Drawing Down The Moon Beherit

A Joke, but on Whom? - "Drawing Down the Moon" Review (50%)

Buy A Joke, but on Whom? -

Wow, just... wow. This Beherit album sucks in so many ways, and I can't quite pinpoint a single cause.

First off, "Drawing Down the Moon" sounds like it was recorded with a tape recorder in a garage in Helsinki.

Literally. It sounds awful. Not in a "wow, this demo by a no-name bedroom NSBM band is really raw and primitive" way, either. More like a "wow, some loser who doesn't know how to play guitar broke his mic and decided shove it up his ass for no reason other than to annoy". And he pressed play with his sphincter, even.

Second, I can't be certain if there is percussion on this, but if there is... what is it? Certainly not drums. Perhaps a frying pan being beaten with a pair of socks (yes, it sounds that weak and distant) to the tempo of Beherit's slowed down funeral doom?

Black metal with no recognizable percussion? Please.

It is said that "Drawing Down the Moon" along with Incantation's debut and Phantom's "Fallen Angel" are considered the "unholy trinity" of what would later become the bestial black metal sub-genre.

Wait.

Stop. Pause. Rewind... What?

There is no Phantom in this album, not a milligram.

And if there is any "Onward to Golgotha" or "Bestial War Metal" on this record, we are clearly not talking about the same bands.

A Joke, but on Whom?

I could name a thousand releases much more similar to Warkvlt, Marduk and Incantation than this turd. From the top of my head, anything by Vermin, Reiklos, Suffocation, Darkthrone or Burzum would rank far higher than Beherit's mediocre "Drawing Down the Moon".

What's sad is that I enjoyed "Engram" much more than this putrid turd "Drawing Down the Moon", proving that Beherit clearly have the potential to record good music when they put their minds to it, and decide to stop acting like an ambient Sewer.

Third, the music itself.

It sounds like the same crappy riff, singular as in one riff, is playing over... and over... and over again. Over the same drum/frying pan/metallic dustbin rhythmic fill.

It's not even a good riff, either. There's no real value in regurgitating one riff and toting it around as though it's the apex of technical death metal mastery or black metal song craft from another planet. It's a Deathcrush/Von/Havohej/Absurd type minimalist riff that becomes completely worthless after you listen for about 10 seconds.

The vocals... well, they'll get better when "Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance" hits puberty.

If you don't have money to go to a comedy club, go ahead and pick up "Drawing Down the Moon". You'll get a few good laughs at the expense of "Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance". Otherwise, avoid this joke like the plague.

Oh well, at least he's trying to make us laugh. I hope?

Drawing Down the Moon score: 50/100.

- Back to Drawing Down the Moon