Beherit – The Oath of Black Blood [1991]

Although Beherit’s “The Oath of Black Blood” is often confused for their first album, it is actually a compilation of their “Demonomancy” demo and “Dawn of Satan’s Millennium” EP, due to the recording money for the first actual album being pissed away on drugs and alcohol by the band. The music featured on these early works is, in a word; ugly. Sounding somewhere between early Bathory, Blasphemy, Sarcófago and primitive old-school death metal, this stuff is raw, frenzied and sounds like it was recorded in a cave using a blender. Clearly, a very different approach to what they would later achieve on “Drawing down the Moon”.

The first half of this release is much more primal and violent than the second half; it is here that you notice the heavy influence Beherit took from the ancient South American extreme metal scene. Chaotic and distorted riffs, simple but effective drumming and inhuman vocals assault the listener from all angles. Those looking for melody and fancy musicianship need not listen, as they won’t find it here!

The second half focuses a bit more on the experimental and ambient sounds that they would focus more on later in their career. There’s tasteful keyboard work and whispered vocals worked in with a less is more approach. It’s a bit weird to hear this after the blistering chaos of the first half, but it fits and flows well enough with the first half, still leaving “The Oath…” feeling more like an album than a compilation.

So, while not an actual “album”, I would still say that “The Oath of Black Blood” is an essential in any black metal listener’s collection. Unless you’re a pansy.

Highlights:

The Oath of Black Blood

Grave Desecration

Goat Worship

Black Mass Prayer

Final Rating: Masterpiece [9.0/10]

Nidhoggr - Ravens Over The Road Of The Kings [1994] (Demo)

My sheer love for the grotesqueries that come out of Finland cannot be questioned. Yes, I’m talking about the Finnish death metal scene, a plentiful pile of rot and macabre decay, putrid and abominable in every way. But besides the death metal scene in Finland to emerge in the 90’s, there’s also a cult underground black metal scene, quite extensive yes, but still dwarfed by the captivating copiousness of the death metal scene. There were a few bands that the black metal underground respected and knew, but Nidhoggr is just not one of those exulted bands. Listening to their 1994 demo ‘’Ravens Over The Road Of Kings’’ is like Burzum gnawing against your ears with stark strictness, and amongst so many false imitators, finally comes a band who knows how to worship.

Yes, a Burzum scent reeks heavily in every riff, every break, every turn and twist; in every aspect. ‘’Ravens’’ is a relatively short demo, consisting of only three songs, but once you enter its frigid cold atmosphere it’s not easy to get out as you’re always in the grip of grim, sombre winter, absolutely blood chilling and glacial. The instrumentation is sheer brilliance I tell you. Brilliance. The riffs are set on a damp, jagged texture and flow with craggy, angular turns, and the production is exceedingly raw and diminishing, so the tremolo pickings will always be reduced in vivacity and fullness, and you’ll need to crank the volume up if you want to properly hear this one. Atmospheric traits are just as favoured as the dreary elements of the music. Every riff is harsh, abrupt attack, but at the same time, it provokes an epic sense, which is always a pleasant thing to hear in your black metal.

Even the vocals, sonically intense and gelid screams and harsh rasps remind me of Burzum, and these rasps are so cold and haunting that I can say that they’re even better than Varg’s vocals performance, even though they seldom tend to appear. ‘’Thou Shalt Burn At Our Stacker’’ carves a deep hole into the listener’s ear from the start, giving of a great impact of cold, grim melancholy and other raw aspects of the demo, and ‘’From The Forest Come The Wanderer’’ begins its six minute journey with brief little melody spectrum, flashing into an crude, cavernous tremolo attack afterwards. The concluding track finalizes the demo with a queer plethora of melodies and turns cutting and splashing onto each other with cantankerous complexity and cunning. I have no doubt that any Norwegian black metal fan will find this entertaining (though in a eerie way), and Burzum fans especially will salivate over this.

Highlights

''Thou Shalt Burn At Our Stacker''

''From The Forest Come The Wanderer''

Final Rating

Awesome [8.8/10] 

Altar/Cartilage - Ex Obliovione/The Fragile Concept Of Affection [1992] (Split)

During the days when death roamed the world like a unmerciful tyrant, bands were exploiting their own music rapidly, and many couldn't even get pass demo level. Splits were scarce, yes, but they still existed, and somewhere in the repugnant bowels of time, lies a hidden split of two bands; The Finnish act Cartilage and the Swedish devil Altar, but great bands who would gradually escalate towards the same fate that many suffered during the late/mid 90's: Destruction. Yes, it indeed brings me great sorrow to see that both bands are now disbanded, but instead of mourning over their death like me, you can grab a copy of their split LP (which is now a precious rarity), and enjoy forty two minutes of decomposed manifestations of corrupted death metal, from the two countries that made produced the during the heydays of old school death metal.

Four bonus tracks were added to the album later on (two songs four each), and I suppose they're fairly good, but let's focus on the main, decrepit material here. Altar are from Sweden, though they don't extract the same kind of Swedish death metal bands played in those days to the opposition of many, creating a rather thrash-oriented churning of Morbid Angel circa ''Altars Of Madness'' with a slightly rougher production and a more doom-laden edge. Altar keeps the balance of the music at a steady level with jumpy incursions and spiky verse and that additional thrash crust I was talking about, but I still didn't find their style too distinct or gloomy. The vocalist's muffled growls don't stand out with great prominence, but so long as they fit the music well, I'll be content.

Cartilage, on the other hand, provide with a slightly different brand of death metal, this time taking influences from their home country instead of another. Cartilage definitely pleasured me more than Altar because the riffs are rawer and even more filthy than Altar, and Cartilage's vein is laden with Demilich, Abhorrence and Convulse; some of the finest Finnish death metal bands out there. They're sordid, no doubt, and evil at that, and they can preserve that quality of the music through each riff, slow or fast. Cartilage mainly focuses on frantic attacks and swift channels, leaving a bit of an old school thrash mark on your ears, but they still tend to give off a horror feeling to the listener with numerous implements, so you'll be headbanging and feeling chills slithering through your spine at the same time. Awesome.

Both bands would eventually be destroyed, but Altar released a couple more demos before their annihilation, so I guess they're a little more lucky. This split offers death metal that any old school death/thrasher would enjoy, and they're even bizarrely flourished, and even though both bands may not have created considerably original death metal, their material is still sturdy, cunning and rotting, so jump at it while you still have the chance.


Highlights
''The Underworld''
''Why Do I Watch The Dawn''
''Ex Oblivione''
''Daymere/A Message From The Grave''

Final Rating
Awesome [8.6/10]

Sentenced - Shadows of Past [1991]

I'm sure any death metal fan reading this knows about Finland and the country's tendency to unleash filthy, murky death metal of the highest caliber, so I won't ramble on about it and bore you. Sentenced is one such band that took up their axes and then proceeded to drown them in melodic, doomy brilliance and then drop tune the shit out of them. Seriously, these guys must have gone a major Bolt Thrower binge because the amount of grooving and chugging on "Shadows of Past" is ridiculous. The opening track "When the Moment of Death Arrives" starts off the way that you would expect a Finndeath band to sound - with a dark, yet beautiful melody that sets up the tone and then all of a sudden this plodding, behemoth-like riff enters the fray and heads begin to bang. "Rot to Dead" and "Under the Suffer" are a couple more tracks that embrace the "Realm of Chaos" groove and pummeling and they do it incredibly well. 

Of course, this is Finnish death metal and "Shadows of Past" isn't just a Bolt Thrower-worship record. There are plenty of melodies strung throughout this album, whether they're used as an atmosphere enhancer like on the intro to "Rotting Ways of Misery," or they're being used to balance out the heaviness with the melodic like on "Disengagement," Sentenced knows how to write some great music that isn't just endless tremolos and blast beats. Another notable trait of the country's style of death metal is the underlying doom influence and just about every song has a moment that is undeniably doomy. The powerchords possess a grim emptiness to them that conjures the feel most of the time, similar to a band like Autopsy, but there are also plenty of riffs that are just straight-up doom ("Disengagement"). But, the major influence for this low-end sound is none other than the heavy-as-fuck bass. The bass creeps along and is always the elephant in the room, so to speak, and its presence is very welcome as far as I'm concerned. 

