Concert Review: Behemoth / Satyricon / Rotting Christ (02 Academy Brixton - Saturday 12th April 2025)

Written: 13th April 2025

As the labyrinthine queue sprawls around the Brixton Academy on a beautiful spring day, there is an aura of anticipation within the crowd gathered to see three giants of extreme metal: Behemoth, Satyricon and Rotting Christ. Each band has a loyal following in their own right but together, they make for an extremely attractive combination.

Rotting Christ

Opening the evening is Greece’s Rotting Christ and as the house lights are extinguished and the haunting introduction to 666 floats ominously from the stage, it is obvious the audience have already committed to enjoying every single moment of the night. Sakis Tolis is a commanding frontman and he engages dramatically with the crowd to which they respond with cries of adulation and fists in the air. With just forty-five minutes to play, the band make the most of the opportunity and create a set full of dark mysticism and unrelenting darkness. There is a feeling of something ancient and mysterious about the sound that Rotting Christ produce. The music hangs thick and intoxicating in the air and those present in London are more than willing to join them on their reverential journey. Sakis Tolis’s vocal delivery is deep and often summons the energy of a ritual invocation. Tracks such as Elthe Kyrie and the pulsating Grandis Spiritus Diavolos beat with an abyssal and infernal heart, Sakis’s drumming brother Themis adding to the steady, tribal edge with his ever dependable drumming.  It is nice to see a nod to their newest album Pro Xristou in the form of Like Father, Like Son  - resounding and thunderous, with an enthralling guitar solo. Non Serviam receives one of the best receptions of the night and by the end of their set, Rotting Christ have not just warmed up the crowd but bound them together. A marvellous performance from the Hellenic lords.

Rotting Christ setlist: 666 / P’unchaw kachun – Tata kachun / Fire, God and Fear / Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy / Elthe Kyrie / Like Father, Like Son / Non Serviam / Societas Satanas / Grandis Spiritus Diavolos

Satyricon

With the arrival of Satyricon, the cold and majestic elements of black metal increase with the elegant malevolence of the opening synths. While the venue was respectably full for the performance of Rotting Christ, there is a notable increase in the size of the audience for the Norwegians. Playing in front of a backdrop of foreboding dark birds in a storm laden sky, the initial keyboards meld into the opening of Now, Diabolical which sets the tone: icy and regal. With a cold precision to their playing, Satyricon immediately capture the attention and proceed through a nine song setlist with all but one track taken from Volcano or after. Not that this fact bothered the crowd in the slightest even though some purists would have you believe that Satyricon have done nothing of note after their first three albums. Each song takes on new life and increased vehemence in this setting and Satyr, venomous but utterly engaged, stalks the stage with confidence. Behind him, Frost is a machine of control, his drumming as disciplined as it is devastating, each strike like a footfall from some great unseen beast. The chemistry between them is palpable, unspoken, elemental.

With Satyricon moving through tracks such as Repined Bastard Nation and Black Crow on a Tombstone, the crowd are transfixed. Deep Calleth Upon Deep drapes the venue in a mournful grandeur, while Black Wings and Withering Gloom – one of the highlights of the set – twists the atmosphere with its bleak, poetic visions set in the frozen North. Heads nod in unison as blues and purples, dancing with flickers of white, cast warped silhouettes of the band onto the walls. Between songs, Satyr speaks to the audience and on one occasion, he states the last time the band played this venue was supporting Pantera twenty-five years ago. He remembers it as the most beautiful venue he has ever played and is struck by similar feelings today. Brixton Academy certainly has some unusual features and all for the better that they have been preserved.

The crowd erupts in a raw unity as Mother North – a true anthem of black metal – is unleashed. Simultaneously defiant, blazing and chilling, it is a wonderful moment allowing us to look back at the earlier days of the band. However, by unveiling a fourth cut – K.I.N.G. – from Now, Diabolical to close the show, Satryicon reaffirm their faith in the album – now unbelievably approaching its twentieth anniversary – and its enduring power in their live arsenal. As the band gather to take their applause, we have been treated to a performance that exquisitely coupled aggression with control.

Satyricon setlist: Now, Diabolical / Repined Bastard Nation / Black Crow On A Tombstone / Deep Calleth Upon Deep / Black Wings and Withering Gloom / The Pentagram Burns / To The Mountains / Mother North / K.I.N.G.

