Warthur
With Zos Kia Cultus (Here and Beyond), Behemoth make a bid to snatch the occult death metal crown from their inspirations Morbid Angel. As well as showing more understanding of genuine occultism with the album title (a reference to Austin Osman Spare, whereas most of Morbid Angel's lyrics from this time refer to the thoroughly discredited "Simon" edition of the Necronomicon), Behemoth unleash a torrent of muscular, sneering death metal which easily matches what Morbid Angel were churning out around this period.
The blackened death metal era of Behemoth feels more and more like the band's natural home with this confident, compelling, and corrosive album, though with that comfort and familiarity comes a certain amount of complacency, and the music here doesn't stand up to repeated listens as well as other works of theirs. To a certain extent it feels like their sound temporarily stopped developing here, and as a result I find myself increasingly lukewarm towards it.