UMUR
"Messe Des Morts" is an EP release by Finnish black metal act Beherit. The EP was released through Necropolis Records in December 1993. It´s the follow-up release to Beherit´s debut full-length studio album "Drawing Down the Moon" from November 1993. Drummer Necroperversor and bassist Black Jesus had already left Beherit before the release of "Drawing Down the Moon" and Beherit is therefore a one-man project on "Messe Des Morts" consisting of Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance has handles all vocals and instruments. The drums on the EP are programmed.
If anyone thought that "Messe Des Morts" would sound anything like "Drawing Down the Moon" because it was released only a month after the full-length studio album they would be dead wrong. While "Drawing Down the Moon" features an eerie and atmospheric sounding blackened doom metal style, "Messe Des Morts" features an industrial tinged almost punked black metal style which is vastly different from the sound found on "Drawing Down the Moon".
The material on the four track EP is packed in a raw and distorted sound production and layered with effect laden vocals, samples, and keyboards. It´s pretty chaotic sounding but the simple riffs, rhythms, and song structures still make for a relatively accessible listen. Upon conclusion the stylististic change is a bit of a disappointment as it would have been interesting to hear where Beherit would take the atmospheric blackened doom metal style of "Drawing Down the Moon", but instead "Messe Des Morts" feels like a regression. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.