Beherit - Engram

It was announced for a good time now that Beherit is back with something to say to this world. Keeping an optimistic coming back from this band was a present possibility, especially since Marko Laiho was highly active in the electronic scene for more than a decade now, which could only mean one thing for Tactile Sound: an efficient improvement in sound techniques and production.

The sound production of Beherit’s first two albums is inarguably one of the main factors that placed the band on the map. The production on Oath of The Black Blood is what really gave birth to chaotic/noise driven Black Metal bands and projects all over the years.


Its raw, low-fi/garage messed up sound added a mystic aura to the overall atmosphere that is still copied to this very day by a great amount of bands worldwide. And, with Drawing Down The Moon Beherit set a new standard to doom driven Black Metal with its excessive clear bass presence and oppressive heavy production shrouded by complete darkness. The album’s sound did not only influence a countless amount of Black Metal bands, but it also spread to reach doom drone bands obsessed with heaviness and low frequencies. Thus, it is only natural to highly anticipate the production on the newly released third album after all these years.

Engram states clearly where it stands and where it’s going from the very moment things kick in. Huge, well rounded, clear bass sound cuts directly and rise above everything else recorded on the album. An impressive start without a doubt, which only last for a few seconds when the listener starts to realize that it is the bass frequencies exclusively gaining the attention and keeping the ears interested in what to come. It works well alone and only alone and never with anything else.

There’s a major defection in sound going on with the crunchy, and thin distorted guitars, which sometimes become more than annoying to the ear due to the over treble present with no boosting power behind it on a high volume. All guitar layers seem to be venturing alone on a random dimension unfitting with the bass sound and are mixed way too high, especially since the drums does not add anything to the overall production nor manage to cover the guitar’s awkward noise . It’s more than strange to find a hard rock sounding drums on an album that badly requires heaviness with its relatively slow heavy riffs and doom flavors. Drum kicks are badly triggered and too thin sounding, with a flat snare skin for a sound that begs for groove and hell hammers.

Even though the instrumentations on Engram are fairly produced separately, the final mixing and mastering of the album lead to an outcome devoid of atmosphere and any original vibe. Beherit could have used Hell Militia’s Canonisation of The Foul Spirit bombastic production as a reference point before hitting the studio as it shares a great deal of musical similarities with Engram.

On another level, Engram suffers from a bizarre/annoying editing choice regarding silent spaces. All In Satan ends musically at 3:23 but the track keeps going for ten more seconds of nothing and Pagan Moon starts after four seconds of silence.

Judging Engram’s production as the work of a newcomer, it could have been seen as a fair one, but with what Beherit has behind as a history, it can’t be but a major letdown and disappointment.