UMUR "The Oath of Black Blood" is a compilation album release by Finnish black/death metal act Beherit. The compilation was released through Turbo Music in September 1991. It´s considered Beherit´s debut full-length studio album by many, but that´s not really true. Turbo Music offered Beherit a very small amount of money to record their debut album, which Beherit weren´t able to on such a low budget, and Turbo Music therefore ended up compiling the material from Beherit´s June 1990 "Demonomancy" demo and the material from their February 1991 "Dawn of Satan's Millennium" EP and releasing it as "The Oath of Black Blood".

To my ears those are the two best quality releases from the early part of Beherit´s (also including the demo they released in July 1991 under The Lord Diabolus monicker), so releasing them as a compilation is not a bad idea at all. Beherit did actually record a full-length studio album in 1990, but it was shelved (because of issues with Turbo Music) and didn´t see the light of day until June 2011, where it was picked up for a release by the Kvlt label,

Stylistically Beherit inhabit a territory which touches both black metal and death metal, and they are hard to label just one. It´s harsh, grim, savage, and brutal music packed in suitably raw sounding production values. The material from the "Dawn of Satan's Millennium" EP is slightly more professional sounding, but neither the demo nor the EP material feature what most people would consider professional sound production values. This is pretty lo-fi and murky sounding, but the sound productions suit the material and provide the right gloomy and occult atmosphere for the music. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Dawn of Satan's Millennium" is an EP release by Finnish black/death metal act Beherit. The EP was released through Turbo Music in February 1991 (recorded in October 1990 at Studioala). It succeeds the three demos which Beherit released in 1990 and it´s the band´s first release on a label. It´s also the last Beherit release to feature the original trio lineup, as Demon Fornication (bass, vocals) would leave the band shortly after the release of the EP. Further issues would appear within a short period of time, as Beherit recorded a full-length studio album, which was ready for release in the spring of 1991, but it ended up shelved and didn´t see the light of day until June 2011, when it was released through the Kvlt label. All this because of issues with Turbo Music. Because of the issues with the label Beherit even shortly changed their name to The Lord Diabolus and released the "Down There..." demo in July 1991 under that monicker before changing their name back to Beherit.

Stylistically "Dawn of Satan's Millennium" sheds most of the death metal influences Beherit introduced on the "Demonomancy" demo and although they still shift between snarling aggressive vocals and deeper growling vocals, this EP is a more black metal influenced release than a death metal ditto. Beherit still inhabit the territory between the two styles though, so it´s details which decide which way these early releases swing. What is arguably true is that Beherit play a pretty extreme form of black/death metal which is relentless in its aggression and brutality. It´s fast-paced blasting music built on fast tremelo picking and not a lot of variation, although the music does occasionally feature heavier mid-paced parts. The snarling aggressive vocals sound a bit odd and processed on this release, but it only adds to the extremity of the listening experience. It definitely sounds both evil and demonic, so if that was the goal, Beherit´s aim were true.

Although it´s a savage, raw, and not exactly hi-fi sound production, it´s still the best sounding production Beherit had up until then, and the rawness of the sound production perfectly fits the equally raw and brutal music. Four tracks (one is a dark and atmospheric intro with demonic sounding vocals), and "Dawn of Satan's Millennium" is over before you know it. 11 minutes of early 90s black/death metal for your listening pleasure. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is warranted.

UMUR "Demonomancy" is the third demo recording by Finnish black/death metal act Beherit. The demo was independently released in June 1990. It´s the third demo released by Beherit in 1990 and the band moved quickly in terms of development of their sound and their skills.

If the first two demos were raw, primitive, and aggressive early takes on black/death metal, "Demonomancy" shows a slightly more mature and also more varied sound. To my ears Beherit add a few more heavy and brutal death metal elements and "Demonomancy" is more a blackened death metal demo than a black/death metal demo like the previous releases. Other than a few heavier and more brutal parts, the material on "Demonomancy" is still predominantly fast-paced, blasting, and aggressive snarling black metal, but as mentioned with a death metal influence, which can also be heard in the way the vocals are performed. They are somewhere in the territory between black metal snarling and death metal growling.

Considering that this is a June 1990 release, it´s quite extreme and the rather lo-fi, murky, and chaotic sounding production values further enhance the feeling that you´re listening to something which is a bit out of control...but that´s not really true, because if you listen a little closer it´s obvious that Beherit are a very well playing band, and although parts of the music may sound chaotic, that´s pretty surely the plan. This is meant to sound grim, nasty, and chaotic...

Upon conclusion this is a good quality early black/death metal demo from Beherit and certainly worth a listen by both black metal and death metal fans. When listening to "Demonomancy" it´s obvious why Beherit are considered a seminal black/death metal act from Finland. A 3 star (60%) rating is warranted.

siLLy puPPy Sri Lanka is one of those places that dates back to prehistoric settlements as far back as 125,000 years ago and a major player in the development of Buddhism yet most will only recognize this small nation as the teardrop on the map flowing from India’s southernmost tip. Plagued by internal conflicts and corruption since independence in 1946, this nation has also produced some extremely hostile revolutionary groups so given all this history it’s no wonder that Sri Lanka has also emerged as a center of underground extreme metal with GENOCIDE SHRINES from the capital city Colombo having become one of the better known of these fast-paced apocalyptic musical madness acts. Half the members are also in Manifestator.

