Beherit - Engram
May 14 2009 at 09:05:16 PM
Far from the fragmentary and primal belch of its youth, Beherit returns following a 14-year hiatus with a terrifically fractal take on Black Metal’s most monotonous and iconic facets. Drum and bass plods foot-heel-to-toe towards the banal. Guitars and keys spin saw-blade trance into splinters of tonal mess while vocals either howl through mouthfuls of dirt, buried alive, or growl and heave forth incantatory gibberish, words snarled, chewed, mauled.
The delivery is no different from
The Oath of Black Blood (doubters are greatly encouraged to go directly to “Suck My Blood”). The entirety of
Engram, for that matter, no less solid than the aforementioned, albeit refusing pointedly to partake in the sonic atrocity that defined Beherit’s early – exceptional – efforts. The current sound is forthright, measured, grave. There is a ritual character – a neurotic deliberateness – undertaken, and often derailed with disorienting effects. “Axiom Heroine” works a not-so subtle Salome dance, sending synth keys over the bump-and-grind in carnal arabesque. The flipside is the plaintive woe dealt without a trace of hyperbole in “Pagan Moon” and “Pimeyden Henki.” The riffs here are magnificent, fathoms deep, old as corpse dust littering dolmen wells. “Pagan Moon” appropriately fades out, buried in bonging bell and emphysemic wind. “Pimeyden Henki” – Fin for “Spirit of Darkness” – embellishes “Pagan Moon” to its logical end, fitting numb-drunk chant with a guitar figure more woeful than the entire work of Henryk Gorecki. It’s a gorgeously morbid piece, larded with the usual iconic imagistic suspects. The 15-minute plus “Demon Advance” works from similar fundamentals but quickly turns schizophrenic; like a painter running brushstrokes across canvas, frame, and over walls, beyond gallery doors, Beherit calls for the grand and archetypal from the limited and atypical. Closing the mess with an ear-to-conch shell synth workout enhances the closer’s missteps.
Acid test, here, of course, is if anyone would have noticed
Engram in the first place had it not been a “comeback” effort from one of Black Metal’s most storied bands. That’s a question remaining likely unanswered, as it’s easy to accuse this incarnation of Beherit of working well within Black Metal’s box. A redirect is necessary, however. It’s not that Beherit haven’t given listeners anything “new” with
Engram; it’s that the band steadfastly embraces the genre’s limited criteria and makes some extraordinary music with ordinary fundamentals. Those keen to chalk this as a shameless money-grab or inartistic copout are far too busy ascribing greatness to money-grabbing, artless bands. And we all know who they are…
[Stewart Voegtlin]
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I have mixed feelings about "comeback" albums in general. Fortunately, the term as it's normally bandied about - just as much of a cliche as the "back to our roots" albums - doesn't really apply here. I've got a list of bands whose music might benefit by the members taking a few years off and finding an entirely new hobby. Of course, it's already too late for Patrick Mameli.
"Because I just hate this fucking world."
I was surprised by this album, and in fact I enjoyed it in spite of it being a Beherit album. Which is to say, I never had much time for them in the first place, and appreciate this album precisely because it does work well within established fundamentals. While not entirely fundamentalist, I guess I always prefer a sound that does more with less (or that demonstrates a greater proportion of innovation within strict "constraints"), as this album certainly does. Engram is far and away their best effort yet.
But I don't know about that "best effort yet," Mr. Konservatiw.