''Evangelion'' is the ninth studio album by Polish

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

band Behemoth. The album was released on 7 August 2009 through

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...

Records, and on 11 August 2009 through

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distrib ...

in the United States.

Background

The album title refers to the Good News in

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

; the message of

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

. The album's cover artwork is a depiction of The Great Harlot of Babylon, the figures of evil mentioned in the

Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament (and consequently the final book of the Christian Bible). Its title is derived from the first word of the Koine Greek text: , meaning "unveiling" or "revelation". The Book of R ...

in the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

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 Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

to begin work on the album on 16 February 2009. The band managed to tap Daniel Bergstrand (

Meshuggah Meshuggah () is a Swedish extreme metal band formed in Umeå in 1985. Originally, the band's name was Metallien. The band's current lineup consists of lead vocalist Jens Kidman, guitarists Fredrik Thordendal and Mårten Hagström, drummer To ...

In Flames In Flames is a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by guitarist Jesper Strömblad in Gothenburg in 1990. Alongside At the Gates and Dark Tranquillity, In Flames pioneered the genres known as Swedish death metal and melodic death metal. During t ...

Dark Funeral Dark Funeral is a Swedish black metal band from Stockholm, founded by guitarists Blackmoon and Lord Ahriman in 1993. They emerged during the second wave of black metal. Their lyrical themes have traditionally pertained to Satanism and anti-Chr ...

) 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. 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. The band also managed to tap

Colin Richardson Colin Richardson is a British record producer, mixer and recording engineer. He has worked on over 100 albums and is most frequently associated with heavy metal and its subgenres. Career Some of the bands he has worked for include: * 3 In ...

to mix the album. The band had tried to book him before for their previous album, ''

The Apostasy ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'', but he wasn't available then. In early May, tracking was completed and on 12 May Nergal flew to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

to join Colin Richardson to mix the record at

Miloco Studios Miloco Studios are a group of recording studios based in London, England. History Miloco was formed out of the merging of three former London recording studios: Milo Music, The Garden and Orinoco Studios. Milo Music began in 1984 as a small stu ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. Also in May, ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' features news, reviews and long-form ...

'' was given the opportunity to listen to three fully completed songs in Miloco Studios. 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.

Track listing

All lyrics written by

Nergal Nergal ( Sumerian: d''KIŠ.UNU'' or ; ; Aramaic: ܢܸܪܓܲܠ; la, Nirgal) was a Mesopotamian god worshiped through all periods of Mesopotamian history, from Early Dynastic to Neo-Babylonian times, with a few attestations under indicating hi ...

, except where noted. All music composed by Nergal.

Credits

Writing, performance and production credits are adapted from the album liner notes.

Personnel

Behemoth

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

guitars The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

Inferno Inferno may refer to: * Hell, an afterlife place of suffering * Conflagration, a large uncontrolled fire Film * ''L'Inferno'', a 1911 Italian film * Inferno (1953 film), ''Inferno'' (1953 film), a film noir by Roy Ward Baker * Inferno (1973 fi ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

on "Daimonos" * Orion – bass, backing vocals on "Daimonos"

Session musicians

Seth Seth,; el, Σήθ ''Sḗth''; ; "placed", "appointed") in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Mandaeism, and Sethianism, was the third son of Adam and Eve and brother of Cain and Abel, their only other child mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible. A ...

– guitars, backing vocals on "Daimonos"

Additional musicians

* Siegmar – samples,

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

* Hevelius Brass quintet ** Pawel Hulisz –

trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

** Piotr Kowalkowski – trumpet ** Michal Szczerba –

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

** Bogdan Kwiatek –

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

** Lukasz Gruba –

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...

* Boris "Hatefrost" Kalyuzhnyy – backing vocals on "Daimonos" * Maciej "Manticore" Gruszka – backing vocals "Daimonos" * Arkadiusz Malczewski – backing vocals "Daimonos" * Tomasz "Ragaboy" Osiecki –

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...

on "Shemhamforash" *

Maciej Maleńczuk Mirosław Maciej Maleńczuk (born August 14, 1961 in Wojcieszów, Lower Silesian Voivodeship), also known as Vladimir, is a Polish vocalist, guitarist, poet, former leader of music groups Püdelsi and Homo Twist. He performed as a guest with ...

– spoken word on "Lucifer"

Production

* Behemoth –

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

* Daniel Bergstrand – co-production * Sławomir Wiesławski – co-production * Wojciech Wiesławski – co-production *

– co-production, mixing * Arkadiusz Malczewski –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

* Janusz Bryt – engineering * Kuba Mańkowski – engineering *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography Ted ...

–

Audio mastering Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via met ...

Visual art

* Nergal – cover concept * Tomasz Daniłowicz – cover concept, cover design, artwork, mask design * Macifj Boryna –

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

* Grupa13 – photography * Kasjopea Michorowska – costume design * Behemoth – make up * Gellaturo – mask

Studios

* RG Studios, January 2009 E.V. - May 2009 – recording * Musikbox, Miloco Studios, London, May 2009 – mixing * Mastered in Sterling Studio, New York, May 2009 – mastering

Charts

Release history

References

{{Authority control 2009 albums Behemoth (band) albums Metal Blade Records albums Nuclear Blast albums Polish-language albums Mystic Production albums Albums produced by Adam Darski