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Nergal (centre), Orion (right), and Inferno (Left). Hey, Where's Seth?
This is not the page for a big-ass monster.
Behemoth is a Blackened Death Metal band from Poland, and one of the largest extreme metal bands in their country. Formed in 1991, they started as a straight Black Metal band, but changed their sound over time to include more and more Death Metal elements, while keeping the visual style of a black metal band. Vocalist and guitarist Nergal was diagnosed with leukemia, but managed to survive it.
Members
- Adam "Nergal" Darski - Vocals and Guitar
- Tomasz "Orion" Wróblewski -Bass
- Zbigniew Robert "Inferno" Promiński - Drums
- Patryk "Seth" Sztyber - Guitar
Discography:
- Sventevith (Storming Near the Baltic) - 1995
- Grom - 1996
- Pandemonic Incantations - 1998
- Satanica - 1999
- Thelema.6 - 2000
- Zos Kia Cultus (Here and Beyond) - 2002
- Demigod - 2004
- The Apostasy - 2007
- Evangelion - 2009
Behemoth provides examples of the following tropes:
- All Drummers Are Animals - Averted with Inferno. Though incredibly fast and precise on the drums he is one of the most low key members of the group
- Author Existence Failure - Averted by Nergal, who was diagnosed with lukemia and was initially told that it was too advanced to fight. He eventually beat the disease. See Crowning Moment of Heartwarming
- Awesome McCoolname - All the members have one for a nickname
- Epic Rocking - "The Reign of Shemsu-Hor" and "Lucifer" both clock in at over eight minutes each
- Four-Temperament Ensemble - Nergal is Choleric, Inferno is Melancholic, Orion is Plegmatic, and Seth is Sanguine
- Harsh Vocals
- Indecipherable Lyrics - Par for the course for extreme metal
- Mean Character, Nice Actor - All of the members
- Metal Scream - Constantly
- Mohs Scale of Rock and Metal Hardness - Solid 10 throughout the discography
- Moral Guardians - Behemoth have had at least two run ins with censorship in their home country:
- In 2007 they were accused by the All Polish Committee for Defense Against Sects of promoting satanism and murder. No ban has come from the polish government...yet
- In 2010 Nergal was charged with denouncing religion for tearing a bible up on stage in mid-set. While he was faced two years in prison if convicted, he was ultimately acquitted
- 2011 brought both an inversion and straight case of Moral Guardianship. He was invited to take part in a TV show on public channel, which unsurprisingly whipped the Moral Guardians into a frenzy
- My Friends and Zoidberg - Even though Seth is a full member of the band he is sometimes not included in promo photos. He is also occasionally listed separately in the credits from Nergal, Orion and Inferno
- Narm - While not universal, some find the facepaint and body amour too over-the-top
- New Sound Album - Behemoth introduced Death Metal influences starting with Satanica and increased them over time to the point where very little Black Metal sound is present. Starting with Zos Kia Cultus, they had evolved into full-on death metal, though they still kept the black metal outfits, which contrasts with their sound somewhat.
- Rock Me, Asmodeus - "Be Without Fear," "Shemhamforash," and "Lucifer" are just three examples. This is a common lyrical trope for Behemoth
- Self-Backing Vocalist - On the more recent albums Nergal overdubs his voice with both high and low screams to give a more brutal vocal sound. This has caused some to call They Changed It, Now It Sucks
- Shout-Out - The band's nicknames are all references to mythology or literature. Nergal was an ancient Babylonian deity, Inferno is a reference to the Divine Comedy, Orion is a character in Classical Mythology, and Seth is the brother of Cain and Abel
- It's also an alternate name for Set, the god of darkness and chaos in Egyptian Mythology, which is probably where it came from.
- Signature Song - Pre-Evangelion Probably "Conquer All" but post-Evangelion it's "Ov Fire and the Void"
- There's also "Chant for Ezchaton 2000," which they often end their sets with.
- Vocal Dissonance - Believe it or not, the skinny guy in this picture is actually Nergal.