BEHEMOTH can attribute their success and huge surge in popularity due to the fact that they are probably the hardest working band in extreme music today - as they tour relentlessly, and constantly put out albums. Much like the Conjuration and Slaves Shall Serve EPs, Ezkaton is a short teaser that does its job in pounding your face in the shortest amount of time possible. Ezkaton offers a re-recording of one of their most popular songs, a previously unreleased track, two covers, and of course, a few live tracks to satiate your thirst until the next BEHEMOTH full length is complete.

“Chant for Ezkaton 2000” was already a classic when BEHEMOTH recorded the original version on Satanica, but has now been sped up to “live” speed, and re-recorded with cleaner production; a nice way to start the EP and segue into the new track, “Qadosh.” Fresh off the Apostasy sessions, “Qadosh” is intense, catchy, and would have fit nicely with the other Apostasy tracks. However, BEHEMOTH decided to tease and put the track on Ezkaton instead. The Polish war machine decided to pay tribute to MASTER HAMMER’s classic, “Jama Pekel,” and executed it with the perfect amount of aggression. The next cover, “I’m Not Jesus,” is an interesting choice, as THE RAMONES is not an obvious pick in most metal circles, but BEHEMOTH have chosen unorthodox covers before, such as their NINE INCH NAILS cover of “Wish” on the Conjuration EP. Take it or leave it, as the EP rounds out with 3 nice choices of live tracks. Usually live tracks on CD sound horrible, but these tracks sound quite decent. “From the Pagan Vastlands” is a nice choice, as newer BEHEMOTH fans may not have heard their older classics before, and “Chant for Ezkaton” rears its head again, only this time in live form. While the band gets sloppy at times during their live performances, the energy they give off outweighs this minor detail. The Ezkaton artwork and layout is packaged exquisitely and should tide fans over until the next tour and album. (Metal Blade Records)