At The Arena Ov Aion

Controversy, it's a lot like milk. It can do you good or if you're lactose intolerant, it can back fire. And yes pun intended. Music in general despite the genre has never been a stranger to controversy. From The Beatles to Death Metal acts to Pop music. It's all been done before. Someone runs their mouth or does something stupid and it makes headlines. One genre perhaps makes more waves than others and that's Heavy Metal. It's got a checkered past and is no stranger to controversy. There are many sub genres, but Death and Black Metal seem to get a lot of attention when it comes to controversy. So for this post I've decided to go with some controversial Black/Death Metal in the form of the Polish band Behemoth.

Behemoth have been around since the early 90's when a couple of Polish teens decided to form a Black Metal band. Since then the band has tooled around in the underground before gaining some notoriety in the past few decade or so. Led by Bassist/Guitarist/Vocalist Negral, the band issued a few demos in the early 90's before releasing their first EP 'And The Forests Dream Eternally' in 94. The band continue to release material and tour largely unnoticed before 2002's monster of an album 'Zos Kia Cultus'. That's where things began to change. The band began to gain steam and gain some attention due to their crushing Live shows. With two Live videos under their belt, the band released 'At The Arena Ov Aion-Live Apostasy' in 2008. Culling material from their entire career, this Live album is, well brutal. The album was recorded Live at La Loco in Paris France on February 17, 2008 during the European Apostasy tour.

Never to one to hide opinions or mince words in the media. Negral has made it clear his and the bands dislike for organized religion. He's even gone as so far as tearing up a Bible on stage a few times. An act that's landed the band in court in Poland and on the watchdog list. However at current time the band is still free to play in Poland, but it comes with great protest by the state. In addition to that, Russia has recently barred the band from playing there, so far as detaining the band. In 2010 though Negral was diagnosed with Leukemia and was forced to take sometime off while Negral underwent treatment. Eventually Negral underwent a Bone Marrow transplant and has since recovered. Once again no stranger to controversy, Negral did do a stint on a Polish singing competition show that raised a few eyebrows.  In the end the band continues to record and tour, although the end may be in sight for the band as Negral has stated about the uncertain paths he wants to take regarding the band. Controversy, ever present no matter where you turn.

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