Band:	Behemoth
Album:	Slaves Shall Serve
Style:	Blackened death metal
Release date:	October 20, 2005
Guest review by:	Passenger

01. Slaves Shall Serve
02. Entering The Pylon Ov Light
03. Penetration [The Nefilim cover]
04. Until You Call On The Dark [Danzig cover]
05. Demigod [Live At Sweden Rock Festival 2005]
06. Slaves Shall Serve [Live At Sweden Rock Festival 2005]
+ Slaves Shall Serve [video]

Even though the EP format doesn't have the same significance as it used to have, it's always a natural reflex to get the ones your favourite bands release, no matter how pointless in their discography they are. Nowadays EP's are mostly organized in the same way as singles, a song selected from the most recent album, a few different versions of the same song, live tracks and maybe a video clip for you to enjoy on your computer. This is partially the case of "Slaves Shall Serve EP," even though, for our luck, Behemoth tried to offer something less standard, as they always do.

Granted that there's only one new song to hear, this if you have "Demigod" already (if you don't, what are you doing here already?), but considering that we are now on a countdown for the next album, this release made my day. "Slaves Shall Serve" is a really powerful track with lots of fantastic breakdowns and variations and the typical epic and brutal dimensions Behemoth developed on that album; it was a good choice for the main track for this EP but that's not all that is to be found here.

Of course what I was looking forward was the new track, and that's what makes this release worthy of your attention. It starts with some really dissonant riffs that immediately set the dynamic of the song. Straight forward as it is, you may feel that even though it is as brutal and dark as any song in "Demigod," it's not particularly epic, and some sections would have made it stand out a bit from the rest of that album. The structure is complex, the pace is fast. All in all the direction is not far from what they were doing in 2004, just like "Conjuration Ov Sleep Daemons" was in the line of "Zos Kia Cultus" when "Conjuration EP" was released.

The rest is a valuable gift to the fans. They picked two songs to cover that are originally from very different styles than the Death/Black Metal this band displays, but Behemoth manage to add their own sound to this ones, they both get a positive note from me. After that come two live songs from the same show at Sweden Rock Festival 2005. Anyone who knows Behemoth knows that they are a very intense band live and this gives a pretty good idea for those who never saw them. "Slaves Shall Serve" particularly is a blast. To close there's the inevitable video - of "Slaves Shall Serve" of course. I'm not really a fan of Metal videos as most tend to look really cheesy or too simple. This one is actually above average, Nergal appears as a bishop, keep that image on your mind if you don't have the chance to see it.

All in all, I can't consider this an essential release, like Vader's "The Art Of War EP" for example, which is why I'm giving it an 8 (I also can't give more than a 9 to an EP, it's not a full length album), but if you're anxious to hear something new from Behemoth this deserves your attention. I think we can't expect "Entering The Pylon Ov Light" to represent what they are preparing for the new album though, which makes me even more curious about what Nergal and company are conjuring right now We'll be waiting?