The Poisonous Path

I have respect for a lot of Finnish black metal warriors. Yet in my humble opinion, there are two bands that rule over the barren fields of Suomi. Azaghal are impressive in view of their inexhaustible creativity (inter alia three great releases in 2015). Behexen are not as busy as their compatriots, but they have published the best black metal album from Finland so far. Unfortunately, I am not speaking about "The Poisonous Path", because their masterpiece "By the Blessing of Satan" remains untouched. Like its predecessor, the newest output of Behexen does not achieve the high level of sheer franticness and bewildering explosiveness which characterised the highlights of their second album. Instead, each and every song shines with an extremely mature and carefully elaborated design. Uncontrolled brutality does not shape the appearance of the here reviewed work. Nevertheless, it makes a strong statement.

"The Poisonous Path" distinguishes itself by the fundamental dominance of utterly blackness. The atmospheric artwork symbolises the aura of the compositions very well. Aside from the general depth and inscrutability of the songs, some of them score with their individual quality in a breathtaking manner. In this context, the opener has to be mentioned. It is simultaneously the title track, so do not expect less than a killer. And Behexen are not willing to disappoint their followers. The fast-paced, highly dynamic song storms through the darkest Finnish woods. Its merciless verses and the relentless lead guitars during some short instrumental parts are connected with a certain number of weird melody lines and the totally diabolic vocals of lead singer Hoath Torog. His voluminous and terrifying voice leaves no doubt that these guys take their musical mission very seriously. To put it in a nutshell, this ecstatic soon-to-be-classic marks a fantastic initial impulse for the eponymous album.

The opener sets the direction and further nine tracks follow without grumbling. Violent and unstoppable are suitable terms in order to describe devastating pieces such as "Cave of the Dark Dreams" or "Umbra Luciferi", but meditative sequences are also successfully included ("Rakkaudesta Saatanaan"). The full-length takes the listener on a journey into a pitch black dimension without space and time. Admittedly, the album suffers from minor flaws. For example, the snare drum does not sound very organic and it falls by the wayside during the fastest sequences. Furthermore, the bass drum is very dominant. However, this does not mean that the complete recording process has gone wrong. Quite the opposite, the mix unites density, mightiness and intensity. It possesses an extra portion of satanic vibrations with the effect that competitors like Satanic Warmaster or Barathrum should hang their head in shame. I do not say that they have not yet released good albums as well. Yet the aura of their music is far away from that of "The Poisonous Path". These heralds of the dark religion wait at the portal of hell, but Behexen stand knee-deep in the rotting bones of Satan's victims. No doubt, the band has concluded an evil pact with the tenant of hell. Thus, it is only logical that further songs are worthy of special mention, because the devil does not sign contracts with every Tom, Dick and Harry.

"Chalice of Abyssal Water" is one of these songs. Its accusing, relatively fragile guitar after 50 seconds remains an isolated incident. As well as the remaining pieces, "Chalice of Abyssal Water" is equipped with an appropriate number of breaks and many of its parts set the focus on brusque aggression. Nonetheless, the second half of the song also contains sluggishly bubbling riffs with a melancholic touch. Fans of the stoical Colombian duo called Inquisition will have a "deja vu" experience. Finally, I like to highlight "Pentagram of the Black Earth", another sinister maelstrom with a spooky melody which rarely flashes up. Some more outstanding pieces would have been nice, but the crucial thing is that the album works as a whole. The emissaries of Satan stick to their guns. Therefore, I recommend "The Poisonous Path", an album without fillers, to every fan of almost pathologically intensive black metal. The domination of the two legends, Behexen and Azaghal, goes on. At least for the moment, Behexen have managed to ascend the throne of Finnish black metal, but Azaghal, no doubt about it, will strike back.

The fifth full-length from Finnish black metallers Behexen offers a glimpse of the bands’ true power and devastation that has carried them thus far into their career. Loaded with swirling tremolo-picked rhythms that carry a frantic sense of chaos that recalls the main patterns of the second-wave groups but carrying on with that intensity found more often in Swedish groups where those types of riffing arrangements are given a boost by the utterly ferocious drumming that truly sounds like a cacophony blasting along throughout here. The other big element found here, the extended droning and mid-tempo charge that comes into play here with offers a rather enjoyable amount of variation present while still being somewhat similar in style to the album’s main tone overall. Though this all makes for a wholly enjoyable set-up, the fact that this one does have a rather odd set-up in regards to it’s structure is rather curious. The first half of the album is set-up and filled with more of the blasting, chaos-filled tracks, while the second half this changes into extended, far longer pieces that are driven along more by the mid-tempo gallop with occasional bursts into more frenetic endeavors before settling in on the mid-tempo work, so it’s all curiously split without more balance between them.

