I am deeply impressed with all this panic that happens right now about the BEHERIT return. The reason is simple. From their start this Finland-based band was a thorn in the ass of Black metallers. Their first recordings - and 'till the release of The Oath Of Black Blood - was nothing else than pure noise, at least for the mass. Very few liked that stuff, mostly Cogumelo or BLASPHEMY freaks while for all the others, that had the possibility to listen to that stuff, it was meaningless sounds and chaos.
After the release of Drawing Down The Moon more fanzines had some articles about them and the view of some people took a change, although I must repeat they still remained a few. The coming of albums like H418ov21.C and Electric Doom Synthesis - in the years 1994 and 1995 - found another shrinkage of the fans, since not only they didn't understand what was going on but also the whole background didn't follow the standards of the true Black Metal followers. Too shame, in my humble opinion, since the second album was very 'Black'. By the end of the 90s and after the band's death a lot of other groups or magazines designated them as cult leaders and we were entering a new era, probably relevant with the DARKTHRONE case. Hordes of die-hard lunatics with one obsessive behavior pushed themselves into liking albums like Drawing Down The Moon, not only to impress the others with their true veil of darkness but also to prove their underground character.
Ok, enough with the previous vapidity. There were some whispers about a comeback in the ending of the previous year but even now that I'm holding this record in my hands I find it difficult to realize and it's not easy to hide any surprise. New BEHERIT music??? And it is good! Basically, it could not be bad.   
The rigidity, continuous repeating that always determined their musical face together with that something that makes an album - a Black Metal album - is present here. That something doesn't need any introduction here or any description; it just follows this band as a shadow since 1990.
Axiom Heroine starts with this riff that was copied thousands times by many bands, rising from the slow moments of Drawing Down The Moon while the SARCOFAGO and the BLASPHEMY parts are obvious in songs like Destroyer Of Thousand Worlds and All In Satan. The sound is very clear and distinctive and it may bring any thoughts in the beginning but they will all be vaporized as the album ends. The vocals are not in the front as in previous releases but they keep this specific identity Holocausto always puts; for example, look the whispers in All In Satan.
The last song, Demon Advance looks like it was spread out from Electric Doom Synthesis and I found it bombastic in all its 15-minute length. The circle that is completed. The snake that eats its tail.
The minimalist approach is obvious not only in the music but also in the whole layout, and - for once again - the inner photo is pure fucking evil! Remember, it's 2009 now. Can you realize it? Another thing that shows why BEHERIT are so special. Maybe it's one 'hit and run' attack release from Holocausto but once again the pleasure of seeing and hearing this release is great.