Fourteen years later, Beherit still kills

Beherit's frontman Nuclear Holocausto has returned to the black metal fray with a new album simply called Engram. The Finnish act has a strange pedigree, with its releases of the early 1990s dismissed as incompetent noise and with their later electronic outings causing even further confusion.  A decade later, everyone finally caught on to the genius of it all but by then the band was disbanded for years, and Mr. Holocausto had  split the scene for a more bankable role as a techno DJ. He proclaimed Beherit dead forever, and there was no reason to think otherwise until now. With almost no warning, the band has resurfaced with a revitalized lineup and a host of undeniably black metal dirges that should shut the mouths of skeptics.

Holocausto's vocal approach has changed somewhat as he has traded in the bizarre whispers and grunts for a more concentrated snarl, but the effect is no less seething. The production is still overdriven and dirty, but with a layer of warmth on top that makes the material surprisingly ear-friendly. The drums are gloriously hammer-and-anvil in their relentless pounding, while the guitars weave a sawing miasma overhead. There are sprinklings of keyboard that reflect the always-adroit musical sensibility of the Northern Europeans, and they are carefully applied to support the melodies rather than to drive them. The lyrics remain completely entrenched in a affirmation of devil-worship, though they eschew any irony whatsoever. Beherit is dead serious; understand this and your life will be easier.

The opening track "Axiom Heroine" is trudging and restrained, as if the band wanted to defy "the fastest song goes first" convention, but then they throw things into fifth gear on the second song, "Destroyer of Thousand Worlds", and keep the hammer down until the massive closing movement of  "Demon Advance". Here is where the scale of Engram is truly revealed, and this song gives Metallica's most epic compositions a run for their money. In all, this album is a musical journey that stands up to the best works of Burzum; it is hypnotic, crushing, and as dark as a starless night. It may be too soon to declare this the album of the year, but Beherit's comeback masterpiece is already a serious contender for the title.