Behexen

My Soul For His Glory
Moribund Records

If the Moribund label isn't enough to clue you in on what to expect, then news of a European tour with Archgoat and a split LP with fellow Finns Horna (!!) might just clue you in to the fact that every member of Behexen has surely taken the oath of the black blood, etc. etc. Not a new band at all, Behexen have been plying their careening, out of control black metal - exulting in the same speedfreak thrill-kill loss of control that the likes of Bahamiron, Horna, Corpus Christii, Watain, are in thrall to - since 2000. Behexen are a good deal more sonically focused, but that discipline only makes their music more viciously unpredictable and effective.

"My Soul For His Glory" has a deep gutteral undertow similar to early gorecore but with the will-to-power of Morbid Angel's first album. The guitar tone is thicker and fuzzier than usual for this strain of cult black metal, instead of rapier thin treble; it's a smothering downtuned wall a la Carcass or Today Is The Day's electro-power violence. The bass, jesus, you can actually hear it, for one, and it sounds like a rain of hammers. The vocals are just complete unleashed madness, with tormented screams and venomous retches building and echoing back and forth like a marauding goblin horde. There are some early thrash influences (Sodom, Destruction), variations in tone and texture and speed a la Burzum, and more than a passing similarity to the superpowered warstomp of Marduk and Immortal. They have just enough clever riffs and enough blood-throated conviction to make their own stamp on a genre that thrives on ever more vile gestures. A fine balance of the cult and the killer.

- Matthew Moyer