BEHEXEN - Beyond the Four Gates DoppelCD

BEHEXEN should require no introduction. One of the longest-running Finnish black metal bands, BEHEXEN have patiently spread out their album releases in such a manner that each serves as a tome, a poignant snapshot of that era of its creators, with each being unique in its headspace but undeniably coming from the same visionary minds. But prior to essential early albums like 2000's Rituale Satanum and 2004's classic By the Blessing of Satan, BEHEXEN had recorded a trio of equally compelling demos - and even one prior, under the moniker Lords of the Left Hand, in 1995.

That is where Beyond the Four Gates comes in. Truly titled, this massive double-disc collection conveniently compiles the original three BEHEXEN demos and the preceding Lords of the Left Hand one, making for over an hour and a half of ancient black metal music. Lords of the Left Hand's lone demo, Reality is in Evil..., leads off Beyond the Four Gates, and even back then, the foundation for the first era of BEHEXEN - which culminated in (and concluded with) Rituale Satanum - was in place, all hulking plod and clanging cold guitars. Following on the first disc is BEHEXEN's first official demo, Eternal Realm. Here, the cold clang is suffused with more energy and, more crucially, medieval synths: a poignant snapshot of 1997 indeed. From those sessions is included a cover of Rotting Christ's "Sign of Evil Existence." Come 1998's Blessed Be the Darkness demo, BEHEXEN would begin showing signs of the sound that would come to define that first era. Colder, crueler, faster, and fueled by founding frontman Torog's increasingly inhuman throat, this demo presciently forecasted the filthy & furious idiom of Finnish black metal that would bloom during the looming new millennium. Before that millennium arrived, BEHEXEN recorded the previously unreleased Promo '99, which closes out this collection. Five of the six songs on this promo would be re-recorded for their pivotal debut album, but in comparison to the bass-heavy thrust of Rituale Satanum, it's interesting to hear these tracks with the ripped-yet and yet wide-open soundfield of By the Blessing of Satan four years later...which all underlines the fact that BEHEXEN's vision has been far-seeing for ages now. Enter Beyond the Four Gates and receive wisdom manifold.