The first half here offers a spectacular look into their work. The title track takes an extended eerie intro that blasts into ravenous chaotic drumming and relentless swirling tremolo rhythms pounding along at furious, frantic patterns as the furious, charging rhythms charge along at frantic, blistering tempos full of savage riffing into the finale for a strong, impactful opener. ‘The Wand of Shadows’ also uses the eerie opener that explodes into frantic blasting drumming with plenty of charging tremolo rhythm-work charging through the stylish buzzing tremolo-pitched patterns into the frantic series of blasting drumming and riffing that works through the final half for another strong, solid offering. ‘Cave of the Dark Dreams’ blasts into immediate and ravenous drumming with plenty of blistering rhythms full of tight swirling mid-tempo tremolo riffing that takes on a frantic up-tempo series of riff-work that plows through a frantic series of blasting drumming and intense patterns through the sampled finale for a rather enjoyable highlight effort. ‘A Sword of Promethean Fire’ uses swirling mid-tempo riffing and plodding paces to hold to a steady rhythm as the droning tremolo riff-work gradually picks up into a full-on explosion of blastbeat-filled drumming alongside the driving intense tremolo patterns leading into the gradual fade-out final half for a strong and enjoyable effort. ‘Umbra Luciferi’ charges forth with immediate blasting drumming and furious riffing as the full-throttle tremolo riff-work continually swirls around frantic blasting patterns before setting into a stellar mid-tempo gallop with tremolo-picked patterns leading into the fade-out finale for a wholly enjoyable and blasting highlight.

The second half is slightly hurt by the epics but still has a lot to like. ‘Tyrant of Luminous Darkness’ works through a scathing series of blasting drumming and utterly ferocious tremolo riffing that rips and saws through varying dynamic blasts of dramatic technical rhythms that charges along frantically blasting into the swirling tremolo riffing and letting the extended ambient section wander through the final half for a truly blistering highlight. ‘Chalice of the Abyssal Water’ uses a quick middling intro to give way to a swirling series of intense tremolo riffing and furious, frantic up-tempo blasting drumming that continually charges along with the tight swirling rhythms that drop off into rather stylish plodding arrangements of swirling riffing leading into the finale for a somewhat overlong but enjoyable effort. ‘Pentagram of the Black Earth’ features utterly ferocious drumming and up-tempo swirling tremolo riffing bouncing along to a frantic gallop with plenty of furious blasting carrying on through the tight sprawling section leading into the tight final half for the album’s best song overall. ‘Gallows of Inversion’ uses an extended droning noise intro that gives way to immediate blasting drumming and frantic tremolo rhythms full of swirling intense patterns bringing the furious, frantic energy along through the few sprawling sections and more furious rhythms into the finale for a solid enough offering. Finally, the epic album-closer ‘Rakkaudesta Saatanaan’ takes the extended industrial droning intro to turn into a series of mid-tempo swirling tremolo rhythms and simple, steady plodding drum-work that holds the mid-range work along at an even rhythm as the eerie melodic leads charge forth alongside the return to blistering drumming and charging tremolo patterns into the final half for a rather enjoyable lasting impression.

On the whole this is a truly strong and highly enjoyable effort that doesn’t offer up too many truly troubling areas at all with the music within it yet curiously falls only through it’s track arrangement, leaving this one as a readily recommended piece perfect for fans of the style, Finnish black metal or just dark extreme metal as a whole.

The Finnish black metal entity Behexen is again to hit the show with their awaited 5th full length ‘The Poisonous Path‘, which is on the queue to be released on May 27th 2016. Being an avid Behexen fan, I am really contented with the materials the band has composed for this ominous recording. Finnish black metal is never easy to get along with and things get supreme when you have musicians like Shatraug and Hoath Torog in the roster. I was a little bit of complaining on their last two albums but ‘The Poisonous Path‘ has shown a sharp return towards ‘By the Blessing of Satan‘ era, with a bit improved production.

The album exhibits no sign of mercy for the listener as the short buzzing intro transforms directly into the whirlwinds of blazing guitar rhythms, thickened, heavy riffs and muddy bass lines. The lead guitars are strongly backed up by louden bass and the sharp, tremolo riffs. The multilayered guitar riffs fill in for the fuzzy background throughout. What makes ‘The Poisonous Path‘ different from the previous two Behexen releases is the selective use of speed and intensity over doom-ish pattern of ‘My Soul for His Glory‘. The album also differs from the early era of Behexen in the sense that there is less noise and clearer production that allows every instruments to have their place in final mixing. So in musical terms, the sound on this album is perfectly balanced without sacrificing the fierceness of Finnish black metal with occasional melodic bridges peeping in. The vocals deserve a special mention here too. Although you can’t really complain when Hoath Torog is handling the microphones. The reverb here is increased; and the shadowy vocals intensifies the devilry of this records. Throughout the release, the ominous vibe never really skips a bit.

I am very much in line with this record so I’ll certainly put this album as one of the contender for the best black metal releases of this year. I am not going to put any dispute of this album with ‘By the Blessings of Satan‘ but this album has something puritanical to offer for the black metal fans. Strongly recommended.

Highlights: A Sword of Protean Fire, Tyrant of Luminous Darkness, Chalice of the Abyssal Water, Gallows of Inversion.


Originally written for Venustas Diabolicus.