BEHEMOTH „“Ezkaton” EP”

Style: Death Metal
Country: Poland
Web site: www.behemoth.pl
Cool Songs: Chant for Ezkaton 2000 e.v., Jama Pekel, Qadosh

Over the years, ‘Chant for Eschaton 2000’ has become BEHEMOTH’s trademark track. Fans have come to expect Poland’s biggest death metal act to complete every live set with the said track. It also marks change in the group: The change from a low fi, underground black metal act to a more polished death metal sound on the “Satanica” album and onward.

This sound ultimately served the formula for the band’s current success. Considering the said track symbolizes change within the group, it serves a great purpose to call Behemoth’s latest EP an incarnation of the song—“Ezkaton,” for the group has made another major change. No longer under the guidance of Century Media Records, BEHEMOTH has transitioned to Metal Blade.

“Ezkaton” predictably contains ‘Chant for Eschaton,’ although they spelled this word ‘Ezkaton.’ The “Ezkaton” EP includes two renderings of the said song, one live version and one rerecording. In addition to these two tracks, BEHEMOTH listed two other live tracks, ‘From the Pagan Vastlands’ and ‘Decade Ov Therion,’ two covers—RAMONES ‘I’m Not Jesus’ and MASTER’S HAMMER ‘Jama Pekel.’ Also, “Ezkaton” provides a brief glimpse into new material with one original track, ‘Qadosh.’

‘Jama Pekel’ seemed a fitting cover considering the impact MASTER’S HAMMER had on Eastern European death metal, and BEHEMOTH definitely does the group justice. The RAMONES track seemed out of the ordinary, but BEHEMOTH smoothly combines their death metal style with punk.

Compared to the original “Satanica” track, ‘EzKaton’ slows down in pace but beefs up in tone. It really doesn’t matter what BEHEMOTH does with this track as long as the main component stays intact: the black metal riffing. The main riff on this track could very well be BEHEMOTH's most recognized riff simply because it’s their best.

“Ezkaton” does not offer anything special from the BEHEMOTH camp. The cover tracks are interesting, but cover songs hardly warrant dishing out your hard-earned cash. BEHEMOTH picked three strong songs from their live set. Hearing updated versions of ‘Chant for Eschalon’ and ‘From the Pagan Vastlands’ is a treat, especially ‘the Vastlands’ since it represents the group’s black metal era. Still, this album is a mere appetizer; the main course will come later. Judging by their newest track ‘Qadosh,’ which is true to the current BEHEMOTH sound (blast beats, melodic solos, chugging rhythms and even horns), the next studio album should keep BEHEMOTH at the top of the global death metal heap.

note: 7/10

Tracklist

1. Chant For Ezkaton 2000 e.v.
2. Qadosh
3. Jama Pekel (Master's Hammer Cover)
4. I'm Not Jesus (Ramones Cover)
5. From The Pagan Vastlands (Live)
6. Decade Ov Therion (Live)
7. Chant For Ezkaton 2000 e.v. (Live)
Total playing time 27:56

Line-up

Nergal – Vocals, Guitar
Inferno – Drums, Percussion
Orion- Bass