Tuesday night saw Polish death metal legends, Behemoth, come through town on their own headlining tour. A blizzard in North Dakota threatened to keep them from making it to our city, but the band persevered and found a way to make it here proving that the power of metal is greater than the power of Mother Nature.
Before they took the stage however, Lightning Swords of Death first took the stage (preceded by a couple of local bands that I unfortunately missed due to getting there late, thanks Chicago traffic). Their singer had a shaved head and some scary looking eye makeup on and he looked pretty serious and pissed off. The band blasted through their set that consisted of one speed, fast! There was blast beats and speedy riffs all around as the band attempted to pummel the audience with the sheer force of their sound. The singer screamed hisguttural vocals as his body convulsed and the whole thing was welcomed warmly by most of the audience.
After a lengthy setup and soundcheck, and the crowd impatiently chanting their name, the curtains finally opened and Behemoth were standing front and center on the stage as it filled up with smoke. The crowd roared louder than I'd heard in a very long time in the House of Blues as these guys decked out in chains, leather, and painted up faces and arms stood there looking completely menacing and ready to attack.
These guys were nearly as big as pro wrestlers and they wielded their guitars like battle axes as they belted out some ultra heavy riffs that started their first song. The crowd instantly started yelling, pumping their fists, moshing, and crowd surfing which gave the large security force a lot to contend with.
The band played an hour's worth of brutal, powerful death metal complete with various tempo changes and even keyboards and samples amidst a sea of smoke and flashing lights. In between songs the singer would talk to the crowd or announce what song was next and try and keep the energy in the crowd alive. It didn't take much to accomplish that as the mostly full venue was full of eager hardcore fans who barely stopped moving to catch their breaths and it seemed to make the band play that much harder. The thick and powerful sound emitting from the stage as these costumed characters flailed about was quite an impressive site to behold and one that needs to be experienced first hand.
The band came out for a one song encore that was a longer and slower number compared to most of their set, but no less heavy. When the curtains closed and the lights turned on, the crowd seemed a little sad that there wasn't time for more, but they still witnessed one hell of an amazing performance that isn't likely to be topped anytime soon.
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