The leaders of extreme and blackened death metal from Poland have finally set foot back in America. The almighty Behemoth, purveyors of Satanism and anti-Christianity, have hit the road in America on The Godless IV Tour with fellow blasphemers Deicide and Rotting Christ. Their stop was at the Observatory North Park in San Diego, CA, where all the cretins of Southern California came crawling out to sell out the venue and show their love for these icons. The house was already packed shoulder to shoulder before any band could start their musical preaching, so you knew you were in for a high-intensity night.

The first band I got to see was Rotting Christ, whose sound was blasting through the doors of the venue as I walked in. With a name like Rotting Christ, they fit right onto the bill with Behemoth, as many in the general public have written them off in name alone. But in truth, they are just taking their musical podium to sing about the evils in the world, occultism, and even some mysticism. Regardless of how the public feels about Rotting Christ, the fans in the Observatory were relishing in the depth of their music, kicking the circle pit into high gear and sending crowd surfers barreling over the barricade in no time. Rotting Christ boiled the blood of their fans with songs like “Dies Irae,” “Daimonon Vrosis,” “Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy,” “Elthe Kyrie,” “Non Serviam,” “Societas Satana,” and “Grandis Spiritus Diavolos.” The passion for black metal had been ignited with Rotting Christ, and there was fury in the room ready to let loose for what was to come.

Up next was an American quartet from Tampa, FL known as Deicide. Though they consider themselves death metal, Deicide leans heavily into the thrash side of death metal with music that makes you want to let loose and ram your body into anyone you see. Vocalist and bassist Glen Benton is a beast on the mic, shifting from the deepest guttural of the night that you feel in your bones, to high-pitched extreme metal screams reminiscent of King Diamond, to traditional screamed metal vocals. The man sang in a crazy metal range. Guitarists Taylor Nordberg and Jadran Gonzalez play at a blistering speed, trading off leading riffs and tossing guitar solos back and forth to each other. They were a set of demonic twins on the axes. Drummer Steve Asheim never let the beat slow down, even a little; he wanted to keep the momentum in the crowd going like a V6 engine firing on all cylinders. Deicide continued the onslaught of bringing musical chaos to San Diego, and the crowd ate it up. Deicide took us to the brink of an internal explosion, and only our headliner could truly set us off.

It was then time for our headliner to grace us with their presence. As a looming overture played across the speakers, the lights dimmed as Behemoth walked out through them. Donning not just corpse face paint but letting the demon-stration take over his entire body, vocalist and guitarist Nergal wore corpse body paint, while the rest of the band was dressed in what could be considered ceremonial rags. Nergal came across as a demonic prince. At one point, Nergal was adorned with a black pope hat. He wasn’t just the lead singer of the band; he was a vessel to channel the spirit of Behemoth’s music, and we the common people pledged our allegiance to his majesty.

Rhythm guitarist Seth, bassist Orion, and drummer Inferno could be perceived as fallen angels now walking beside their new leader. They are the agents here to help Nergal spread the word of Behemoth. This wasn’t just a concert; this was a black mass, where, instead of preaching the wise words from the Bible, Behemoth spouted sermons from their mount in song form with musical tales like “The Shadow Elite,” “Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer,” “Thy Becoming Eternal,” “Conquer All,” “The Shit ov God,” “Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica,” “Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel,” “Nomen Barbarvm,” “Bartzabel,” “Ov Fire and the Void,” “The Deathless Sun,” “Chant for Eschaton 2000,” and making their final sermon “O Father O Satan O Sun!”

To the good people of San Diego, if you felt evil’s presence, you could blame Behemoth’s takeover of your city. This was the first stop on The Godless IV Tour, and it set the bar for the intensity that Behemoth must bring out of their worshippers on future stops. Though Behemoth’s message is not for everyone, you cannot take away from the theatricality and performance that the band puts into their live shows. Whether you can get behind their music or not, visually and performatively this is a masterclass of a show. Behemoth are not just musicians; they are a full theatrical production on the same level as the evangelical super churches, and we happily bow down to these overlords.