As Amon Amarth sailed into town on their Jomsvikings tour, the prowess of their success could be measured in the size of their support, or special guests if you will. First out was the Swedish band Grand Magus, which have garnered a good following during the last few years, and secondly, there was Behemoth.
Behemoth, the blackened death machine from Poland, which has laid waste to many a battlefield in its own stride to power. A band that could easily get a good pull all on their own, which it turned out, it did.

“Now let me see those horns Denmark!”
- Adam Michal ‘Nergal’ Darski (vocals/guitar)

As the lights went down, a taped intro of an oddly sounding voice set the atmosphere of the coming show. To add a bit to the strangeness of it, it was played at different speeds, sometimes very fast, at other times dragging down to a near standstill.
Then the lights hit the stage, and as we could see the familiar setup with the snake idols, and the altar-like microphone stand, the band members took the stage to a loud welcoming chant from the crowd. I’ve already mentioned that Behemoth has a strong following in Denmark, and clearly a big part of that following was here tonight.
And now I was reminded where that spoken intro came from – it was of course the beginning of Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer, which was exactly the song Behemoth opened with this night.
From beginning to end, Behemoth gave a powerful and lively performance. There was posing, leaning over the edge of the stage, and all in all, the band was just working really well together. Sure this, was the last show of the tour, so of course this was naturally the peak of practise, but it was still enjoyable to see such a well-oiled machine in action.

The flipside of this was that the band was running on pure routine by now. There wasn’t a step taken, that they didn’t know would happen beforehand. No improvisation or deviating from the set course.
Thankfully, Behemoth’s routine was a good one. There wasn’t a dull moment, as they were constantly filling in with some extra tricks, be it blood-spitting (which caught a surprised guard in the neck), incense jar swinging, or the blood-covered roadie who helped out on the drums during At The Left Hand Ov God. No masks today however, that was a bit surprising.
To add to all of this, the sound was perfection! I can’t remember the last time I heard this level of sound-quality live, and I was far from any kind of optimal spot.
To underline the structure of the show, Nergal almost didn’t speak between songs, but instead the band made heavy use of pre-recorded intros.

Nergal didn’t need to speak, to get an answer from the crowd though. No matter how powerful a performance Behemoth delivered, the band was still outshone by the audience. Copenhagen was on fire this night!
As I mentioned, the band almost didn’t have time to enter, before loud chants were raised in their honour. Then of course there was the action throughout. Vega, and we’re talking the big hall here, was sold out long in advance, and practically everyone was here already. When horns were raised, they reached all the way to the bar in the back, and on the balconies, people were literally hanging over the side, to headbang and shout along. Hell, there was even some crowdsurfing going on!

So, even though inspiration may not have been a key ingredient in the show Behemoth delivered here tonight, it was still superiorly strong in so many other aspects, that it was a blast to behold. And, even though they were only the guests of the tour this time around, Behemoth still gave the best show of the night.

Setlist:

Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer
Conquer All
Ov Fire And The Void
Decade Of Therion
Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel
Messe Noir
Alas, Lord Is Upon Me
At The Left Hand Ov God
Slaves Shall Serve
Chant For Eschaton 2000