After the brutal triumph that was “The Oath of Black Blood,” Beherit continued their musical progression by slowing things down and expanding the feeling of their sound. The result is “Drawing Down the Moon,” a truly unique and monumental Black Metal recording and the greatest achievement of their career. After the omnipresent influence exerted by the Norwegian scene one can easily forget the possibilities latent in earlier Black Metal, one of the things that this album clearly expresses. The front cover shows the face of the moon, the back cover an ominously calm stretch of ocean. The lyrics deal with primitive pagan-satanic rituals and prayers to ancient deities. Unquestionably similarities exist between Beherit and later Black Metal, but there are also some important differences. This is Black Metal before it became frosted-over (just consider the song “Summerlands,” and the incongruity with more recent BM themes should be clear). The percussion is messier, as is the guitar work, vocals are delivered in an authoritative rasp and the production gives the music the feeling of an ugly and saturated beast rather than that of a dynamic winter wolf.

While the music of Darkthrone or Immortal is comforting and uplifting, upon the first listen Beherit can be rather unnerving. Only after returning to the album multiple times did I begin to connect with it, but such effort is well worth it. Brief electronic and ambient passages are found interspersed throughout the album, the menacing Intro, the mysterious “Nuclear Girl” and the shockingly beautiful “Summerlands.” These tracks are of great importance in the way that they contrast with and effect the song tracks. That the cumulative effect of the already brilliant songs is broken by such strange beauty (although only for rather brief periods) suggests a profound meaning for “Drawing Down the Moon”, the alteration between vicious invocations and mighty penetration directing the listener to a state of awe from which previously unknown strength and calm appear, giving the warm feeling of a cleansed and purified mind, a sort of baphometic fire baptism. An oft-discussed topic in the world of metal today is the apparent stagnation of Black Metal and how it ought to (or how is can) evolve. Although these are questions that deserve complex answers, a good starting point is listening to a pre-Norwegian band such as Beherit and taking in a different perspective on the art form.

written by Andrew Zawislanski

Playing time: 39.28