At The Arena Ov Aion – Live Apostasy Review

Released: Oct 2008
Genre: Blackened death metal
Label: Regain
Number Of Tracks: 17
I heartily recommend that you get this or, if you get the chance, to go and see them in the flesh.

Sound:	10
Lyrics:	9
Impression:	9
Overall rating:	8.8
Reviewer rating:	9.3
Users rating:	8.2
Votes:	14

overall: 9.3

Reviewed by: Cheeseman Jay, on july 15, 2010

Sound: The first show that I ever saw was on the 23rd of October in Wolverhampton. DevilDriver were the headliners but it was one of the spport acts that stole the show; Behemoth. Behemoth have an enthralling live show, featuring corpse paint, eerie lighting and an altar made of snakes. However, he most important part of any live show is the quality of the musicianship and Behemoth certainly have a lot of quality. This quality is very apparent on their first live album (recorded in Paris on the 27th February, 2008), At the Arena ov Aion – Live Apostasy. The tracklist is a devillish mixture of material that spans their glorious career. Here is the tracklist:

01. Rome 64 E.V."
02. Slaying the Prophets Ov Isa
03. Antichristian Phenomenon
04. Demigod
05. From the Pagan Vastlands
06. Conquer All
07. Prometherion
08. Drum Solo
09. Slaves Shall Serve
10. As Above So Below
11. At the Left Hand Ov God
12. Summoning Ov the Ancient Ones
13. Christgrinding Avenue
14. Christians to the Lions
15. Sculpting the Throne Ov Seth
16. Decade Ov Therion
17. Chant for Ezkaton 2000 E.V.

With such a mix of old and new material, any fan would be very pleased. Now for the best thing about this album; Behemoth are absolutely amazing live. These live tracks could well be studio recordings and sometimes you do forget that they aren't. Stand out songs for me are 'Antichristian Phenomenon', 'Conquer All' and 'Slaves Shall Serve'. // 10

Lyrics and Singing: I've said this many times; Nergal is a great frontman. He really demonstrates that talent here, skillfully performing every song without a even a hint of strain on his voice. It is a welcome change for a Death Metal band to have such a focus on the vocals and I think that's why I love Behemoth so much. The lyrics now. They're some of the best lyricists in Death Metal. I realise that's something of a sweeping statement but I'm just a little bit bored of bands trying to be 'br00tal' by just writing mindless gibberish about malpractice surgery and problems with male sexual organs (glances at Cannibal Corpse). There's something about Behemoth's use of Satanic imagery (though before anyone gets very angry, they are not Satanic) and practices of the occult that shows that they have spent time researching their lyrics and make the convey their message. // 9

Impression: This is a quality live album. There have been a few times when I've listened to a band I love on their live album and I've been dissappointed. Not with this though. I don't want people to think that I'm some kind of Behemoth fan-boy but they truly are brilliant. I heartily recommend that you get this or, if you get the chance, to go and see them in the flesh. You won't regret it. // 9

Comments

[EpiExplorer]

Awesome.

[krvolok]

Hate to brake it to you that imagery is satanic(and that's a good thing!),
the problem is that many think that satanists are
a bunch of guys wearing black robes and inverted crosses
chanting away the night...
Satanism as Satan him/herself hails form the east and from the east they brought symbols,myths and philosophies along with them.


You forgot to mention the last song Chant for Ezkaton 2000

[Jimmy-G]

Saw behemoth live a few months ago and they were amazing. Its annoying that people just see them and blindly label them as satanists etc before actually researching the band and finding out for themselves that they are not. Good review, I agree with you completeley

[krvolok]

Jimmy-G wrote:

Its annoying that people just see them and blindly label them as satanists etc before actually researching the band and finding out for themselves that they are not.

If you are referring to me,I did not say that they are satanists,one need not be a satanist to talk abut satan nor the other way around.The principle lyrical element since Pandemic Invocations is Satan,
and that why I love Behemoth,they dont have pussy gore lyrics,it's Satan all the way.

[catastrofx617]

Caught them at Ozzfest 07 on the 2nd stage. Great show, they made 2nd stage standout more than the first stage did.

[Coster]

gay

[zeyth]

Nergal has stated being a Satanist in interviews, and many of their songs (and the symbols they use) are inspired by Aleister Crowley's 'Thelema'.
Here's an example of an interview where Nergal talks a little bit about his beliefs:
http://www.metalwarrants.com/interviews/... tml

[deftools]

Satanists are just as gay and stupid as Christians
What they believe is usually twice as backward and stupid too, but for some reason because satanism is evil mostly and not nice like Christianity , people think its cool.
Which is a pity, its about the only thing that would stop me becoming a die-hard behemoth fan.
This album , musically is ****ing awesome though. They have to be one of the greatest death metal bands of all time by now. And the production on this record is amazing for live death metal. I just wish some of the older giants of metal would use similar production ideas to Behemoth, In my opinion this recording is better quality then most studio released death metal albums !

[zeyth]

Satanists are just as gay and stupid as Christians What they believe is usually twice as backward and stupid too, but for some reason because satanism is evil mostly and not nice like Christianity , people think its cool.

There are many different beliefs categorised as Satanism, and not all Satanic beliefs worship the devil of christianity, as most think of when they hear 'Satanism'.