Polish blackened death metallers Behemoth have released a cover of “The Return Of Darkness And Evil” by pioneering black metal outfit Bathory. Originally released in 1985, that song also served as the title track to the Bathory‘s 1985 sophomore album.
Behemoth‘s newly issued rendition of the song is set to serve as the theme for this year’s edition of the annual ‘Mystic Festival‘, which will be held June 03rd-06th in Gdansk, Poland. Behemoth, Megadeth and Black Label Society will be headlining that event, which is billed as Poland’s largest metal festival.
It was the aforementioned festival that first approached Behemoth to craft a new theme for this year’s run, with vocalist/guitarist Adam “Nergal” Darski” instead opting for this cover instead. He had the following to say about that choice:
“I set one condition: it wouldn’t be an original composition, but a cover. ‘The Return Of Darkness And Evil‘ has everything you need: an anthemic quality, a fantastic groove, great lyrics that I completely identify with, and an incredibly catchy chorus. I thought it was the perfect song to capture the festival’s atmosphere and become its musical manifeston.”
Dariusz Szermanowicz (Grupa 13) helmed the music video for this cover, which you can watch for yourself below. Before Behemoth hit the stage at this year’s ‘Mystic Festival‘, they’ll be out spreading the blasphemy across North America this spring on ‘The Godless IV Tour‘.
That run will find them joined by Floridian death metallers Deicide, Greek melodic black metal banmd Rotting Christ and NY death metallers Immolation.
04/14 San Diego, CA – The Observatory North Park
04/15 San Francisco, CA – The Regency Ballroom
04/17 Boise, ID – Knitting Factory
04/18 Portland, OR – Roseland Theater
04/19 Seattle, WA – Showbox SoDo
04/21 Salt Lake City, UT – Union Event Center
04/22 Denver, Co – The Fillmore
04/24 Milwaukee, WI – The Rave
04/25 Chicago, IL – The Vic Theatre
04/26 St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
04/28 Norfolk, VA – The NorVa
04/30 Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore (no Rotting Christ)
05/01 Worcester, MA – Palladium (no Deicide)
05/02 New York, NY – Palladium Times Square
05/04 Buffalo, NY – Buffalo RiverWorks
05/05 McKees Rocks, PA – The Roxian Theatre
05/07 Daytona Beach, FL – Welcome To Rockville
05/09 Charlotte, NC – The Fillmore
05/11 Toronto, ON – HISTORY
05/12 Montreal, QC – L’Olympia
05/14 Columbus, OH – Sonic Temple
05/15 Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl
05/16 Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade
05/18 Dallas, TX – The Bomb Factory
05/20 Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
05/21 Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium
