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Behexen > My Soul for His Glory > Reviews > torchia
Behexen - My Soul for His Glory

A Disappointing Sacrifice - 60%

torchia, March 20th, 2008

Treading the footsteps of 2004's "By the Blessing of Satan" has proved a hard act to follow for BEHEXEN. Considered by many the band's magnum opus, "By the Blessing..." set the mark for what black metal audiences have come to expect as standard fare from a band seen as one of the leading exponents of abrasive, blasting black metal.

Startlingly different from the outset, "My Soul..." unfortunately fails to come close to its predecessor's notoriety, even in its obviously most determined and well-written sections.

However, this album's material is not completely beyond redemption. Some "Casus Luciferi"-era WATAIN sections have been thrust into the mix, most noticeably on the track, 'Demonic Fleshtemple', demonstrating BEHEXEN's appreciation for Swedish metal sensibilities and haunting, serpentine riff structures. When the long-awaited, trademark blasting begins, it is sustained and consistent, if a little short lived. Yet, the majority of sounds on this release hum of mediocrity and a sluggish, uninspired approach to creating black metal that robs this release of any tangible potency.

BEHEXEN's vocal style up to recently was always a memorable and notable feature. High-pitched and endlessly extreme, it suited their strong, deep, heavy guitar tone perfectly. The majority of the vocals on this release could only be described as mid-level growls; the type that sit on the cusp between death and black metal, never truly pledging allegiance to either camp and are left sounding tired and generic.

The addition of clean, chant-like vocal passages is one of the few redeeming features of this release. These are used to great effect on the track, 'Born in the Serpent of the Abyss' and later on in the title track, which presents itself as a hymn of total devotion, and is utterly anthemic in its delivery: "I believe in the one clandestine and the unspeakable Lord/And in the one Star amongst stars/Of which black flame we all have been created/And in to where we all will return."

Strangely, even after 11 years in existence, BEHEXEN continue to opt for juvenile, entry-level black metal song titles. Whether this is due to a loss in translation or an attempt to make the band more accessible to the "typical" metal audience is not clear. A band such as DEATHSPELL OMEGA are often lyrically and thematically impenetrable, yet are still lauded by wide-ranging metal audiences. However, a closer inspection of the lyrics on the release does reveal a devotion and sincerity that goes beyond the usual Hollywood-tinged and marketable Satanic sentiment.

If a record's artwork and imagery was to promise a level of content, "My Soul..." would have been a contender to knock any of black metal's most seminal works off its pedestal. Artwork rendered in the style of medieval woodcuts may seem commonplace or even clichéd when found in black metal, but BEHEXEN's imagery on this outing sees this style at its pinnacle.

As a band concerned with primitive Devil worship and occult obscurity, the art shows versions of a deformed, reversed Christianity. The cover image depicts a Christ-like figure surrounded by supplicants, his stance emulating that of the Nazarene, resplendent with darkened halo, as serpents stream from the ends of his garments. The inlay booklet is masterfully created in the style of an ancient magical text: incense-stained pages with archaic fonts are sullied with splashes of blood and candle wax.

For what was billed as an attractive and promising package set to silence all unbelievers and scatter the "fashionable-metal" mob, it is truly a pity that "My Soul..." fails to deliver in all the areas that should now come as second nature to an outfit such as BEHEXEN.

Their four year silence was spent touring alongside bands of note such as ARCHGOAT and HORNA while composing the material found on this latest work. With ARCHGOAT's uncompromising output as inspiration, it would not have been punishable to think that keeping such company would result in a release that could easily contend for 'album of the year' status.

An album solely for collectors and BEHEXEN fanatics, "My Soul..." loiters as an embarrassing stop-gap of a release, an offering condemned to never fully appease a ravenous and flitting audience.



Standout tracks: 'Born in The Serpent of The Abyss', 'Cathedral of The Ultimate Void', 'My Soul for His Glory'.