BEHEMOTH: 'The Satanist' Pushed Back To 2014

"The Satanist", the tenth full-length album from Polish extreme metallers BEHEMOTH, has had its release date pushed back to 2014 via Nuclear Blast in Europe and Metal Blade in North America. The CD was recorded at Hertz studio in Bialystok, Poland with the help of the Wieslawscy brothers and Daniel Bergstrand (MESHUGGAH, IN FLAMES, SOILWORK, STRAPPING YOUNG LAD). Songtitles set to appear on the effort include "Blow Your Trumpet, Gabriel" — described by Darski as "killer" and "a monster"; "Messe Noir" (French for "The Black Mass"); and "Ora Pro Nobis, Lucifer" (Latin for "Pray For Us, Lucifer").

Comments BEHEMOTH guitarist/vocalist Adam "Nergal" Darski: "I'm listening to the new mix of the album... and it's SPECTACULAR. If you can imagine something that beats the shit out of 'Evangelion', this is it!

"We shall take another six months before we put it out... Sorry, but that's what it needs. Be patient. This album will shake the Mount Sinai!"

In a recent interview with Revolver magazine, Darski described BEHEMOTH's new songs as "very atmospheric" and "very emotional." "Think BURZUM meets NEW ORDER meets KILLING JOKE," he added. But at the same time, fans shouldn't expect the album to sound too far removed from BEHEMOTH's past efforts. "Take SLAYER, for example," Darski said. "Whatever genre they deal with, they still end up sounding like SLAYER. Even when they were flirting with nu-metal, it was a SLAYER record. Same with BEHEMOTH."

According to Darski, at least some of the inspiration for the new BEHEMOTH album is coming from his five-month bout of leukemia he overcame in January 2011, after receiving a bone-marrow transplant. "When I was in the hospital, I was collecting experiences and emotions," he said. "I'm pretty sure that it's coming out now. There are moments I catch myself thinking about how my state was back then. It was me versus life, me versus death. It definitely changed my thoughts a lot. It's 100 percent being reflected in the record and songs I'm writing nowadays. I'm way more radical than I used to be."

Regarding the title of the new BEHEMOTH album, Darski said, "It took us over two decades to come up with a title that… says it all.

"While our new songs artistically take surprisingly adventurous directions, our message stands steadfast — proud and radical.

"'The Satanist' stands for undying yearning for liberation and love for freedom in all aspects of life.

"Considering all our life experiences that often took dramatic curves, I couldn't think of more appropriate and fitting statement of who and where we are now."

Drummer Kerim "Krimh" Lechner (ex-DECAPITATED) recently played several shows with BEHEMOTH as the temporary replacement for Zbigniew Robert Prominski (a.k.a. Inferno) who is recovering from appendix surgery.

BEHEMOTH was forced to cancel its appearance at the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival due to Inferno taking ill and requiring surgery.