Beherit - At the Devil's Studio 1990

[Conservationist]

This one has grown on me. At first, I was like: a slightly less messy version of the demos, and a slightly more messy version of some songs from the second album. WTF?

However, I think I see where they were going with this. The attempt is to use noise like a sculptor and to wrap the metal in it. This is pure mood and atmosphere.

I hope they do a whole album like this with what they know now about ambience, mood and dramatic changes. Never a bad record from this band.

[ChapelOfTorment]

I've been listening to this one a lot lately as well. It's pretty much the perfect midpoint between The Oath of Black Blood and Drawing Down the Moon: halfway between raw Blasphemy worship and esoteric ritual music. I particularly enjoy listening to the 1990 and 1992 versions of "Nocturnal Evil" back to back, a great song in both styles!

[aquarius]

It is kind of between styles but ultimately much closer to the first, also is it just me or is the playing and production grossly inferior?

[Conservationist]

I think what they wanted on this album was a transition:

(a) preserves the messy nature of the demos, e.g. raw acoustic dynamic mayhem

(b) achieves a more steely, abstract and distant sound like what black metal moved toward

As I understand, this is from cassette and so is unmastered and unfinished in the regular-album sense.