Behemoth

As the venue is prepared for Behemoth with the removal of Satyricon’s backdrop, the full size of Brixton Academy's stage – the largest permanent one in Europe – is exposed and as Nergal, Seth and Orion’s mic stands are put into place and serve as foreboding pulpits, there is a sense of expectation for the headliners. When the house lights dim once again, menacing, brooding synths reverberate through the theatre. The thin white curtain that now hangs at the front of the stage comes to life with a black and white video and as the curtain drops, the band are revealed, huge billows of dry ice at their feet. One of two new songs played tonight, The Shadow Elite explodes like a nuclear detonation, the crowd’s cheers reach for the sky and the quartet stake their claim for the black metal throne once more.

As with each band this evening, the sound is excellent and Behemoth play with a military precision, each note like a blade and every blast beat forceful artillery. Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer stomps and prowls as Nergal, his voice a rasping growl laced with fury and disdain, entices every member of the audience to join the dark, fervent hymn. Much has been made of the new song and title of the band’s upcoming album The Shit Ov God. Without doubt, it is a ridiculous song title but that is all but forgotten as Behemoth launch into the track. During the chorus, pyrotechnics flare, seemingly extremely close to the band and the heat can be felt even from my vantage point. It receives an ecstatic reception and while The Shadow Elite and brand new song Lvciferaeon (not played tonight) might be better indications of what the band are capable of, it certainly finds its home in this environment.

Nergal remains an intoxicating presence and is understandably the one interacting with the crowd but much as the focus is often on the legendary frontman, each member of the band has the opportunity to shine. Conquer All attacks with ruthless power and seething menace in one of the most blistering moments of the concert. Three tracks from the virtually flawless album The Satanist are played tonight and the audience’s ecstatic reaction to Blow Your Trumpets, Gabriel shows just how highly it is rated amongst the fans. Nergal shrieks and growls like a fan possessed, hands signalling for the gathered mass to raise both their hands and voices. From here, Behemoth keep their foot pressed to the throat: Ov Fire and Voiced surges with feral velocity; Christgrinding Avenue finds Nergal spitting the lyrics with an intense venom; and Inferno’s drumming is an unrelenting storm that threatens to shake the very foundations of the building.

Perfectly positioned mid-set, Bartzabel offers something a little different, solemn and eerie, the slow-burning introduction leading to the gorgeous theatrical gravitas of the main part of the song. I have always enjoyed listening to this song on the album and the band more than do it justice tonight. Sticking with songs from more recent releases, Behemoth continue with Solve, Wolves Ov Siberia - which is played behind another now darker curtain as the song’s video plays – and Once Upon A Pale Horse. Nergal reminds us all that the band have come a long way since the days of playing The Underworld. It has been a long climb for the Polish masters but one that is well deserved. Remembering those roots and going right back to the beginning of their career, the quartet play Cursed Angel of Doom – the first track ever written for Behemoth.

Ramping up the drama, the band end a wonderful set with Chant For Eschaton which threatens to bring down the entire building. As the track builds and builds without remorse with its simmering, bitter wrath, fiery oranges bathe the stage, huge pyrotechnics fly and hands are raised once more. With the band members off the stage, confetti falls and dancing, ever flickering blood red lights envelope the auditorium. The opening of the final track begins and the band return to the stage for a truly exceptional performance of one of the best black metal songs of recent years: O Father O Satan O Sun! Marauding dry ice, flames at the front of Inferno’s drum kit and a masked Nergal all add to the majestic overtones.

Leaving the venue after Behemoth’s performance felt like a congregation emerging from a ritual, one which had submerged us in darkness but served to reinvigorate at the same time; the echoes of Nergal’s intense vocals and Inferno’s savage drumming still ringing in our ears.

During the set, Nergal commented that black metal is still as popular as ever, maybe more so; the three bands' excellent performances tonight and their fan's engagement throughout is living proof of that fact.

Behemoth setlist: The Shadow Elite / Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer / Demigod / The Shit Ov God / Conquer All / Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel / Ov Fire and the Void / Christgrinding Avenue / Bartzabel / Solve / Wolves Ov Siberia / Once Upon A Pale Horse / Christians To The Lions / Cursed Angel Of Doom / Chant For Eschaton 2000 /// O Father O Satan O Sun