Behemoth has shared a new single and music video for their new cover of Bathory’s classic Black Metal anthem “The Return Of Darkness And Evil!” The track is the anthem for this year’s Mystic Festival in Gdansk, Poland! Behemoth is one of the headliners, along with Megadeth and Black Label Society! The band is about to kick off a North American Headline Tour featuring Deicide, Rotting Christ, and Immolation, all supporting their 2025 album, The Shit Ov God, out now via Nuclear Blast Records. Watch the video below and read more. Watch the video now!
Nergal writes in a letter to fans:
The Return of Darkness and Evil by Bathory has always been a particularly important song for me.
Last season, I got to collaborate with Blood Fire Death, a tribute project for this Swedish legend. I then asked Eric from Watain, who was singing this song during the project’s concerts, if he wouldn’t mind sharing at least one verse, so that I could also sing it. Seeing his reaction, I immediately understood he has as strong a connection with the song as I do, and he wasn’t about to share it with anyone. But some good things just take their own sweet time…
When Michał Wardzała suggested that Behemoth should create the anthem for Mystic Festival, I was game immediately. I had only one condition – that it won’t be an original song, but a cover. The Return of Darkness and Evil has everything that’s needed: an anthem-like character, fantastic groove, great lyrics that I completely identify with, and an extremely catchy chorus. I came to the conclusion, that it is the perfect song to embody the festival’s atmosphere and become its musical manifestation.
You can stream our cover of The Return of Darkness and Evil – the official anthem of Mystic Festival 2026 – wherever you listen to your music now, and watch the video below.
Buy/stream The Shit Ov God here: https://behemoth.bfan.link/tsog.ema
The Shit Ov God tracklisting:
01 The Shadow Elite
02 Sowing Salt
03 The Shit Ov God
04 Lvciferaeon
05 To Drown The Svn In Wine
06 Nomen Barbarvm
07 O Venvs, Come!
08 Avgvr (The Dread Vvltvre)
Behemoth have several upcoming tours and festival shows in Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America, starting in early February. See below for all confirmed dates.
Behemoth US tour
with Deicide, Rotting Christ, + Immolation:
4/14 — San Diego, CA — The Observatory North Park
4/15 — San Francisco, CA — The Regency Ballroom
4/17 — Boise, ID — Knitting Factory
4/18 — Portland, OR — Roseland Theater
4/19 — Seattle, WA — Showbox SoDo
4/21 — Salt Lake City, UT — Union Event Center
4/22 — Denver, Co — The Fillmore
4/24 — Milwaukee, WI — The Rave
4/25 — Chicago, IL — The Vic Theatre
4/26 — St. Louis, MO — The Pageant
4/28 — Norfolk, VA — The NorVa
4/30 — Silver Spring, MD — The Fillmore^
5/1 — Worcester, MA — Palladium&
5/2 — New York, NY — Palladium Times Square
5/4 — Buffalo, NY — Buffalo RiverWorks
5/5 — McKees Rocks, PA — The Roxian Theatre
5/7 — Daytona Beach, FL — Welcome To Rockville*
5/9 — Charlotte, NC — The Fillmore
5/11 — Toronto, ON — HISTORY
5/12 — Montreal, QC — L’Olympia
5/14 — Columbus, OH — Sonic Temple*
5/15 — Nashville, TN — Brooklyn Bowl
5/16 — Atlanta, GA — The Masquerade
5/18 — Dallas, TX — The Bomb Factory
5/20 — Phoenix, AZ — The Van Buren
5/21 — Los Angeles, CA — Hollywood Palladium
*Festival Date
^ = No Rotting Christ
& = No Deicide
Tickets and more info here: https://www.behemoth.pl/
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