(Photo credit: BEHEMOTH! Facebook)
Widespread Critical Acclaim For The Legendary Behemoth’s New Studio Album – The Satanist
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BEHEMOTH – The legendary Nergal and Behemoth have received a quantum amount of Metal attention in recent weeks, due to the release of their tenth studio album: The Satanist. From all corners of the Metal community, the reviews for The Satanist have been pouring in, from favorable to perfect. The largely circulated Metal magazines have been featuring Nergal and Behemoth as their respective cover stories, from Terrorizer to Metal Hammer and many, many in-between.
The Satanist was released on February 4th, in both North America and in Behemoth’s home country of Poland, via Metal Blade Records. A February 3rd release date happened for Europe, via Nuclear Blast. I bought my copy of The Satanist (CD/DVD edition) at Best Buy for $9.99 (U.S.) on release day and the cover art differs from the art that has been more widely shown and marketed for the CD:
This silver cover version (above, with band logo and upside down album title) is a tremendous piece of art unto itself! Truthfully, the black band logo and upside down album title, atop the silver background, speaks for itself. This is, in my Metal opinion, a perfect example of less is more, in the world of art.
The liner notes for the CD/DVD edition are done with graphic design elegance, featuring pages dedicated for the words of Nergal pertaining to the lyrics and development of every song, with an added overlay page of vellum for each. The loyalty that Nergal has towards Satan is very forthright, within these pages of liner notes. The DVD contains The Satanist: Oblivion – Live Barbarossa. An incredible package of liner notes, and additional artwork; simply stunning!
Denis Forkas Kostromitin is the artist for The Satanist cover (above). A Russian painter and occultist, Denis Forkas Kostromitin is world-renowned and created a brilliant, haunting and nightmarish dark work of art, in my Metal opinion. This painting even included the added medium of Nergal’s own blood. That is a fascinating way to become a personal part of your own artistic and spiritual vision and Nergal has done just that!
I will soon write a review for The Satanist and will (as always) be non-biased when it comes to the lyrical content based on spiritual beliefs. Metal music is an art form that I cherish, therefore my already instilled belief systems on spirituality, morality and ethics can never be swayed at this point in my Metal life. However, I’ve never been bashful to critique a bad album cover. Perhaps it’s due to my past college experience I’ve had with all of my fine art classes.
As a past student of the fine arts, I took a beating from critiques and was commended as well. With that said, I’ve always believed the Metal genre to be the crème de la crème of artistic vision when album cover and liner notes art are discussed; and The Satanist visual art is a radiant gem. Nergal, Behemoth and Denis Forkas Kostromitin should deservedly be proud about the visual side of The Satanist.
For me, the music of Metal and its corresponding visual art is what I gravitate towards; while the personal and/or theological beliefs, ideals and lyrics of any respective band falls under individual liberties and free speech. These freedoms none of us should take for granted. The Satanist raises the bar for Metal visual art, for many, many years to come. Metal be thy name. – Stone
The Satanist is available on Amazon.com:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Satanist-Behemoth/dp/B00I0QQ4ZG
You can also purchase The Satanist on iTunes, by clicking that cool link below! Whoa!
https://itunes.apple.com/album/id765742794
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* For more info on BEHEMOTH:
Facebook: BEHEMOTH!
Website: http://www.behemoth.pl
* For more info on Denis Forkas Kostromitin:
Website: http://www.denisforkas.com
LONG LIVE BEHEMOTH.
LONG LIVE METAL.
Stone.
Metal Odyssey > Heavy Metal Music Blog 
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