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1%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
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3[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/behemoth_4.jpg]]
4[[caption-width-right:350:Pictured: Nergal, Orion, Inferno. [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg Not pictured: Seth.]]]]
5Behemoth is a [[BlackMetal Blackened]] [[DeathMetal Death Metal]] band from Poland, and one of the largest extreme metal bands in their country. Formed in 1991, they started as a straight [[BlackMetal black metal]] band, but changed their sound over time to include more and more [[DeathMetal death metal]] elements, while keeping the visual style and general themes of a black metal band. This came to a head with ''Satanica'', where their style coalesced for the first time. Their first real big hit record was ''Demigod'', which established several of their better known songs including a couple of their {{Signature Song}}s. This set the tone for their following two albums, where they slowly grew in prominence in the Blackened Death scene. Unfortunately, things seemed to be looking pretty grim in 2010 hot off the heels of the release of ''Evangelion'': Vocalist and guitarist Nergal was diagnosed with leukemia, and it seemed as if all was lost... but thankfully, he managed to survive it thanks to a fan's donated bone marrow matching. Two years of intensive recovery later, and a year in the studio, Behemoth released ''[[ConceptAlbum The Satanist]]'', which was yet another [[NewSoundAlbum shift in their work]] towards adding progressive elements into their blackened death metal, and that only increased with their most recent releases: ''I Loved You At Your Darkest'', and ''Opvs Contra Natvram''.
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7!!'''Members'''
8* Adam "Nergal" Darski - [[HarshVocals Vocals]] and Guitar
9* Tomasz "Orion" Wróblewski -Bass
10* Zbigniew Robert "Inferno" Promiński - Drums
11* Patryk "Seth" Sztyber - Guitar
12
13!!'''Studio Albums'''
14* ''Sventevith (Storming Near the Baltic)'' - 1995
15* ''Grom'' - 1996
16* ''Pandemonic Incantations'' - 1998
17* ''[[NewSoundAlbum Satanica]]'' - 1999
18* ''Thelema.6'' - 2000
19* ''Zos Kia Cultus (Here and Beyond)'' - 2002
20* ''Demigod'' - 2004
21* ''The Apostasy'' - 2007
22* ''Evangelion'' - 2009
23* ''The Satanist'' - 2014
24* ''I Loved You at Your Darkest'' - 2018
25* ''Opvs Contra Natvram'' - 2022
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27[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant This is not the page for a]] [[AttackOfThe50FootWhatever big-ass monster]].
28-----
29!!Behemoth provides examples of the following tropes
30* AllDrummersAreAnimals: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with Inferno. Though incredibly fast and precise on the drums, he is one of the most low-key members of the group.
31* BlackMetal: Their first few albums especially before moving to DeathMetal, but it still remains an influence nowadays.
32* BilingualBonus: Taken up to eleven with the EP ''Xiądz''. When it was announced, ''nobody knew what the title meant or how to even '''pronounce it'''''. It wasn't until the EP leaked that some fans were able to figure out the title was of ''very'' old Polish that stands for ''Priest''. Same could be said with the track ''Nieboga Czarny Xiądz'', which stands for ''Unholy Black Priest''. Considering Behemoth's shtick, this is obvious.
33* ConceptAlbum: ''The Satanist'' apparently is this.
34* CulturedBadass: ''Nergal'', who has six years of history ''and'' one year of Latin at the University of Gdańsk. He actually ''qualifies'' as a museum curator. It also explains the ''heavy'' amounts of Latin and historical elements in Behemoth's music.
35* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Their pre-''Satanica'' albums suffer/benefit from this big time, depending on who you ask.
36* EpicRocking: "The Reign of Shemsu-Hor" and "Lucifer" both clock in at over eight minutes each.
37* FourTemperamentEnsemble: Nergal is Choleric, Inferno is Melancholic, Orion is Plegmatic, and Seth is Sanguine
38* GothicMetal: A major part of their sound on ''I Loved You at Your Darkest'', though they are still death metal as a whole.
