Beherit (band)
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| Origin | Rovaniemi, Lapland |
| Country | Finland |
| Years active | 1989 - 1996 |
| Genres | Black metal Dark ambient |
| Labels | Spinefarm Records |
Beherit was a black metal band from Finland. The band was formed in 1989 by Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance (Marko Laiho), Black Jesus (Arjo Wennström) and Sodomatic Slaughter (Jari Pirinen), with the purpose of performing "the most primitive, savage, hell-obsessed black metal imaginable."[1] "Beherit" is the Syriac word for Satan. Through the uncommercial nature of their music, visuals and live performances, the band quickly attracted a cult following.[1] Besides for the "raw" sound, the band's music is noted for its avant-garde side and emphasis on atmosphere.[2] Beherit are now regarded as a pioneer in their genre.[3]
As a full band, Beherit released two full-length albums and many demos of raw and minimalistic black metal. They disbanded soon after the release of the experimental 1993 album Drawing Down the Moon, which is now considered a classic of the genre. Laiho, the group's mainman, continued as a solo project and released two more albums under the band's name, H418ov21.C in 1994 and Electric Doom Synthesis in 1995. These albums are usually categorized as dark ambient. Although they were completely electronic, the albums carried the atmosphere of the band's black metal recordings.
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[edit] History
[edit] Early days (1989–1990)
Beherit was formed in 1989 by three young musicians from Rovaniemi, Lapland; vocalist and guitarist Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance (Marko Laiho), bassist Black Jesus (Arjo Wennström) and drummer Sodomatic Slaughter (Jari Pirinen).[1] The band released three demos the following year; Seventh Blasphemy, Morbid Rehearsals and Demonomancy,[4] and also gathered reputation for their live shows, which included pig heads and goats on stage.[5]
[edit] The Oath of Black Blood (1991–1992)
Beherit's first full-length, The Oath of Black Blood, includes material recorded from June to September 1990.[6] The album was released in 1991. The album is traditional, fast and brutal old school black metal, heavily influenced by death metal, thrash metal and grindcore. However, it is not a separately recorded studio album. The band got some funding for recording an album from their record label at the time, Turbo Music, but supposedly spent the money on alcohol.[7] The label then released their demo Demonomancy and 7" EP Dawn of Satan's Millennium as a compilation, without the band's permission, and named it The Oath of Black Blood, which was originally supposed to be the name of the new album. Laiho commented on the album in an early 1992 interview for Metal Hammer magazine:
"I hate the album! It's so bad, we never wanted to release it. The songs are from our 'Demonancy' demo and our label Turbo Music just used a regular cassette for the album pressing. Honestly, I never sent them the master tape... We're planning to release a proper LP soon, this time on my own label. The result should be much better."[8]
The album is now generally regarded as a full-length release. Spinefarm Records re-issued it in 2005, and Season of Mist in 2006.[6]
[edit] Drawing Down the Moon (1993)
Beherit's best-known and most influential album, Drawing Down the Moon, was recorded between April and August in 1992.[9] It was released in 1993 as the band's first official LP. The album was named after an ancient ritual, "drawing down the Moon".[10] The album was highly experimental within the black metal scene, as the band used whispers and space-like electronic sounds to strengthen its hypnotic atmosphere. Drawing Down the Moon was reissued by Candlelight Records in 2006.[9]
[edit] Ambient era (1994–1996)
Despite the album's success, Drawing Down the Moon was to remain the band's last black metal release, as they split up the next year. Laiho still recorded two albums of dark ambient music, H418ov21.C and Electric Doom Synthesis, and released them under the band's name. As the band didn't reform and Laiho had eventually lost interest in black metal, he went on to continue his musical career in dark ambient as "Suuri Shamaani" and in hardcore techno as "DJ Gamma".
[edit] Conflicts
Beherit were one of the first black metal bands.[4] In the early 1990s, most of the bands in the scene were from Norway, but due to Beherit and groups such as Impaled Nazarene, Archgoat and Barathrum, the Finnish scene was becoming more and more recognized. This eventually resulted in a Norwegian-Finnish conflict often named the "Dark War". According to Isten magazine, the conflict originated from several misunderstandings and practical jokes, involving Laiho, but Mika Luttinen of Impaled Nazarene believed he received death threats in Norwegian. His band's first album had a statement saying "no orders from Norway accepted", which Luttinen later admitted to be stupid and childish.[7] In response to Beherit, there was allegedly a band called "Fuck Beherit", that released two rehearsal tapes in 1992.[11] Laiho commented on the conflict in an interview for January 1994 issue of Masters of Brutality magazine:
"When we started the band about 4 years ago we knew this and so that's okay. Now there are more people against us ‘cause of these new rules and all these stupid rumours spread by our Norwegian enemies... but I don’t care so much. But that’s a bit sad that the black metal underground scene is totally split."[10]
[edit] Band members
[edit] Final line-up
- Nuclear Holocausto (Marko Laiho) — Vocals, guitars, keyboards, programming (also in Black Crucifixion)
[edit] Former members
- Black Jesus — Bass
- Sodomatic Slaughter (Jari Pirinen) — Drums (also in Black Crucifixion)
- Necroperversor — Drums
- Kimmo Luttinen — Drums (also in Catamenia, Impaled Nazarene and The Black League)
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
[edit] EPs
[edit] Splits
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[edit] Demos
[edit] Compilations
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[edit] References
- ^ a b c Rivadavia, Ed. Beherit - Biography. All Music Guide. Retrieved on January 28, 2007.
- ^ Grow, Kory. Back in black blood. Decibel magazine. Retrieved on January 28, 2007.
- ^ Beherit. BNR Metal. Retrieved on January 29, 2007.
- ^ a b Sharpe-Young, Garry. Beherit - Biography. Rockdetector. Retrieved on January 28, 2007.
- ^ Beherit. Discogs. Retrieved on December 13, 2006.
- ^ a b The Oath of Black Blood. All Music Guide. Retrieved on January 29, 2007.
- ^ a b Mattila, Mikko; Sarna, Janne (1995). "The End of a Legend - Isten smokes Holocaust Vengeance out of Beherit". Isten 6: 44-45.
- ^ Müller, Robert (1992). "Beherit - In Fear of a Black Metal Planet". Metal Hammer - Thrash (1).
- ^ a b Drawing Down the Moon. All Music Guide. Retrieved on January 28, 2007.
- ^ a b (January 5, 1994) "Interview with Beherit". Masters of Brutality.
- ^ Beherit. Encyclopaedia Metallum. Retrieved on January 29, 2007.
