18 February 2026 – The Tivoli, Brisbane – words by Alessandro Ambrosi – pictures by Tam Schilling
BEHEMOTH and NIDHOGG are bringing Poland extreme metal to the Tivoli tonight.
Formed in 1991 in Gdańsk by frontman Nergal (Adam Darski), BEHEMOTH evolved from its early black metal roots into a powerful blend of blackened death metal marked by technical precision, grand production, and provocative themes.
Over the decades, Behemoth has become one of the most internationally recognized metal acts from Poland. Albums like Demigod, The Satanist, and I Loved You at Your Darkest showcase the band’s signature combination of ferocious riffs, blast beats, and dark, philosophical lyricism. Their work often explores themes of individualism, spirituality, rebellion, and the occult, wrapped in elaborate live performances that fuse music with ritualistic spectacle.
Supporting them tonight are NIDHOGG, the black metal project of Nidhogg Narcissus. Formed in 2025 they have just released their first full length Narcissvs and have embarked with Behemoth in their Chant of the Eastern Lands tour. The 2026 dates have been announced as the last ones for the foreseeable future, and the Legions have answered in numbers to the call.
First up to deliver is NIDHOGG to an already full venue. The curiosity for this relatively unknown band (at least on Aussie soil) is high. The set opens with ‘Narcissvs’ which cements how influential Behemoth has been for a certain kind of extreme metal. The influence is clear for the musical part as it is for the vocal part, but NIDHOGG still sounds original.
NIDHOGG – Tivoli – photos by Tam Schilling
‘Mental Lycanthropy’ follows, showcasing the band’s versatility with a pounding quintessential black metal tune that also shows Nidhogg skills behind the microphone. ‘Transylvania’ is preceded by a cinematic intro with Nidhogg walking in wearing a crown of thorns drinking from a chalice of “BLOOD” spluttering out what could only be some sort of curse. Very visually striking!
The song is a mid-tempo black metal that screams Satyricon from every pore but, as above, still sounding original. ‘Sic Luceat Lux’, ‘Wilczyca’ and ‘Horda’ are all from previous projects from the singer with the last one getting the whole venue headbang their necks out of alignment with its martial mid-tempo.
Smiles get wiped out of our faces when the vocalist introduces the next tune ‘Helvete’ as a sad song. And a sad song it is indeed when it gets dedicated to Nidhogg’s lost best friend (his wolf looking dog) which he unfortunately had to put down. It is an emotional outlet for him, and you can tell by his pained screams and tearful eyes while singing.
NIDHOGG – Tivoli – photos by Tam Schilling
The instrumental ‘Twilight ov Gods’ has the audience take a break whilst the vocalist, wearing a head piece of horns, performs what seems like a blessing ritual whilst the band plays a mid-tempo ending in a melancholic solo from guitarist under a pale single light. Very atmospheric all around. Nidhogg wants to let the audience know about his love for dancing before introducing ‘Wyroczinia’. And just like that it’s time for the final tune which is an unexpected (for the genre played tonight) cover of ‘Territory’ by Sepultura, which unsurprisingly gets the whole crowd headbanging and singing. A lot of people didn’t know NIDHOGG before tonight, me included, but they undoubtedly gained a lot more fans after tonight’s performance.
After a 30 minutes break for refreshments and stage set-up at 9pm on the dot BEHEMOTH make their appearance on The Tivoli stage which is undoubtedly packed to capacity. From the moment The Tivoli lights dimmed and deep, reverberating tones filled the intimate Fortitude Valley venue, it was clear this was more than “just a metal show” — it was a ritualistic descent into Behemoth’s shadow-laden world. The Polish blackened death metal titans unleashed their Chant of the Eastern Lands tour, a run marking three decades of uncompromising intensity.
BEHEMOTH – Tivoli – photos by Tam Schilling
‘The Shadow Elite’ from 2025’s THE SHIT OV GOD opens the night after a low, droning atmosphere, before the band emerged in silhouette. With the crowd already in full swing, it was easy to guess that we were going to be in for a wild ride of uncompromising Anti-Christian tunes. ‘Ora Pro Nobis Lucifer’ marks the first true explosion of the night. With Inferno’s razor-tight blast beats behind his massive drumkit, the chorus became a collective roar from the crowd.
‘Thy Becoming Eternal’ and ‘Conquer All’ kept the rev’s up before we were asked to “Eat my flesh, drink my blood” because we are ‘The Shit of God’ introduced by Nergal standing in front of the drum kit beating his chest to the chant accompanied by an amped-up crowd. ‘Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica’ from 2014’s THE SATANIST marginally slows down the rhythm with its melody and cathedral like chorus. Nergal, Orion and Seth stage presence is as imposing as Inferno’s drumming. The 30+ years career, with hundreds of shows, have cemented their status and expertise in delivering a show that is both brutal yet theatrical with multiple costume changes and, in an open-air setting, pyrotechnical elements.
BEHEMOTH – Tivoli – photos by Tam Schilling
Just before introducing ‘Cursed Angel of Doom’, from 1991’s DEMONICA, Nergal asks for hands up if you were born after that, and it’s very nice to see that half, if not more of the crowd has indeed raised their hands. That goes to show their following between generations and the fact that there is a future following for extreme music…DOUBLE WHAMMY! – unless you were born a decade before that or more in which case, well, you might have felt slightly old! (SAD TRUMPET SOUND)
‘Nomen Barbarvm’ is a fresh introduction to the setlist just before it’s time for Gabriel to blow his trumpets with, you guessed it, ‘Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel’ with its slow build at the start which created a ritualistic pause before the detonation that ends the song. The venue is almost too packed to mosh, but heads are moving and horns are up in the air at every occasion
A hypnotic mid-set shift is brought by ‘Bartzabel’ the song’s groove was thick and almost psychedelic like, giving the audience a moment to sway rather than slam accompanying the band in the distinctive repeated chorus. ‘Ov Fire and the Void’ with its technical ferocity showed both the speed and the precision together with the headbanging prone mid-tempo of the main riff. There are a few selected bands that helped define extreme metal as a whole and Bathory is up the top as influencing musicians goes. BEHEMOTH tributes Quorthon’s band by playing a ferocious ‘The Return of Darkness and Evil’ which is well received particularly by the older portion of the crowd.
BEHEMOTH – Tivoli – photos by Tam Schilling
‘Decade of Therion’ and ‘Chant for Eschaton 2000’ are what we can certainly call two of Behemoth’s classics and as predicted bring out the last bit of energy the crowd had left after tonight’s performance. Predictably, after leaving the stage, the “one more song” chant raises and, if you know Behemoth, you know that since its release in 2014, they end their sets with “O Father O Satan O Sun” which serves as the perfect closing track with its ritualistic and ceremonial atmosphere and its lyrics which define the philosophy behind BEHEMOTH. Rejecting institutional religion, especially Christianity, and embracing personal spiritual liberation.
The crowd stood almost reverently during the final build before the crushing conclusion as the lights faded with the band faces covered with black masks hiding all their facial features in a black void. The set was just over an hour — punchy, relentless, and devoid of filler — showcasing a tight, well-balanced performance that kept intensity high from start to finish. If this was, as the band stated, the last tour down under for the foreseeable future, I’m glad I witnessed what I already knew was going to be an epic night of extreme metal. Let’s all hope that foreseeable future is not too long. CONQUER ALL!