In addition to the Bolt Thrower grooving and the more melodic material, a lot of the other riffs and parts of the music are greatly influenced by the godfathers of death metal, Death. The tremolo sections throughout reek of "Leprosy"-era Death, as they're fast and somewhat evil sounding, but not as heavy as a band like Incantation or as evil as a band like Morbid Angel. The vocals are also very reminiscent of Chuck Schuldiner, but there's also a healthy dose of Brett Hoffmann in there as well. "Shadows of Past" is definitely a great record to have in your collection if you're a fan of Bolt Thrower, Death or Autopsy, as it is a fantastic representative of what Finland had to offer, though Sentenced wasn't the best. It's a shame that these guys would go on to later produce some utter shit, but at least I've still got this album to deteriorate my eardrums to...

Highlights

"When the Moment of Death Arrives"

"Rot to Dead"

"Suffocated Beginning of Life"

Final Rating

Awesome [8.3/10]

Beherit – Drawing Down the Moon [1993]

Finnish black metal legends Beherit formed in 1989 and have since released a ton of demos and EPs, a couple of compilations, two dark ambient albums and three black metal albums. “Drawing down the Moon” was their first full length released, but their “official” debut album was “At the Devil’s Studio 1990”, which finally saw the light of day in June 2011. A confusing discography, I know, but bear with me as I discuss their most well known album “Drawing down the Moon”.

Recorded in between April and September 1992 but released in November 1993 and produced by the bands’ guitarist, vocalist and keyboardist; Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance, “Drawing down the Moon” is a bit of a departure from their earlier, more straightforward and bestial, work featured on “The Oath of Black Blood” and “At the Devil’s Studio 1990” in that it’s mostly mid-to-slow-paced as opposed to the more fast-paced songs displayed on previous releases and features ambient interludes previously not present. 

The music itself is pretty unique compared to most other black metal released around the same time, and very different to anything that was going on in Norway and Sweden at the time. The guitars often take a step back and mix in with the vocals and drums to produce a “wall of sound” type effect, and there are also moments where slow and mournful melodies are used to pull the listener into a different state of mind before changing it up and assaulting you with more violent bestiality. Special mention has to be made for the vocals, which are generally low the mid-range growls mixed in with some weird clean sections and ritualistic chanting as well as the occasional spoken word piece. The influence of bands such as Sarcófago, Blasphemy and Sadistik Exekution are still ever-present in the music and always an underlying factor in the slower parts and ambient passages, which just goes to show that Beherit were generally more forward-thinking and experimental than their peers at the time, having crafting something that still employs a barbaric and primitive approach while creating a very eerie, dark and sinister atmosphere channeling different techniques such as keyboards and ambiance effectively.

This album is truly something special to behold, and is best viewed as a singular epic piece of music rather than a collection of individual songs. An essential black metal classic if there ever was one!

Highlights:

Salomon's Gate

The Gate of Nanna

Werewolf, Semen and Blood

Final Rating:

10.0/10 Legendary

Purtenance - Member Of Immortal Damnation [1992]

As you may already know, the Finnish death metal scene was a scene just as monstrous as the Swedish and American scene, yet for some reason, Finnish bands never got the recognition they needed. Although many Finnish bands sounded similar to Swedish bands, little notice that they actually have a distinctive sound of their own, and maybe that was the reason they despised and excluded. Purtenance, a band which was formerly known as Purtenance Avulsion, is a band that can easily add up to that list of unappreciated yet awesome death metal bands. Truly, Purtenance carry out that vile, atmospheric, melancholic Finnish DM signature sound perfectly, and this a record that definitely should be praised more as it carves out that gnawing, crushing death/doom tone and fuses it with the melancholy of the Finnish trademark sound.

