Polish legends, BEHEMOTH have a career spanning three decades and two subgenres. In addition to still producing new material, they have begun to reissue their earliest albums. On March 31, 2023 they reissued "Grom" on Metal Blade Records. "Grom" was their sophomore album originally released in 1996. It is arguably their last full-bred Black Metal album and many would argue it is also their best.

The reissue of "Grom" is a two-disc collector's affair. The first with the original material and the second, aptly named "Artefacts," with rare b-sides and live recordings. The vinyl is accompanied by a 24-page booklet and the CD by a 48-page hardbound book. If you haven't listened to this album for a while, it's a great reminder of both where BEHOMOTH came from and just how much ground they have covered. For those new to BEHEMOTH, "Grom" is a fantastic introduction to this band which has truly lived up to their namesake.

A few interesting things about this album. Foremost is the inclusion of clean, female vocals from Celina, at the time Nergal's girlfriend. Keeping in mind the context of the time-the rise of Goth Metal-it makes complete sense. More than female soprano, the use of keyboards and acoustics was somewhat controversial. Listening to it today, it sounds completely natural, and few would raise an eyebrow. In 1996, though, it might have landed differently. Lastly, there are two tracks sung in Polish-"Lasy Pomorza" (trans: Forests of Pomerania) and title-track, "Grom" (thunder)-both veritable Pagan anthems.

The second disc includes covers from MAYHEM ("Freezing Moon"), DESTRUCTION ("Total Desaster"); and KAT ("Ostatni Tabor") as well as some rare rehearsal and live tracks from 1995 and 1996, so it very much takes us back to BEHEMOTH's early days. Closing the album is a 2021 recording of "Lasy Pomorza" sans female vocals captured from the "XXX Years ov Blasphemy" celebratory video.

I'm mostly agnostic about reissues. On one hand they seem like a marketing scheme to secure new royalties with minimal effort; on the other hand, they do help to recall attention to some fantastic material-and when it's packaged with rarities and such, well, then it seems more than worth it. The reissue of BEHEMOTH's "Grom" definitely falls in this latter category.