The Noise Presents BEHEMOTH:
Ecclesia Diabolica America 2018 e.v. with:
At The Gates & Wolves in the Throne Room
House of Blues Chicago
Friday 11/9/18

The mighty Behemoth. Grandiosely entertaining. Or how about fiendishly entertaining. Take you pick.
Suffice it to say, I prefer Nergal and his gang to headline, not open for other artists- no offense to Slayer and their last go around from over this past summer.
I’d rather get the full meal in all it’s decadent glory.
Behemoth deliver a punishing showcase of extremity, and all things embraced in their genre of blackened death metal.
The opening song: “Wolves ov Siberia” from their latest release, “I Loved You at Your Darkest”, which is technically the reason for this headlining tour of North America, with a stop on a Friday night at the House of Blues in Chicago.
All band members are shrouded in dark and sinister masks, with Nergal in a black hood, and bathed in lots of dark blue light front and back, top to bottom.
The mood is now set from the get go, while the band unleashes wave after wave of buzzsaw riffs, complete with lots of anger, lots of angst, and lots of moshing and bodysurfing from the crowd up and into the encore.
This is a band that when performing live is like a freight train firing on all cylinders, with no chance for a breather except for the occasional “”How are you Chicago!” from Nergal.
Make no mistake about it: older songs, newer songs- it doesn’t matter. Behemoth are the still the kingpins of the extreme metal world.
It’s refreshing to know that Nergal found his mojo again, and still has the creative juice and inspiration to record and create such breathtaking new material in extreme metal.
Behemoth are easily one of the top ten shows of the year.
Swedish death metal band At the Gates are no slouches either when it comes to performing live.
Led by lead vocalist Tomas Lindberg, drummer Adrian Erlandsson, bassist Jonas Bjorler, the band melds a vicious and psycho freak out frenzy in their rather brief 35 minutes or so set.
No time to chat, just one blistering song after another.
Can’t wait to see these guys again soon, they are that good.
Same with Wolves in the Throne Room, from the great northwest of Olympia Washington, coming out onstage with large bottles of dark red wine, saluting the crowd, then off to some dark and atmospheric black metal front and center.
Another rather all to brief set, but no matter. Three awesome bands back to back on a wicked Friday evening in Chicago.
Cheers- Bobby Talamine – Music Photographer