Behemoth: Hollywood Palladium - Los Angeles, CA - 5/21/26
Polish blackened death metal legends Behemoth announced one of the biggest and best metal tours of the year. In 2025, they released their thirteenth album The Shit Ov God. Behemoth finally came around to touring the USA and brought with them some of the heaviest bands around. The tour would be called The Godless IV tour, and it rightfully deserves that name. Joining Behemoth on tour were Immolation, Greek black metal legends Rotting Christ and death metal legends Deicide. The final stop of the tour was at the Hollywood Palladium in Hollywood, California. Even before doors opened, legions of metal heads were in line just waiting to get in even on a Thursday night. By the time Immolation was ready to hit the stage, the venue was already packed with fans to what felt like sold-out capacity.
Immolation came out and started their show with "These Vengeful Winds," the first track from the new album. With the deep guttural vocals of Ross Dolan, the crowd quickly erupted into a mosh pit. The next song was the second song from the new album, "The Ephemeral Curse." Even as the first band, Immolation ruled the stage and showed why they're one of death metal's most influential bands. Even with plenty of albums under their belt, Immolation chose to primarily focus on the new album in their setlist. The final song was "Bend Towards the Dark" from the new album. Immolation left the stage and got the crowd warmed up as the show was just getting started.
Rotting Christ are a black metal band from Greece. Formed in 1987, they have since released fourteen albums with the latest one being Pro Xristou released in 2024. Rotting Christ came on stage and were welcomed with open arms as one of metal's most respected bands. The first song performed on this unholy set was "Dies Irae" and the crowd once again went into a frenzy with moshing and crowd surfing. Although they are labeled as black metal, they play a more traditional thrash metal sound. More evil tracks like "Demonon Vrosis," "Kata Ton Daimona Eaytoy," and "Elthe Kyrie" were performed and each one sounded more perfect than the last. One of their best songs was performed which was a Thou Art Lord cover of "Societas Satanas." A very thrashy song and made the most pit go even harder. With a criminally short set, their set had to come to an end with "Grandis Spiritus Diavolos." Rotting Christ said thank you to the audience and then left the stage. Halfway through the show and it was already an unbelievable show.
Decide have cemented themselves as one of the biggest death metal bands. Since their debut album in 1990, they have released thirteen albums with the latest one being Banished by Sin released in 2024. Their lyrics primarily deal with Satanism, anti-Christianity, and blasphemy. Deicide came out and began their blistering set with the classic track, "When Satan Rules His World." Deicide is known to have really crazy crowds, so it's no surprise to see the crowd go berserk for some classic death metal. After a couple of more songs, Deicide played "Once Upon the Cross" which is one of the most popular death metal songs. Frontman and death metal legend Glen Benton has not lost his touch and still belts out both deep guttural growls and ear-piercing shrieks. More death metal brutality songs included "Sacrificial Suicide," "They are the Children of the Underworld" and "Dead by Dawn." No matter what song was played, the audience was wild the whole time and surely lots of people were left with bruises and sore bodies. The final song on their set was "Homage for Satan." Only one band left to perform, and it was one of the unholiest bands around.
Behemoth are no strangers to the metal community as they are one of the leaders of the Polish extreme metal scene. Their latest musical release is their thirteenth studio album The Shit Ov God which was released in 2025. The venue was now packed to capacity and the audience still had plenty of energy left. The lights went out and the audience erupted into a roar as Behemoth made their way to the stage in full face and body paint. The first unholy track played was the first song from the latest album, "The Shadow Elite." The stage was covered in a blue hue and bright lights everywhere. Hell had come to Los Angeles. The next blasphemous song was "Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer" from their critically acclaimed 2014 album, The Satanist. Behemoth is a theatrical band, and you can see it in the outfits they wear as well as their stage setup. Frontman Nergal was even doused in a bright light and almost seemed to dance as if in a trance. One of the best songs performed was their most famous songs, "Conquer All." It's heavy and drives the mosh pits and crowd surfers even crazier. Nergal took a quick break on how their first USA tour was in 2002 and during that tour, they opened for Deicide and now it was the other way around. Behemoth kept the evil going as they kept tracks like “Ov Fire and the Void,” “Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel,” and “Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica.” During the performance of "Bartzabel," Nergal sported what looked like a black Pope hat as the song has a slower sound. They next played a cover of “The Return of Darkness and Evil,” and it’s originally by Swedish black metal legends, Bathory. An obvious tribute and respect to Bathory legend Thomas “Quorthon” Forsberg who passed away in 2004. The last song on their set was the ever satisfying “Chant for Eschaton 2000.” Behemoth finished their set and then left the stage. Fans were chanting their name, and, after a few minutes, the lights went out again. The fans cheered as Behemoth came out for an encore. The encore was “O Father O Satan O Sun!” During the song’s end, the members stood back and put on hoods and were covered in a red light to match the ending of the song. Once the song ended, Behemoth thanked the audience for all the years of support and left the stage once again. An amazing night for metal and an even performance. Everyone in attendance was left hot, sweaty, but with a huge smile on their face. This tour will be talked about for years to come.
