Behemoth announce In Absentia Dei live album, including a cardboard church you can burn
One version of the Behemoth's epic In Absentia Dei live album will come with a cardboard church you can burn down, because of course it does.
Behemoth frontman Nergal is a man for whom the old saying about life, lemons, lemonade and the making of one from the other is very much The Way Forward. Thus, when the band, like all the bands, couldn’t tour because of COVID, he decided the logical response was to do a live-streamed performance from a church with movie-level production values.
Dubbed In Absentia Dei (‘In the absence of God’, as noted Latin expert Boris Johnson could tell you), it was a triumph. Nergal arrived on a horse, there were flaming crosses, and some poor sod was suspended from the ceiling by ropes. Forced to adapt, Behemoth delivered an artistic, creative solution to their problem.
Now they’ve announced it’s going to be released as a live document on December 17. A digital download album, triple-LP album, and a digibook. Only the latter features the film of the night, but then, only the LP version features a build-it-yourself model of the church in which the event took place, which you are nudged in the direction of burning down, should the fancy take you.
"In Absentia Dei was a massive challenge and a huge risk, but it was a great artistic and commercial success,” says Nergal. “The response was absolutely brilliant – we made a statement with this performance and set the bar high. I hope that we can continue to raise the bar with the projects to come!"
Check out the video for Evoe below to see what he’s on about.
Nergal also recently announced that the third album by his Me And That Man project, New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol. 2, will be released on November 19. As ever, he's delved into his phonebook to assemble a cast of co-conspirators from across the rock spectrum, including members of Arch Enemy, Lamb Of God, Ulver and loads more.
New Man, New Songs, Same Shit, Vol. 2 tracklist
1. Black Hearse Cadillac (feat. Hank Von Hell, Anders Odden)
2. Under the Spell (feat. Mary Goore)
3. All Hope Has Gone (feat. Blaze Bayley, Gary Holt, Jeff Mantas Dunn)
4. Witches Don’t Fall in Love (feat. Kristoffer Rygg)
5. Losing My Blues (feat. Olve Abbath Eikemo, Frank The Baptist, Chris Holmes)
6. Coldest Day in Hell (feat Ralf Gyllenhammar, Douglas Blair)
7. Year of the Snake (feat. David Vincent)
8. Blues & Cocaine (feat. Michale Graves)
9. Silver Halide Echoes (feat. Randy Blythe)
10. Goodbye (feat. Alissa White-Gluz, Devin Townsend)
11. Angel of Light (feat. Myrkur)
12. Got Your Tongue (feat. Chris Georgiadis)