled from demo’s,unreleased and re-recorded songs.Only 10,000 are for sale and include an A5 digipack,slipcase and a 44 page book with rare photos and lyrics.

The bulk of Demonica comes from:-

Return Of The Northern Moon demo.
Sventevith (Storming near the Baltic) studio sessions.
And The Forests Dream Eternally e.p.
Demigod studio sessions.
From The Pagan Vastlands demo.
From The Pagan Vastlands pre production.

Scheduled for release on 22nd Nov via Metal Blade Records.

A lot of the music on show here is very raw and gives the listener an insight into Behemoth’s progression to the 2009 release of Evangelion. Personal highlights for me from Demonica are the following tracks : Rise Of The Blackstorm Of Evil opens with a crushing riff,vocals from Nergal as if he had swallowed broken glass and careers to a steamroller finish.

Cursed Angel Of Doom is a 100mph black metal killer with hyper speed drumming. From Hornedlands To Lindisfarne is another black metal thrasher clocking in at 6 mins! Deathcrush is an awesome take on Mayhem’s version and so to is Aggressor,an old Hellhammer song featuring Nergal doing a very good Tom G Warrior impression.

Polish based Behemoth are currently the best selling black metal band worldwide.Controversial frontman Nergal was hospitalised with leukaemia in August 2010,a suitable bone marrow donor was found,he left the hospital in Jan. 2011 and miraculously sang onstage with Fields Of The Nephilim for one song in Katowice just 4 months later!Behemoth have just played 6 dates in Poland and have been booked for Metalfest in May/June 2012.

I give Demonica a rating of 8.5/10

Track listing:-
Cd 1.
Of My Worship.
Summoning Of The Ancient Gods.
The Arrival.
Dark Triumph.
Monumentum.
Rise Of The Blackstorm Of Evil.
Aggressor (Hellhammer cover).
Goat With A 1000 Young.
Bless Thee For Granting Me Pain (un-released).
Cursed Angel Of Doom (un-released).
Transylvanian Forest (un-released and re-recorded).

Cd 2.
From Hornedlands To Lindisfarne.
Thy Winter Kingdom.
Summoning Of The Ancient Ones.
The Dance Of The Pagan Flames.
Blackvisions Of The Almighty Type.
Fields Of Haar Meggido.
Deathcrush (Mayhem cover).
Moonspell Rites (alternative version).
Blackvisions Of The Almighty (alternative version).
Pure Evil And Hate (unreleased alternative version).
The Oak Between The Snows (un-released).
Spellcraft And Heathendom (un-released and re-recorded).