Formed in 2011 the band jumped onto the war metal bandwagon and features Tridenterrorcult [Chathuranga Fonseka] (vocals), BlasphemousWarGoat [Kasun Nawarathne] (drums), NarkotikPerversor (guitar), Khaoshiva (bass) and Naga Yakka [Joseph De Alwis] (guitar). With an EP, spit and couple live albums under its belt, the 2015 album MANIPURA IMPERIAL DEATHEVOKOVIL: SCRIPTURES OF REVERSED PURAANA DHARMURDER is so far the only full-length. Bogged down with a syllable-rich title, so too do the tracks engage in excess verbiage with exuberant titles such as "Hurl Burning Spears to Exhume the Raavanic Throne of Sivvhela Retaliation.”

The entire point of this album is to create a pummeling claustrophobic rampage through sound. While the blackened death metal / war metal style is predominant, the band occasional employs indigenous tribal sounds, chanting and slower moments of death doom metal. In a nation of incessant street protests. political unrest, extreme poverty, tsunamis, ponzi schemes and every other form of oppression under the sun, GENOCIDE SHRINES evokes the zeitgeist of a nation that although primarily Buddhist by day, nurtures a dark time bomb effect behind the scenes that can erupt into extreme violence when the final straw breaks the proverbial camel’s back. MANIPURA IMPERIAL offers the perfect soundtrack to a land that has been utterly raped and pillaged by the oppressing colonial forces that continue to the present.

This is a riff-laden affair and follows the playbook of classic war metal acts ranging from Blasphemy and Beherit but takes things into a more aggressive and caustic arena as do many more modern examples of war metal. On the surface most war metal may come off as sounding pretty much the same so it’s imperative to dig a bit deeper to savor the underlying flavors. In the case of GENOCIDE SHRINES the secret ingredient is clearly the local folk flavors in the form of rhythmic flow and occasional appearances in the sun (usually as intros). Blastbeats are fortified with heavy cymbal action, jittery jazzy drumming techniques and percussive sweeps. Aggressive animal vocals, the norm in war metal is pretty much the same here.

The guitar and bass are highly distorted and for the most part form a unifying muddy effect often indistinguishable taking a cue from the world of black metal. The production offers a suffocating claustrophobic effect that leaves the listener little time to catch a breath amongst all the chaos but the album is well paced and offers moments of respite from the bestial bantering of the incessant guitar chugs, percussive truculence and bloodthirsty savagery of the anguished lyrical deliveries. War metal is an ugly beast and by its very nature will only appeal to a niche audience. The overall mix of death and black metal is fairly balanced here as GENOCIDE SHRINES utilizes the technical wizardry of death metal without sacrificing the overall mood setting bleakness of a black metal album. Reading various reviews i wasn’t expecting to like this one but it seems many miss the underlying Eastern elements that are buried beneath the mix. Oh well to each their own. I think this is excellent!

siLLy puPPy Something about the US state of Virginia where Christian religious zealotry has been a tradition since the days of Jamestown. This original colony state seems to have unleashed a vehement backlash that has taken myriad forms. In the world of music, Virginia has more than produced its share of iconic metal bands to keep the rebellious spirit alive whether it be the theatrical displays of Gwar, the thunderous crossover thrash of Municipal Waste or the parody death metal mayhem of Cannabis Corpse. Here’s another band hailing from the Old Dominion state. ANTICHRIST SIEGE MACHINE or simply A.S.M. hails from Richmond, the same capital city that spawned the wrath of Lamb of God, another blatantly anti-Christian noisemaking outfit that fittingly began its career as Burn The Priest.

Unlike that Lambsters, this war metal / blackened death metal band consists of only two members, namely Scott Bartley on drums and Ryan Zell on guitars and vocals. There seems to be no bass and if there is it’s buried so deep in the cacophonous mix that it’s virtually impossible to detect. This duo started in 2016 and released “Schism Perpretration” in 2019. PURIFYING BLADE is this artist’s second offering and takes the simple “lay all things to siege” approach with a bombastic display of sonic slaying and blood-spilling symbology in its 29-minute wake. PURIFYING BLADE is one of those no nonsense albums that finds comfort in its one-dimensionality where thunderous percussive blasts are accompanied by murky muddied guitar riffs. Zell’s vocals exist somewhere between guttural death growls and raspy black metal torture cell screams.

Needless to say, nothing on PURIFYING BLADE is anything out of the ordinary in the now well-established camp of war metal. Satanic sieging of Christian lands with heads flying off in every direction is the theme of the day here all accompanied by a boisterous romp of muddy metal madness. From war metal standards, A.S.M. checks off all the boxes for sure but in its dramatic attempt to sound louder than Satan himself fails to offer any glimpse of creativity which beckons repeated listens. By now the war metal game has reached much higher grounds with bands like Teitanblood, Archgoat and Diocletian, just to name a few taking war metal into the realms of the most technically gifted death metal bands. A.S.M. has not reached such heights and as a consequence finds the band resorting to slower passages with simple sludge metal drumming and monotonous one-trick pony guitar savagery.

It seems that this duo is more concerned about imagery than musical content since their photos oft depict them as gun-toting angst-ridden youngsters ready to cause trouble wherever they may find themselves. Well that’s all and good but the music is where it counts for me and A.S.M. doesn’t have much to deliver beyond the generic underbelly of noisy and chaotic war metal by the numbers. War metal is one of those metal subgenres that has a limiting factor thus forcing artists to find subtle ways of allowing the creative process to unfold. In the case of A.S.M. they seem content to just make a bunch of noise and strike a pose for photo ops. Nothing wrong with that of course but as far as the music is concerned, been there, done that and moved on. In short, this is a rather uninteresting slice of war metal that fails to inspire anything relevant beyond that which has been done and better. Meh.