Beherit
The Oath Of Black Blood

Seminal.

There is no other way to define the true recording debut of the Beherit entity. Formed in '89, after the first demo "Seventh Blasphemy," "Morbid Rehearsal" and "Demonomancy," they arrived at their first full-length (which is only unofficially so, since this debut is nothing more than the reissue in CD format with a larger number of copies of the demo "Demonomancy" and the EP "Dawn Of Satan's Millennium"), "The Oath Of Black Blood."

Released in '91, the album would become a real paradigm for those who have made rawer and more primordial Black Metal their raison d'être, although here simply talking about Black Metal can be really misleading. Here, in fact, as in all the other Beherit albums, what counts is not the form, but the Idea. You will not find symphonic partitions here, you will not find nightclub electronics here, you will not find evolving structures and complex partitions, you will not find clean vocals here, no concession to listening simplicity, no Swedish melody. NO.

Only malice, a lot of malice, it borders on paroxysm in these grooves, technical precision goes to be blessed—or rather, cursed—the drums often go offbeat, the guitar riffs seem conceived by someone who has never played the guitar, only violated it. It is something that disorients you, it makes you pale. There are no footholds, no concessions, nothing at all. The structure of the songs, their short duration, and many riffs are much more Grind than Black Metal. So why? Why has this album, this jumble of notes become a classic of Black Metal? It's the previous point. Behind a form that is monstrous is the Idea. Evil. And its tangible presence can be felt, almost touched. Here is the cathartic function of this that on a first distracted listen is nothing more than noise. We rise up to the Idea itself of evil, we purify ourselves, we exorcise it. And everything else fades into the background. It is useless here to mention one track over another, useless to talk about one instrument or another, there's no need to analyze the chords or structures, here it is only about feeling.

All this in less than half an hour. We are on the levels of Abruptum, other masters of catharsis and damnation. But Beherit themselves will do better with the following album, the beautiful "Drawing Down The Moon," and with the underrated EP "Messe Des Morts," for me their best, as well as their least musical record. Then they will move on to pure electronics with the still good "H418ov21.C" and "Electric Doom Synthesis".

I am not rating this album. My judgment is too personal, too partial. Many will not agree, but that's better. I will keep for myself a precious jewel of pure evil.