Beherit

As Mayhem is to Norway and Blasphemy is to Canada, BEHERIT is to Finland.  Along with a few other luminaries of the Finnish scene (such as Goatvulva and Vadertopsy), Beherit was one of the earliest black metal bands from Finland, and arguably the most important.  They come from the northern city of Rovaniemi (just below the Arctic Circle), and formed in 1989 as Pseudochrist.  By 1990 they had changed their name to Beherit and released such demos as Seventh Blasphemy and Demonomancy.

"Grave Desecration" is from Demonomancy

The years 1990-1991 saw Beherit make a further name for themselves with the Dawn of Satan's Millenium EP and the split with Chilean band Death Yell.  They signed with German label Turbo Records to release their first album, but in exchange for the money Turbo advanced them to produce a new album, Beherit decided simply to party with that money.  As a result, Turbo Records released a compilation of Beherit's demo material as the 1991 album The Oath of Black Blood.

"Paradise, Of Thy Demonic Host" is an unreleased 1990 track

After 1991's The Oath of Black Blood, Beherit crafted some new material and released the 1993 album Drawing Down the Moon.  This marked a slight stylistic change for the Finnish dark lords.   Where the earlier material clearly showed the influence of the 1980s black/thrash scene, the material from the years 1992-1993 had a more subdued, almost occult production style to it.  The vocals, however, were still of that subterranean, inhuman, demonic variety.

"Saloman's Gate" is the perfect example of Beherit's sound from the 1993 album

Following Drawing Down the Moon, Beherit put out a split with fellow countrymen Archgoat (more on them later) entitled Messe des Morts.  This was a continuation of their raw black metal style from the Drawing Down the Moon album.  In the following year, Beherit shifted gears entirely and became a dark ambient band, releasing two albums under that style.  They then broke up in 1996.

After years of silence and a compilation album that was put out in 1999 (Beast of Beherit), Beherit got back together in the new millenium and began recording new music.  The fruits of their labor was the 2009 album Engram.  In my opinion, this was a very uninspired album.  Satanic and evil, yes, but pales in comparison to the raw brilliance of releases like the early demos and 1993's Drawing Down the Moon.

Here are the goat-worshipping demons of Beherit!

Select Discography:

Seventh Blasphemy (demo) (1990)
Morbid Rehearsals (demo) (1990)
Demonomancy (demo) (1990)
Dawn of Satan's Millenium EP (1991)
The Oath of Black Blood (compilation) (1991)
Werewolf, Semen, and Blood 7" (split with Death Yell) (1991)
Drawing Down the Moon (1993)
Messe des Morts 7" (1993)
Beast of Beherit (compilation) (1999)

Next time: MAYHEM during the Dead years