After making some headlines with non-musical news, Nergal finally announced his complete recovery and return to music, and later unveiled Behemoth's plans regarding studio album number ten. Given all that has happened before this album, calling it metal's most anticipated album of 2014 would seem reasonable given the usual buzz created by any upcoming Behemoth release. The album was to be titled, rather uncompromisingly, _The Satanist_; a bold heading for a bold album wherein Nergal, Orion and Inferno further lurk into the darker depths of Satanism and continue to present a very theatrical artistic experience where the music, image, videos and stage performances come together as one.

Act one of _The Satanist_ begins with the previously released single "Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel" which sets the stage with its brooding, dark ambience and extreme urgency. Chaos is unleashed midway through the track, which signals the beginning of an ever-tightening grip on the listener's attention. The grip is strengthened by the viciousness of "Furor Divinus" and Nergal's downright disturbing vocal delivery on "Messe Noire". The intensity continues to rise with the back to back assault of "The Satanist"'s fantastic lead guitar work and the sublime rhythmic flow of "Ben Sahar". After thirty seven minutes of arguably the most dynamic death metal record to be released in 2014, the formidable seven minute long ode to the dark lord "O Father O Satan O Sun!" ends proceedings with one of the most gripping and dark pieces ever put to a Behemoth disc.

Some may argue that a name like _The Satanist_ would be more acceptable coming from a band half Behemoth's age, or argue that guys in their mid-thirties should be well past the point of Satanic fascination. Yet _The Satanist_ itself serves as the counter argument. The album's incisiveness and potency in its very well measured forty five minute duration is indeed a lesson in balance; a lesson in pushing the envelope of extreme metal without falling way out of bounds and losing any kind of sense of what the band needs to sound like. The gentlemen in Behemoth have indeed lived up to the expectations laid before them and delivered an outstanding extreme metal album that will definitely haunt listeners for days on end.