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| Buy this album |
Long before the epic death metal influences that drive through the heart of this beast today, Behemoth were but a few Polish teenagers playing rough, folk-inspired black metal in, as all future great bands do, some garage somewhere. The roots of Behemoth are apparent here, in amazingly rough form (keep in mind that this album was recorded on unknown Pagan Records 15 years ago, and Nergal is the sole remaining original member). Far rougher than even cult-favorite Grom, ...From the Pagan Vastlands has a very sweeping style, comparable to the Emperor demos, replete with some (now defunct) keyboards, and features (if you can look past the production) some really amazing songs; "The Dance of Pagan Flames" being my favorite, as it is a perfect example of the virtuosity of death metal god Nergal, even in his extreme youth. No trace of death metal is found on this album, however, as this is so far before the style-shift (a good 4 or 5 albums, as it could be argued whether Satanica or Thelema 6 truly broke the cycle), and that’s just fine with me. Some absolutely ripping Pagan Black Metal here, folks, and ...FtPV should appeal to anyone fond of the genre (I’m pretty sure they still play the title track live, too); also worth a look from new Behemoth fans, obviously, as the progression through the years has been truly amazing. The feeling of the album can be best summed up in one of the songtitles: "Blackvisions of the Almighty." Epic, classic, and recording quality almost as bad as The Past Is Alive-styled Dissection are the orders of the proverbial night, and anyone looking for a nice dark history lesson should definitely tap in.
| Tracklist |
| 1. From Hornedlands To Lindisfarne |
| 2. Thy Winter Kingdom |
| 3. Summoning (Of the Ancient Ones) |
| 4. The Dance of the Pagan Flames |
| 5. Blackvisions of the Almighty |
| 6. Fields of Haar-Meggido |
| 7. Deathcrush [Mayhem cover] |
: 35:12
| Buy other Behemoth albums |
