Mayhem

Morbid/Mayhem 'A Tribute To The Black Emperors'
Land Of The Rising Sun
Lord Pale:
This is a bootleg split with Morbid's 'December Moon' demo and three tracks from Mayhem featuring Dead on vocals (culled from compilations and Live In Liepzig as it seems). Morbid was Dead's original cult band before he joined Mayhem and play a primitive, seminal, thrashy sounding blackmetal assault with fuzzy guitars and a lo-fi production similar to a cross between the early Darkthrone and Mayhem demo's. The music sounds dark and mysterious and displays some decent solo work, and would make a worthy addition to any blackmetal fans collection. The Mayhem material is also lo-fi but the renditions of these classic tracks with Dead on vocals is an interesting experience and gives some insight into Attila's renditions of the songs he performed on De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. Overall a worthy purchase (despite the rather ridiculous at times liner notes) if you can get your hands on it for fans of Mayhem or those who've been looking for December Moon.
Favourite Tracks - My Dark Subconscious , Funeral Fog , From The Dark
Mark - 8/10

Mayhem 'De Mysteriis , Dom Sathanas'
Century Black , 1994
Lord Pale:
Mayhem is the band responsible in a large way for the international success of the whole Norwegian blackmetal scene. This recording features the now deceased Euronymus on guitar, Hellhammer on drums and bass, and session vocalist Atilla from Tormentor. Count Grishnack was originally credited in the line up on bass but Hellhammer allegedly re-dubbed his bass lines before the cd was released. A brief history of this album - original vocalist Dead wrote all the lyrics before taking his own life with a shotgun blast to the head. In came Atilla from cult band Tormentor. Euronymus and band then recorded the album after which Count Grishnack murdered Euronymus to further his ego, publicity, and credibility within the scene. Grishnack went to jail, and the blackmetal scene was crippled with the loss of its spearhead Euronymus. A year later the album finally saw release no longer on DSP (Euronymus�s label) but instead on Voices of Wonder who had the rights to it in the contract. That is a very brief explanation but if you want to read more about it then I suggest you get a hold of the compilation �Nordic Metal : A Tribute to Euronymus� which elaborates further on preceedings. Now to the music. This is one of the darkest sounding �true� blackmetal albums of all time. The guitar work varies from fast whining blackmetal riffing in Funeral Fog to slow doomy brooding riffs on Freezing Moon and Cursed In Eternity. These tempo changes happen frequently, and occasionally in the duration of a single song. Hellhammers drumming is furious with plenty of variation and build ups to keep it interesting. Deads lyrics are very nihilistic, brooding, self inverted, and suicidal with the occasional exception of tracks like Pagan Fears. It is guest vocalist Atilla�s creepy voice however that really gives De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas its unique feel. They are very gutteral and deep and sound like the bowls of hell being opened whilst remaining extreme and relevant to the genre, this was truely a groundbreaking performance. The song writing is well varied and interesting and the production of the album is of a high standard for the time of the albums release with all instruments getting and equal share in the mix. This album goes a long way to prove Mayhem's well deserved reputation, as well to show that not all misanthropic blackmetal must sound tinny and weakly produced to be considered a �true� album of the genre, timeless material.
Favourite Tracks - Freezing Moon , Funeral Fog , Life Eternal
Mark - 9/10
SECOND OPINION
Gloon :
Old school Blackmetal with unique off tempo vocals courtesy of Atilla. Some good riffs and moments on offer, however in my opinion Atilla�s snore grunts sound crap, especially his attempt at singing during the track �De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas�, by Christ a drunk pig with a sore throat couldn�t sound as bad.
Favourite Tracks - Pagan Fears (only the intro)
Mark - 5.5/10

Mayhem 'Wolf�s Lair Abyss'
Misanthropy , 1997
Lord Pale:
The prolific percussion legend Hellhammer has reformed Mayhem recruiting original vocalist Maniac and original bass player Necrobutcher, joined by Blasphemer of Norwegian black/thrash outfit Aura Noir. Wolf's Lair Abyss is a 5 track mini cd containing 4 songs and a distorted wall of noise intro track. Hellhammer as always is in exceptional form, just listen to the ending of 'I Am Thy Labyrinth' if you have ever wondering why he is often rated as one of blackmetal�s best drummers offering a plethoria of hyper speed fills and snares to the typical blastbeat format. Maniac has the sickest snarl in blackmetal, visceral and evil, but he also occasionally sings in a clear voice to highlight certain parts of the music which fans will either like or hate. Blasphemer brings his own sound to Mayhem whilst his solid and creepy riffs still at times remain true to the original 'De Mysteriis�' sound. The musicianship is of a higher standard overall than on previous releases and has a more technical even slightly modern feel. Maniac's lyrics are mainly concerned with war as opposed to Dead's nihilistic vision, but retain the same dark feeling of previous releases. The classic fast and slow tempo formula is still in place, though Wolf's Lair Abyss is faster release overall than ever before. The new Mayhem are still extreme blackmetal, and although less foreboding than De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, WLA goes alongway to proving that the Norweigens are still at the top of their game.
Favourite Tracks - Symbols Of Bloodswords , I am Thy Labyrinth , Fall Of Seraphs
Mark - 8.5/10
SECOND OPINION
Gloon :
Hellhammer resurrects Mayhem, new line up (obviously) and new singer Maniac. Maniac keeps the tradition alive by adding his own brand of whinny off tempo extremely left field vocals. Still blackmetal, still Mayhem.
Favourite Tracks - none
Mark - 5.5/10

