The legend that is Beherit… an untouchable entity with an original debut album, namely ‘Oath of Black Blood,’ an unmatched slice of BM brilliance. None who has truly listened to the record can question this… except the band themselves. The press-sheet insists that this 26.5 minute piece of BMastery is the original debut album and OoBB a mere compilation.
It’s another pivotal moment in Finnish black metal history. That one instant when Mr. Sadomatic Slaughter ascended to his attic (or basement, I don’t know the guy) and found this ancient discarded master-tape. And here we have it, the record that was meant to be the official debut album. Now lots has been said about ‘At The Devil’s Studio 1990’ and adding anything to the discussion is probably harder than eating stationary… let’s have a listen anyways.
What becomes apparent very quickly is that this is a live rehearsal recording. The first track is even called ‘Rehearsal’, most likely a jam-session between two-piece Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance (guitar / vocals) and Sodomatic Slaughter (drums). The individual self-taught playing style of the two is what makes Beherit into Beherit… and it’s fucking glorious hearing these tracks played sloppily in vicious two-piece formation.
The “production” here is somewhat worse than the majority of tracks on OoBB, making some of the riffs totally inaudible. Along with the opener ‘At The Devil’s Churns’ and ‘Whores of Belial’ are previously unknown tracks (and killer at that), whilst ‘Grave Desecration Vengeance’ is a slightly altered version of the classic christbuster anthem. The rest of the songs are more or less similar versions of previous classicks. What we have as a whole is a completely vital record.
An essential piece of Finnish black metal history is at hand. This is a recording from when it was all happening, fresh and naive, genuinely brutal to the bone, void of all pretentiousness or vanity. It’s the two key musicians of the scene laying down black metal law. They may not know quite know how to play and definitely not how to record, but the sheer evilness and lusting to kill, that all arguments/nay-saying falls short. If you appreciate the early days of Beherit and are one of those people who can sit down and just listen, getting absorbed into a claustrophobically nauseating space beyond and riding it out, then get this. If you want more ‘catchy-stuff’ I guess you can always listen to Necronomicon fromQuebec.
(9/10 Miika Virtanen)
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