Behemoth (band)

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Behemoth

Background information
Origin	Poland
Genre(s)	Black metal (early) Blackened death metal
Years active	1991 – present
Label(s)	Pagan Records Avant-garde Music Regain Records Century Media
Website	http://www.behemoth.pl/
Members
Adam Darski Tomasz Wróblewski Zbigniew Robert Promiński Patryk Dominik Sztyber
Former members
Leszek "Les L.Kaos" Adam "Desecrator" Malinowski Mo "Jihader" Azzurri - curry coated skin-flute Rafał "Frost Browar" Brauer "Mafisto" "Orcus" Marcin "Novy" Nowak Mateusz Maurycy "Havok" Śmierzchalski Adam "Baal Ravenlock" Muraszko

Behemoth is an influential Polish blackened death metal band. They are considered to have played one of the most important roles in establishing the Polish extreme metal underground, alongside Vader, Graveland and Sacrilegium. Until early 2000s, the band played classic black metal with heathen lyrical content, but soon changed to that of occult and thelemic themes written by their lead vocalist, Nergal and Krzysztof Azarewicz. This coincided with an increase in musical craftsmanship that allowed them to expand out of the black metal underground and garnered them with some international recognition. With the 2004 release of Demigod, they had fully embraced brutal technical death metal, while retaining their own signature style characterized by the staggering drumwork of Inferno, multi-layered vocals and Nile-style middle-eastern influence. Their transition from black to death metal has made them "traitors" in the eyes of some fans, but they have become respected in the modern death metal scene, often mentioned alongside other bands such as Nile (with whom they have collaborated and toured).