39* HarshVocals: Slightly less so after ''Evangelion'', as Nergal changed up his previous method of preparing for shows in order to save his voice.
40* IndecipherableLyrics: Par for the course for [[HeavyMetal extreme metal]]. Special points go to the beginning of "Slaves Shall Serve", which is in a dead language. That said, Nergal's vocals have become slightly easier to understand since ''The Apostasy''.
41* LongestSongGoesLast:
42** "The Reign ov Shemsu-Hor" (8:27) closes ''Demigod''.
43** "Lucifer" (8:06) closes ''Evangelion''.
44** "O Father O Satan O Sun!" (7:13) closes ''The Satanist''.
45** "Versvs Christvs" (6:32) closes ''Opvs Contra Natvtram''.
46* LongRunnerLineup: The Nergal/Inferno/Orion/Seth lineup has not changed since 2004.
47* MetalScream: Nergal is one of the most prominent uses of the "Polish growler" style of death metal vocals along with Piotr Wiwcarzek
48* MoralGuardians: Behemoth have had at least two run-ins with censorship in their home country:
49 ** In 2007, the All-Polish Committee for Defense Against Sects accused them of promoting satanism and murder. No ban has come from the Polish government...yet.
50 ** In 2010 Nergal was charged with denouncing religion for tearing up a Bible on stage in mid-set. He faced two years in prison if convicted; he was ultimately acquitted.
51 ** 2011 brought both an inversion and straight case of {{Moral Guardians}}hip. He was invited to take part in a TV show on public channel, which unsurprisingly whipped the MoralGuardians into a frenzy.
52* MyFriendsAndZoidberg: Even though Seth is a full member of the band, he is still a studio musician and live act first and foremost. This means he is sometimes not included in promo photos.
53* NewSoundAlbum: Behemoth introduced DeathMetal influences starting with ''Satanica'' and increased them over time to the point where very little BlackMetal sound is present. Starting with ''Zos Kia Cultus'', they had evolved into (mostly) full-on death metal, though they still kept the black metal outfits, which contrasts with their sound somewhat. They began reintroducing more black metal elements into their sound again on ''Evangelion'' and especially ''The Satanist'', with the latter being at least as much black metal as it is death metal. ''I Loved You at Your Darkest'' also introduced prominent GothicMetal elements.
54* PrecisionFStrike: Behemoth don't fill their songs with coarse language as much as some other DeathMetal bands, but when Nergal belches out a curse-word, it hits ''hard.''
55** ''Slaves Shall Serve'' ends with the line "Slaves shall fucking serve!"
56** ''Blow your Trumpets Gabriel'' starts with "I saw the virgin's cunt, spawning forth the snake."
57* RockMeAsmodeus: "Be Without Fear," "Shemhamforash," and "Lucifer" are just three examples. This is a common lyrical trope for Behemoth. And then there's ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The Satanist]]''.
58* RockTrio: Officially considered as such, due to Seth's dubious membership status. All pre-2004 formations were also trios.
59* SelfBackingVocalist: On the more recent albums Nergal overdubs his voice with both high and low screams to give a more brutal vocal sound. This has caused some to call TheyChangedItNowItSucks
60* ShoutOut:
61** The band's nicknames are all references to mythology or literature. Nergal was an ancient [[Myth/MesopotamianMythology Babylonian]] deity, Inferno is a reference to ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'', Orion is a character in Myth/ClassicalMythology, and Seth is [[Literature/TheBible the brother of]] CainAndAbel, and is also an alternate name for Set, the god of darkness and chaos in Myth/EgyptianMythology, which is probably where it came from.
62** Many of their lyrics are inspired by the religion of Thelema, founded by Creator/AleisterCrowley.
63* VocalDissonance: Believe it or not, [[http://cdn.actionrecon.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/akpa_nergal_male.jpeg the skinny guy in this picture is actually Nergal.]]
64* VocalEvolution: Since ''The Apostasy'', Nergal's habit of eating chips to improve his growling was replaced with less throat-damaging ways, usually honey and a warm-up before performing, which incidentally made him a better live singer from 2017 onwards.

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