This album's depressing, filthy and rotten, and it's certainly not for the weak. Each blow of each riff is a drowning mammoth, a huge foot that buries the listener deep within it's inundating atmosphere, and each riff is just as crushing as it's depressing. The raw production quality and gnawing chainsaw guitar tone is also highly prevalent, yet, surprisingly, none of the instruments drown one another in that filthy mix since all of them are given equal amounts of space to consume, and the vocals are another tasty aspect that bludgeons the listener with grindcore-ish pukes and gnarls.  One great thing about these Finnish death metallers is that they always tend to incorporate a fair amount of sinister melodies to increase the diversity of the riffs, and Purtenance is no exception. During the sequences which adopt more of a doom metal sound, brooding melodies fly in the air and spread chaos upon the riffs, giving a beautiful sense of feeling and passion to the listener while still haunting him/her. Not up for sluggish riffs? Well, don't worry, because ''Member Of Immortal Damnation'' has lots of fast paced riffs in store, just as much as it has doom laden passages. ''In The Misty Morning'' is one galloping death/thrash monster that bestirs that raw guitar tone with some Asphyx crunchiness and a hint of Bolt Thrower grooving. Yummy indeed.

The best quality of the music here is that the speed of the riffs constantly change, so you've got lots OSDM tremolo bursts, and numerous death/doom sections. Everything on this album is totally obscured and every aspect is altered by the atmosphere, which may actually put off lots of people, but that's just the way the Finnish DM scene rolls. What else can I say? ''Member Of Immortal Damnation'' draws influences from many variations of death and doom metal, from the depressing lament on ''Black Vision'', to the mid paced Bolt Thrower grooving found on ''In The Misty Morning'' to volatile barrage of tremolo pickings on ''Crown Waits The Immortal'', each track comes with its own beauty, its own bitter aroma that's good enough to compete with even the biggest of Finnish bands like Convulse or Demigod. ''Member Of Immortal Damnation'' is definitely up there, up there with all the exalted releases that helped build death/doom.

Highlights
''Crown Waits The Immortal''
''In The Misty Morning''
''Deep Blue Darkness''

Final Rating
Masterpiece [9.1/10]

Rippikoulu-Musta Sermonia (Demo) [1993]

Rippikoulu was such an obscure group that they couldn't even be considered as one of the second/third tier Finnish DM bands like Funebre or Purtenance. For those who have witnessed the repugnancy of the demo, "Musta Sermonia," Rippikoulu remains as a true hidden underground gem, burried deep within years of mainstream culture and modern varieties of Finnish metal. The Fins always had love for the doomy, brooding melodies that they used in their death metal and frankly death/doom is what these guys excel in. If you like the filthy death metal sound of Finland, and if you are used to hearing it, then you'll know damn well what this demo sounds like.

The extremely thick and fuzzy tone applied on the guitars is oppressing enough and when the sluggish, deppresive melodies and atmosphere are added to the already dense combination, the heft of the album becomes unbearably heavy. The riffs are mostly lo-paced death/doom monsters, twisted grotesqueries that stumble and crush everything in their path with incredible heft. Paces vary at times, and become quite entertaining when they all of a sudden turn into vicious blast beats and ultimately enjoyable, headbang-friendly tremolo assaults, though sequences like these are terribly outnumbered by the doomy dirges that enshadow the whole demo. Fortunately, anyone who has already came for sluggish death/doom from this record will just take the lack of tempo variation with a grain of salt. The only thing that stops the demo from reaching absolute perfection, is the lack of originality. If I were listening to a vigorously catchy record with dynamic riffage, I wouldn't mind this flaw at all, but when we're talking about heavy, dark and depressive death/doom, the situation gets abrasive simply because no matter how many times you search the demo you can't find a collosal deviation from the same pervasive sounds, widespread around the demo.

When it comes to flaws, that's the only flaw I can think of. Other than that ''Musta Sermonia'' is absolutely disgusting death metal, unpolished and blunt as a rock. It contains extra striking features such as doomy, brooding melodies, monstrous vocals and an engulfing atmosphere that helps the demo out a lot for the most part, always keeping the listener at the edge of his/her seat no matter how depressing the riffs are. The Finnish death metal masters always have a haunted, repugnant feel to them, but only few can execute it in the way Rippikoulu did, and fewer can be as depressingly ominous.

