Biography:
Finland`s Beherit (the Syriac name for Satan, incidentally) was spawned in 1989 by spectacularly named vocalist/guitarist Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance. Along with bassist Black Jesus and drummer Sodomatic Slaughter, his express purpose was to perform the most primitive, savage, hell-obsessed black metal imaginable (no Viking themes to be found here). Clearly influenced by the blunt, unrefined sonic standards heard on Bathory`s early efforts, Beherit`s heavily traded demo tapes provided the bulk material for their 1991 debut, The Oath of Black Blood. Arguably Finland`s first full-fledged black metal album, it preceded their by now far more legendary peers Impaled Nazarene by a year. Like other lo-fi black metal outfits, Beherit`s commercial intractability, frightening visuals, and outrageous live performances (including the occasional goat on-stage) begat a small but extremely dedicated cult following, which readily snapped up subsequent releases such as Werewolf, Semen and Blood, Messe des Morts, and Drawing Down the Moon. 1994`s enigmatic H418ov21.C inaugurated a wholly different phase for the band (now whittled down to a lone Holocausto), characterized by the ambient synth collages of darkwave and leading to 1996`s similar Electric Doom Synthesis. Beherit quietly vanished soon thereafter, but 1999`s Beast of Beherit compilation was eventually released to commemorate the band`s important contributions to the black metal field.
