review by: Roberto Martinelli

The new Behemoth is for sure a good record, and the band does have a style that is reasonably original. The thing is that although all the above are true, the songs on Zos Kia Cultus really don't stand out all that much from each other. But then there are a few substantial parts on the record, like the chanting on "Hekau 718," that sound very much like Nile's Amongst the Catacombs of Nephren-Ka.

I'll come clean. I miss the old Behemoth, namely Sventevith. Why a band would abandon a style in which they were outdoing the old Emperor at their own game circa-Nightside Eclipse is beyond me. But so be it. It's fair to say that the new age of Behemoth began two records prior to this one with the release of Satanica. And if we're considering what Behemoth has been doing since then, that particular record still stands as the best one due to songs that were simply memorable.

Nergal had mentioned in the Behemoth Live Eschaton DVD (review in issue #10) that Zos Kia Cultus would be the heaviest sounding record yet due to a different guitar tuning. The new sonic approach and overall slower pace compared to the two previous albums make this one stand out reasonably strongly. The weakest points of this album are Nergal's vocals, which don't have that much to offer, and songs that don't really rise above the level of being good extreme metal collages that are played well. (6.5/10)