Behemoth ( ) is a Polish death metal band. They are considered to have played an important role in establishing the Polish extreme metal underground, alongside bands such as Vader, Decapitated, Vesania and Hate.
Until the late 1990s, the band played traditional black metal with heathen lyrical content, but soon changed to that of occult and thelemic themes written by their lead vocalist Nergal and Krzysztof Azarewicz. The band has favoured pagan lyrics in the two latest albums, Demigod and The Apostasy. With the 1999 release of Satanica, the band showed their presence in the blackened death metal scene, while retaining their own signature style characterized by the drumwork of Inferno, multi-layered vocals and Nile-style Middle-Eastern influences. Lead vocalist and guitarist Nergal has transformed from a conventional black metal player to a more individualistic and unconventional player on the latest two albums. This is partly due to the changing of the band from straight forward black metal to a more individual blackened death metal group. Even though Behemoth has been labeled as death metal, black metal or thrash influenced, Nergal has mentioned that he doesn't like the band to be labeled.
