Beherit

Early days (–1990) Beherit was founded in Rovaniemi, Lapland in 1989 as a three-piece consisting of vocalist and guitarist Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance (Marko Laiho), bassist Daemon Fornication and drummer Sodomatic Slaughter (Jari Pirinen).—and also gathered reputation for their live shows, which included pig heads and goats on stage. The Oath of Black Blood (1991–1992) Beherit's compilation album, The Oath of Black Blood, includes material recorded from June to September 1990. 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. The label then released their demo Demonomancy and 7-inch 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 'Demonomancy' 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." The album is now generally regarded as a full-length release. Spinefarm Records re-issued it in 2005, and Season of Mist in 2006. It was released in 1993 as the band's first official LP. The album was named after a Wiccan ritual, "drawing down the Moon". The album was highly experimental within the black metal scene, as the band used whispers and space-like electronic and synth sounds to strengthen its hypnotic atmosphere. Drawing Down the Moon was reissued by Candlelight Records in 2006. The album, entitled Engram, is the band's third black metal album (fifth overall) and first in 14 years. A sixth album, Bardo Exist, was released in 2020. This album marked a return to the black ambient style. ==Conflicts==

Beherit were one of the first second-wave black metal bands. In the early 1990s, due to Beherit and groups such as Impaled Nazarene 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 fanzine's obviously satirical article, 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 being stupid and childish. 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." ==Band members==

Current members • Nuclear Holocausto (Marko Laiho of Black Crucifixion) – vocals, guitars, keyboards, programming (1989–1996, 2008–present) • Sodomatic Slaughter (Jari Pirinen of Black Crucifixion) – drums (1989–1991, 2008–present) • Ancient Corpse Desekrator (Sami Tenetz) (Thy Serpent) – guitars (2008–present) • Abyss (Pasi Kolehmainen) – bass (2008–present) Former members • Black Jesus (Santtu Siippainen) (ex. Coffin) – bass (1991–1992) • Daemon Fornication/Demon Fornication (Jari Vaarala) – bass (1989–1990) • Kimmo Luttinen (of Catamenia, Impaled Nazarene, The Black League) – drums • Necroperversor (Pekka Virkanen) (ex. Coffin) – drums (1991–1992) == Discography ==

Albums • Drawing Down the Moon (1993) • H418ov21.C (1994) • Electric Doom Synthesis (1995) • Engram (2009) • ''At the Devil's Studio 1990'' (2011) • Bardo Exist (2020) • WBRRR (2023) Compilations • The Oath of Black Blood (1991) • Beast of Beherit - Complete Worxxx (1999) EPs and demos • Seventh Blasphemy (1990) • Morbid Rehearsals (1990) • Demonomancy (1990) • ''Dawn of Satan's Millennium'' (1990) • Diabolus Down There (alternately, Down There..., released under the band name The Lord Diabolus, 1991) • Unreleased Studio Tracks (1991) • Promo 1992 (1992) • Messe des morts (1994) • Celebrate the Dead (2012) Splits • Beherit / Death Yell (1991) • Messe des morts / Angel Cunt (1999) (with Archgoat) ==References==