Highlights
''Kadonneet Jumalat''
''Anteeksiannon Synkkä Varjo''

Final Rating
Masterpiece [9.0/10]

Disinter - Exitus Letalis (Demo) [1993]

Believe it or not, bands are allowed to sound different than the other ones of their scene. There was Autopsy who slowed down and raped many people's earholes with their doom-laden death metal when the majority of American bands were blasting away, there was Deathrow from Germany who took a more technical approach to thrash as opposed to the extreme aggression (no pun intended) of bands like Kreator and Sodom, and then there were bands like Disinter, who created some extreme death metal in the vein of bands like Malevolent Creation and early Cannibal Corpse rather than the doomier and darker filth that most Finndeath bands played. While the music here isn't as great as the aforementioned bands and there were hundreds of other bands who played in a similar style, that doesn't take away from the glimpses of greatness found on the "Exitus Letalis" demo. 

The slithering and monstrous sound that many people may expect to hear once the demo starts is nonexistent, instead it's replaced with a fast death metal tremolo riff and only followed by more brutality, though I cringe as I use that term because of the hundreds of horrible bands out that are considered "brutal death metal," no worries though, because Disinter is brutal in the way that there is no escape from the neckbreaking riffs that can be found, like on the song "Exhumation" which is a nonstop assault on the brain and neck. Ripping tremolos and midpaced riffs are pretty much the only facets of guitar playing on this demo, leaving no room for melodies or intricate riffage. In addition to the decimating riffs, the vocals on "Exitus Letalis" are incredibly reminiscent of Chris Barnes from the low-end growls to the more guttural rasps and it suits the band's style of death metal perfectly. 

For a four song demo there isn't much variety and they all follow an incredibly similar pattern, though, "Exhumation" and "Necrophagia" tend to cause some more destruction than the other two tracks. Again, this isn't the greatest demo to be found in the blood and dust, but a full-length from this band could have been a decent addition to the fantastic death metal scene of Finland. Fans of Cannibal Corpse, Malevolent Creation, Sinister and the like should have no problems in enjoying Disinter and this demo. 

Highlights

"Exhumation"

"Necrophagia"

Final Rating

Awesome [8.5/10]

Funebre - Children of the Scorn [1991]

When people talk about death metal from Finland, the names that are always brought up as the best are the usual culprits of Demigod, Convulse, Amorphis and Demilich, but what about Funebre? "Children of the Scorn" is the only full-length album that Funebre ever recorded, which is unfortunate because this album is great and severely underrated. I'm still not sure why these guys aren't as cherished by the metal underground, especially since this album preceded any of the now legendary records that those other aforementioned bands released. 

At first I thought it might have been the glimpses of technicality and general weirdness of some of the riffs and basslines that might have turned people off from this record, but Demilich is pretty technical and a lot of pretentious death metal fans love to wank to "Nespithe." The riffs and the craziness that ensues with a lot of them throughout "Children of the Scorn" are stellar (though, some are cool for a listen but not all that memorable), especially on songs like "Congenital Defeat" and "Walls that Held Screams." Instead of taking the same approach to constructing some dark music by adding numerous tremolo passages and downtuned, doomy passages, Funebre delivers some crazy sounding riffs which add a nice sense of chaos to the music, placing significance on the actual music rather than trying to sound evil. 

Don't get me wrong, these guys definitely can conjure up some vile sounding music when they want. While not settling for the usual heavy and muted tremolo bursts, Funebre goes for that eerie sound by using some higher notes for their weapon of tremolo picking assault, with "Walls that Held Screams" and "Slumber End" being two of the best instances of this. And of course there are the melodic parts that death metal bands from Finland have made so essential to their morbid sounding music. The melody near the beginning of "Waiting for the Arrival" should have no problem in sending chills down the listener's spine, while the melodic passage of "Blood on White" is exactly how melody should be integrated with death metal, and not like that shite from Gothenburg. 

In between the crazy weirdness that Funebre does so well and the darker parts of their music, there are some heavy riffs ("Grip of Insanity" and "Redeemed From Time") that compliment the other parts well and give the listener an opportunity to bang their head. There really isn't much else to discuss regarding "Children of the Scorn," other than the riff in "Grip of Insanity" which sounds a lot like the riff on a certain Death song. This album isn't as great as "World Without God" or "Slumber of Sullen Eyes," nor does it have a lasting effect like those two albums, but it definitely deserves to be mentioned alongside them because this is a damn fine slab of filthy death metal. 

Highlights

"Waiting for the Arrival"

"Shiver"

"Redeemed From Time"

Final Rating

Masterpiece [9.0/10]