Beast of Beherit: Complete Worxxx

Beherit, a relative unknown back in their heyday from the early to mid 90's. Today they're a cult favorite, cherished and imitated by many bands, most noticeably Black Witchery. Beherit took their influences from Sarcofago, Von and Blasphemy. In their earlier EP's/demos they worshipped at the altar of Blasphemy, so much that you probably couldn't even tell them apart if you heard their stuff next to each other without knowing who was behind the music.

It's hard to believe that a band like this was actually hated back then, they're so admired now that it's a shame that they never made a comeback. Before the book was finally closed on Nuclear Holocausto's baby demon, they left us an absolutely essential "Best Of" release. The album pretty much has it all that was good about Beherit, even during the "ambient" phase. The album has something from practically everything they ever released, the Demonomancy demo, Down There MC, Dawn Of Satan's Millenium EP, Drawing Down The Moon, Electric Doom Synthesis, H418ov21.C, Seventh Blasphemy MC, some live tracks from their gig in Rihimaki '92 and even threw in a Blasphemy cover to boot. The material is nothing short of legendary, truely great and timeless Black Metal music.

Nuclear Holocausto was the one constant in the band from beginning to end, he was surrounded by good, competent members in Black Jesus (bass) and Necroperversor (drums). Together they played great, the drums were straight out of black metal 101 and Holocausto's voice is one of the best, ever. He really sounded like a demon and could play a possessed guitar. From the album, only 3 tracks made it from the Ambient phase, the tracks were wisely picked and truly were the best from each release. The rest of the tracks are mainly from their Black Metal phase, thankfully. The only thing missing was from their Messe Des Morts EP (1993), anyway it's only a minor gripe. The 'Best Of...' is soo good that you literally feel like buying their albums after listening to this, even the Ambient ones.

Putting in a tiny handful of Ambient tracks is good because it's shows how diverse they were. They were not a one dimensional band, after they went through their "Blasphemy worship" phase from the earliest era, they discovered their own sound through 'Drawing Down The Moon'. Salomon's Gate and Nocturnal Evil captured a more desolate and elaborate side to Beherit, less messy sounding and more confident in their own sound. Darkspace were listening closely and took notes from those tracks. Even the two live tracks are great because it just showed how good they were live. Eventually Holocausto just cut the cord since his tastes changed and he couldn't find people to replace his previous members. From '94 onwards Beherit was a solo project and his tastes in Black Metal was dwindled, most likely a lack of appreciation or strong support from peers and fans exacerbated the demise. This release is so good that it will make you want to explore the actual albums in depth and trust me you won't be disapointed. For Novices this is all you need, for the fans who want more, check out their catalogue to fill your need, this is a great starting point for anyone who have not heard Beherit before.