๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ - ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ & ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐โฆ
On November 27, 2000, Behemoth released their fifth full-length studio album Thelema.6 via Mystic Production, Peaceville Records, Avantgarde Music, & Osmose Productions in Poland, UK, Italy, & France.
It was later released in Russia via Irond Records in January 2001 and in the United States via Olympic Recordings/Century Media Records on June 12, 2001.
The album was recorded and mixed at Hendrix Studios in Poland in July and August 2000 and was then mastered at High-End Studios in Warsaw, Poland in 2000.
Background:
Following Behemothโs European tours (in support of Satanica) as openers for Deicide and Satyricon, the band went through some line-up changes and had problems with their ex-Polish label. By the time Satanica came out, Inferno and Les were out of the band. Nergal began looking for new members but could not find a new drummer.
Inferno returned to the band in early 2000, along with new members Novy (formerly known from Devilyn, Vader and Dies Irae), who handled the bass duties, and Havok, who became the band's guitarist. After the line-up changes Behemoth signed with the Polish label Mystic Production. Thelema.6 (their follow-up to Satanica), with its massive guitar parts and precise drumming, and influences from different sources, saw Behemoth progress even further towards the Blackened Death Metal sound they are renowned for today.
Thelema.6 was supported by the worldwide press and media, including official releases in Russia and Brazil (for the first time). In support for Thelema.6, Behemoth appeared at several prestigious live events, including Wacken Open Air, With Full Force, Inferno Metal Festival, Mystic Festival, and Mind Over Matter Autumn. They also embarked on their first headlining tour alongside the bands Carpathian Forest and Khold, followed by the festival tour in Poland, Thrash em All Fest with Vader and Krisiun, among others.
More Release Info:
Thelema.6 was re-released in 2000 as a limited digipak edition that was limited to only 1,000 copies. An enhanced audio disc with a video for the song Christians to the Lions was included with the release.
Critical Reception:
In his review, AllMusicโs William York stated;
โThe fifth album from these Polish Black/Death Metal warriors, Thelema.6 makes its virtues clear right from the onset: excellent, full-sounding production (as opposed to the basement blur favored by many black metal bands); tirelessly executed blastbeats and double-bass drumming; and powerful vocals, both in a David Vincent-style (Morbid Angel) Death Metal vein and a slightly higher-pitched Black Metal rasp. This is intense, hard-hitting stuff that just leaps out of the speakers, and the guitar parts -- even if they do sound a tad familiar or predictable in spots -- add an element of catchiness that makes it all pretty accessible from the first listen. Oddly, the four "bonus tracks" tacked on at the end actually provide some of the album's highlights, notably Hello Space Boy, with its two-chord structure, bizarre lyrics, and sung/shrieked vocal mix, and From the Pagan Vastlands, which is just a really well-written black metal tune. Add in a few slight industrial touches, loads of guitar squeals, and some amusingly awkward song titles (e.g., The Universe Illumination (Say 'Hello' to My Demons)), and you have a solid 50 minutes of punishing, over-the-top extreme metal entertainment.โ
While on January 10, 2001, Pedro Azevedo from Chronicles of Chaos wrote;
โIt wasn't much more than a year ago that Behemoth unleashed their mighty Satanica (CoC #43), but this Polish force of remarkably powerful and technical metal seems to be very restless indeed these days. Not many out there seem capable of putting out a record that contains so many technical nuances while remaining such a bludgeoning force. Having said this, the production here didn't turn out to be as impressive as Satanica's -- but it still is very good, though, and the searing vocals are still definitely there. Nevertheless, and despite the fact that none of the tracks on Thelema.6 managed to impress me more than Satanica's amazing opener Decade of Oepion, Behemoth's latest seems overall more consistent than its predecessor. The songs seem to work a bit better together and, as the band continues to move away from Black Metal and towards a very technical style of modern Death Metal, more elements have again been added to the mix that keep things very interesting indeed: the drumming is yet more complex and varied than before, as is the guitar and bass work. Another brilliant output from Behemoth -- although Thelema.6 doesn't go far enough for me to want to bestow upon Behemoth the 10 out of 10 that I hoped I would, I find in it no relevant signs of the band stagnating or losing momentum either.โ
Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. โ E.N. Wells
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