Evangelion (album)
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| About.com |   [1] |
| Allmusic | [2] |
| Kerrang! | [3] |
| Terrorizer |   [4] |
| Metal Hammer | |
Evangelion is the ninth full-length album by Polish blackened death metal band Behemoth. The album was released on August 7, 2009 through Nuclear Blast Records and on August 11, 2009, through Metal Blade Records in the USA.
The album title refers to the Good News in Christianity; the message of Jesus Christ.
Evangelion comes from a Greek word ‘Spreading the word of God’ or ‘spreading the good news’…oh well, you already know that we love to play with the meanings and symbolism. We’re here to show you our interpretation of what Evangelion really is.
The album cover artwork is a depiction of The Great Harlot of Babylon, the figuress of evil mentioned in the Book of Revelation in the Bible.
The picture is of The Great Harlot of Babylon riding the seven-headed beast. Saints bow before her in worship whilst the tablets of the Ten Commandments lie broken at her feet. It represents our vision and the interpretation of the New Testament parable where the “Whore of Babylon” is a symbol of rebellion and resistance against God.
Recording and production
In January 2009, the band was in the final stages of the songwriting and rehearsal process for the album. Behemoth entered Radio Gdańsk studio in Poland to begin work on the album on February 16, 2009. The band managed to tap Daniel Bergstrand (Meshuggah, In Flames, Dark Funeral) to produce drums on the record. Bergstrand used some unconventional techniques—a big room for the drums to create ambience and 22-channel recording for a more "organic and natural" sound.[7][8]
In March they were close to finish recording the guitars, with help from Wojciech and Sławomir Wiesławski from Studio Hertz. Within five days they completed three songs and laid down three rhythm guitars on each side, after which they worked on the bass, solos and vocals simultaneously.[9][10]
The band also managed to tap Colin Richardson to mix the album. The band had tried to book him before for their previous album, The Apostasy, but he wasn't available then.[11]
In early May, tracking was completed and on May 12 Nergal flew to the United Kingdom to join Colin Richardson to mix the record at Miloco Studios, London.[12] Also in May, Metal Hammer was given the opportunity to listen to three fully completed songs in Miloco Studios.[13] Nergal stated that this was the most relaxing and at the same time the most creative studio session he had ever been a part of.[9]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Daimonos" | Nergal | Nergal | 5:15 |
| 2. | "Shemhamforash" | Nergal | Nergal | 3:56 |
| 3. | "Ov Fire and the Void" | Nergal | Nergal | 4:27 |
| 4. | "Transmigrating Beyond Realms ov Amenti" | Krzysztof Azarewicz | Nergal | 3:27 |
| 5. | "He Who Breeds Pestilence" | Nergal | Nergal | 5:41 |
| 6. | "The Seed ov I" | Nergal, Krzysztof Azarewicz | Nergal | 4:58 |
| 7. | "Alas, Lord Is Upon Me" | Nergal | Nergal | 3:15 |
| 8. | "Defiling Morality ov Black God" | Nergal, Krzysztof Azarewicz | Nergal | 2:49 |
| 9. | "Lucifer" | Tadeusz Miciński | Nergal | 8:06 |
| 10. | "Total Invasion (Japanese Bonus Track)" | Killing Joke | 7:20 | |
| Total length: | 41:54 | |||
Personnel
- Behemoth
- Adam "Nergal" Darski – lead vocals, lead guitar
- Tomasz "Orion" Wróblewski – bass guitar, samples arrangement, additional vocals
- Zbigniew Robert "Inferno" Promiński – drums and percussion, backing vocals on Daimonos
- Patryk Dominik "Seth" Sztyber – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
- Additional musicians and production
- Krzysztof "Siegmar" Oloś – keyboards, arrangements
- Maciej Maleńczuk – spoken word on Lucifer
- Tomasz "Ragaboy" Osiecki – sitar
- Pawel Hulisz – trumpet
- Piotr Kowalkowski – trumpet
- Michal Szczerba – horn
- Bogdan Kwiatek – trombone
- Lukasz Gruba – tuba
- Boris "Hatefrost" Kalyuzhnyy – backing vocals on Daimonos
- Maciej "Manticore" Gruszka – backing vocals on Daimonos
- Daniel Bergstrand – drums producing
- Colin Richardson – audio mixing
- Arkadiusz "Malta" Malczewski – sound engineering, backing vocals on Daimonos
- Kuba Mańkowski – sound engineering
- Wojciech Wiesławski – guitars co-producing
- Sławomir Wiesławski – guitars co-producing
- Jan Bryt – solos and vocals tracking
- Tomasz "Graal" Daniłowicz – cover design and artwork
- Ted Jensen – mastering
Charts
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Austrian Albums Charts[14] | 45 |
| Canadian Albums Charts[15] | 61 |
| Canadian Independent Chart[15] | 6 |
| Canadian Hard Music Chart[15] | 10 |
| Dutch Indie Charts[15] | 5 |
| Finnish Albums Charts[16] | 17 |
| German Albums Charts | 59 |
| Polish Album Charts[15] | 2 |
| Swiss Albums Charts[17] | 88 |
| US Billboard 200[15] | 55 |
| US Hard Rock Albums[15] | 5 |
| US Rock Albums[15] | 17 |
| US Independent Albums[15] | 5 |
| US Hard Music Albums[15] | 6 |
References
- ^ Marsicano, Dan. "Review: Evangelion". About.com. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
- ^ Freeman, Phil. "Review: Evangelion". Allmusic. Retrieved 21 August 2009.
- ^ Slessor, Dan. "Review: Evangelion". Kerrang!. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
- ^ Ellis, Graham. "Review: Evangelion". Terrorizer. Retrieved 31 August 2009.
- ^ "Behemoth Completes Recording New Album". Blabbermouth.net. Roadrunner Records. 11 May 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ "Behemoth Reveal New Album Details". Metal Hammer. Future Publishing. 18 May 2009. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ "Studio entrance and Daniel Bergstrand will produce drums". Retrieved 2009-05-19. [dead link]
- ^ "Second video report online". Retrieved 2009-05-19. [dead link]
- ^ a b "Wieslawscy Bros. will be co-producing guitars". Retrieved 2009-05-19. [dead link]
- ^ "Third video report online". Retrieved 2009-05-19. [dead link]
- ^ "Behemoth announces Colin Richardson will be mixing the album". Retrieved 2009-05-19. [dead link]
- ^ "Album tracking finished". Retrieved 2009-05-19. [dead link]
- ^ "World Exclusive Listen To New Behemoth Tracks!". Retrieved 2009-05-20.
- ^ Steffen Hung. "Behemoth - Evangelion". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2012-02-15.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "BEHEMOTH CHARTS!". Retrieved 2009-08-20. Cite error: The named reference "charts" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ "finnishcharts.com - Behemoth - Evangelion". Retrieved 2009-08-16.
- ^ Steffen Hung (2009-08-23). "Behemoth - Evangelion". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2012-02-15.