Beherit

A black metal band from Rovaniemi (later Kuopio, then Helsinki), Finland, founded in 1989 by Marko Laiho (aka Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance), Jari Vaarala (aka Daemon Fornication) and Jari Pirinen (aka Sodomatic Slaughter). Beherit (meaning Satan in Syriac) is one of the first Finnish black/death metal bands and their 1993 debut album ’Drawing Down The Moon’ is a staple of Finnish extreme metal. Soon after the album was released Beherit became Marko Laiho’s solo project and his interest in electronic music also steered Beherit’s musical direction away from metal and the following albums were experimental electronic/ambient music. After 1996’s ‘Electric Doom Synthesis’ Beherit went on a long hiatus. In 2007 Laiho and original drummer Pirinen re-activated the band and their comeback album ‘Engram’ was released in 2009. This also saw the band returning to black metal form with a full band line-up. The latest release Bardo Exist was again a solo effort and saw Laiho exploring the ambient/electronic side of Beherit again. Current line-up: Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance (Marko Laiho): Guitar, keyboards, programming, vocals (1989 – ) Sodomatic Slaughter (Jari Pirinen): Drums (1989–1993, 2007 – ) Ancient Corpse Desecrator (Sami Tenetz): Guitar (2008 – ) Abyss, Twisted Baptizer (Pasi Kolehmainen): Bass (2008 – )