Mayhem 'Mediolanum Capta Est'
Avantgarde , 1999
Lord Pale:
The first 'official' live Mayhem album recorded in Milan, Italy in November 1998 with the new Wolf�s Lair Abyss line up. Mediolanum Capta Est offers well executed material lasting over an hour delivering all the classic tracks taken from their entire catalog (though only 2 songs off of De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas) as well as 4 songs off of their latest Wolf�s Lair Abyss release. The sound quality is much better than that of the previous live album 'Live In Leipzig' and the crowd interaction between tracks is clear and distinguishable. There is even a guest appearance by Atilla who sings 'From The Dark Past' as a piercing duo with Maniac. High quality packaging and a solid live performance make this a must have for Mayhem fans.
Tracklist :
1 Silvester Anfang
2 Deathcrush
3 Fall Of Seraphs
4 Carnage
5 Necrolust
6 Ancient Skin
7 Freezing Moon
8 Symbols Of Bloodswords
9 From The Dark Past
10 Chainsaw Gutsfuck ( dedicated by Maniac to the pope )
11 I Am Thy Labyrinth
12 Pure Fucking Armageddon
Favourite Tracks - Symbols Of Bloodswords , Death Crush , Freezing Moon
Mark - 8/10
SECOND OPINION
Gloon :
The sound quality and production on this live album is awesome. Even at the speed some of the songs are played at the sound never melds together and each instrument remains distinct. Dare I say that I even bobbed my head to some of Mayhem�s older tracks. If you have to buy a Mayhem album buy this one.
Favourite Tracks - The older material, the beautiful ballad �From the Dark Past� (brought a tear to my eye, really!)
Mark - 6.5/10

Mayhem 'Grand Declaration Of War'
Season of Mist , 2000
Lord Pale:
A Grand Declaration Of War is a huge step forward from Wolf�s Lair Abyss in a more modern semi futuristic Ulver style direction. I had hoped that Mayhem would have released a full length album of Wolf�s Lair Abyss style material, but it seems that they have progressed further than I had ever imagined. Considered on it's own merits, A Grand Declaration Of War is a high calibre album, substantially slower than it�s predecessor. Maniac's vocals are the first thing that you will have noticed that have changed with a less flemmy snarl being opted for for the majority with the exception of tracks like 'A Time To Die' as well as more clean vocals akin to those in Symbols Of Blood Swords being utilised, and even some robitic style vocal filters. The lyrical focus again is mainly centered on war and anti Christian themes, like the previous mini cd which suits the new militant modern sound. A Grand Declaration Of War features alot of semi industrial themes and even a slow beat box surfaces in 'A Bloodsword And A Colder Sun'. The album is best played through as a whole listening experience, as it�s music and lyrical themes all flow together and are vastly varied to keep it entertaining, and the tracks seem to lack direction or purpose when played individually. Although the digipak version of this disc (the one I own) has 13 tracks , the album only has 8 �real� songs on it. One is a dead time track, another a short proclamation, there are two atmospheric introductions and fade outs, and one musical outro. As a matter of fact 'AGDOW' isn't an incredibly long album if you take away the dead time and little intermezzo�s inbetween tracks but what�s on show is an album of impressive, modernised, at times a little disjointed, blackened metal. If you�re a blackmetal traditionalist forget this album now, if you fancy 'Wolf�s Lair Abyss' taken 20 years into the future than you may well enjoy the newest Mayhem release. Truly unique .
Favourite Tracks - In The Lies Where Upon You Lay , Crystallised Pain In Deconstruction , To Daimonion
Mark - 8/10
SECOND OPINION
Gloon :
Part II - Maniac experiments with clear vocals and spoken passages. Music still sounds like Wolfs Liar Abyss, oh well.
Part III - At times fragmented and repetitive, ultimately frustrating. Mayhem experiment with industrial themes and Maniac varies his vocals again. Don�t know what they tried to do here but they didn�t pull it off very well.
Favourite Tracks - none
Mark - 6/10

Mayhem 'Chimera'
Season Of Mist , 2004
Lord Pale:
Mayhem's return see's the band reverting back to material more akin to Deathcrush and Wolf's Lair Abyss as opposed to the modern militant themes of the very different 'A Grand Declaration Of War'. Gone are the frequent spoken vocals (with the exception of the title track), computerized samples, and futuristic atmospheres, instead replaced by ripping, fast and furious tracks like 'Whore' and 'Rape Humanity With Pride' and the classic Mayhem doomy style tracks in the guise of 'My Death', 'Dark Night Of The Soul', and 'Chimera' recalling the mighty De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. Maniac's vocals have improved a great deal and remain a fairly clean and intellegible rasp with the occasional flemmy drawl still rearing its head along with some new clean deep vocals in the Latin outtake of 'My Death'. Hellhammer's performance is again flawless and highly proficent perfectly complimenting Blasphemer's awesome riffs. Even Necrobutcher's sludgy bass sees a prominent appearance in the crawling eerie driving riff of 'Devious Impious Leper Lord'. The high colour digipak is well presented and the band photos perfectly compliment Mayhem's music anno 2004, adding to the modern vile atmopshere. Those who thought Mayhem couldn't come back from A Grand Declaration Of War will be happy with the backwards looking direction of Chimera whilst those who enjoyed that release will be pleased by the modern production and feel of the new Mayhem album. Overall, a stunning effort of modern, yet classic blackmetal from the genres forefathers - essential.
Favourite Tracks - Rape Humanity With Pride , Chimera , My Death
Mark - 8.5/10

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