Mayhem and Related
More listening inspired by the book Lords of Chaos.
Mayhem – Live in Leipzig (Avantgarde/Century Media)
Unfortunately, vocalist Dead killed himself before Mayhem could get a proper recording with him, but this excellent live recording is the next best thing. The sound quality is surprisingly good and the band is in top form as they rampage through their set. When I think of Mayhem, I think of this CD.
Mayhem – Out from the Dark (Black Metal)
These seven tracks were taken from Dead’s last rehearsal with Mayhem, so the recording is a bit rough, though not unlistenable by any means. Again, the band is in top form. More than anything, this album makes me wonder what could have been if Dead hadn’t let his inner demons get the best of him.
Mayhem – “Deathcrush” EP (Deathlike Silence)
I used to ignore this release because it featured Maniac, the vocalist before Dead, but now I realize how great of a release it really is. When it came out in 1987, there really was nothing else that sounded like it, hence the creation of Norwegian black metal and the beginning of black metal’s second wave. The intro, “Silvester Anfang,” was composed and created by Conrad Schnitzler of Tangerine Dream specifically for this EP.
Mayhem – Pure F***ing Armageddon (Funny Fram)
Mayhem’s first demo is rough, for sure, and more leaning toward death metal in style, but its uncompromising originality separates it from the rest of the pack and points the way for what the band would become.
Mayhem – Dawn of the Black Hearts (Warmaster)
This live album gets a lot of attention because the cover is a picture of Dead taken by Euronymous when he discovered Dead’s dead body after committing suicide. Unfortunately, the sound quality is really poor and the setlist isn’t much different than the one on Live in Leipzig, making it a sub-par redundancy.
Mayhem – De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (Century Media/Century Black)
It may be heresy, but I really don’t care for this album all that much. Mayhem’s first studio album is top-notch musically, but Dead had blown his brains out with a shotgun, making it difficult for him to provide vocals, so the band enlisted Attila Csihar to fill in. Unfortunately, Attila sounds like the cartoon character Ren from The Ren & Stimpy Show doing a really bad Bela Lugosi impression, which just ruins the album for me.
Morbid – December Moon (Reaper)
Before Dead joined Mayhem, he was the vocalist for this Swedish death metal band. I’m not that fond of most death metal, but I like this demo for Dead’s vocals. He doesn’t bark or grunt the way most death metal vocalists deliver their lyrics. He enunciates in a dark, creepy whisper that seems a bit out of place when coupled with the chugga-chugga metal of the music.
Gorgoroth – Pentagram (Regain), Antichrist (Regain) & Under the Sign of Hell (Regain)
Gorgoroth’s songs are powerful, majestic and, at times, they even flat out ROCK! They’re practically the only ’90s Norwegian black metal band still around today possessing a shred of dignity.
Emperor – Wrath of the Tyrant (Candlelight), Emperor EP (Candlelight) & As the Shadows Rise EP (Nocturnal Art)
Before Emperor turned into a pretentious symphonic black metal band, they were a really good scuzzy, noisy outfit. It’s really too bad they changed their style, because I find their symphonic stuff so obnoxious that it’s literally driven me out of record stores.
Zyklon-B – Blood Must Be Shed (Candlelight)
This one-off Emperor side project from 1995 is a lot closer to Emperor’s early sound than anything else, which is unfortunate because these three songs show a lot of promise.
