Mayhem: Of Lord Satan's Mysteries (1992-1994)

 

Mayhem's masterpiece

The years following Dead's suicide in 1991 were tumultuous ones for MAYHEM. By this time, black metal was beginning to emerge from the underground and establish itself as a legitimate genre. However, Mayhem had some issues they needed to work through. 

The first issue in these times was whether or not the band even still existed. Did Dead's suicide mean the end of Mayhem? Euronymous had begun exploiting Dead's suicide for publicity's sake, including crafting the narrative that it was the posers and trendwhores in the metal underground that drove him to take his own life. Between this and Euronymous's stated intention to use a photo of Dead's corpse as the cover to a future Mayhem release, Necrobutcher had had enough. He quit the band out of frustration. 

Dead without corpsepaint

The second issue Mayhem faced was that Mayhem still had no full-length studio albums to their name. 1987's Deathcrush was technically an EP, and Live in Leipzig had not been released yet. Numerous bootlegs were circulating in the underground, and some of those eventually saw the light of day as officially sanctioned releases. What was to become of Mayhem, and would their music ever see the light of day in a proper release? 

Euronymous took this time as an opportunity to champion the burgeoning Norwegian black metal scene. In a series of interviews in various zines, he (and to a lesser degree, Burzum's Varg Vikernes) laid down what he thought black metal should be and what it could be. He also decided to move forward with Mayhem.

Euronymous in corpsepaint

With no bassist and no vocalist, Mayhem first recruited Occultus (of Perdition Hearse) to fill both roles. While Occultus did contribute, he soon left the band because of personality clashes with Euronymous. Then, Varg was recruited to fill the role of bassist. Some recordings of rehearsals from this time period eventually saw the light of day as the From the Darkest Past bootleg.

This was also around the time that Snorre Ruch and Attila Csihar were recruited. Snorre came on board as a second guitarist and helped write lyrics for a few songs. Attila was recruited as vocalist. At this point, Mayhem's first full-length studio album was almost complete. 

This rough mix of "Funeral Fog" comes from the Life Eternal EP

The resulting album was to be titled "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas", and this was a title that had been up Mayhem's sleeve since before Dead's suicide. Unfortunately, Euronymous would never see the album's release. As is widely known, he was murdered by Varg Vikernes shortly after the completion of the album's recording.

The album was released in 1994. It was hailed as a milestone in black metal, and the album itself has (for better or worse) influenced scores of young musicians to try their hand at this diabolical genre of music. I think that this album is a true masterpiece, and it marvelously captures the essence of early second-wave black metal.

The title track of the album in question

Alas, with Euronymous dead and Snorre and Varg in jail for their criminal activity, Mayhem's roster was once again decimated. Was the band gone for good? Only time would tell..... 

Select discography of this era:

From the Darkest Past (1992 bootleg rehearsal of DMDS)

De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (full-length) (1994)

Life Eternal (rough mix of DMDS) (2009)

Next time:  ABORYM

Burzum

 

The story of BURZUM is well-documented, so I'm not sure how much detail to go into.  I'll try to limit my discussion to the music and not focus on non-music shenanigans. Varg Vikernes (the mastermind behind Burzum) began a solo project called Kalashnikov around 1988, after he had only been playing the guitar for a couple years. Within a year or so, he changed the name to Uruk-Hai. There is debate about whether or not there are any known recordings from that time period.  In later years (sometime in the later 1990s), some recordings emerged of Uruk-Hai material, but there is doubt about whether it's from 1988-89 or the early 90s.

After the early Uruk-Hai years, Vikernes joined the Norwegian death/black metal band Old Funeral.  As I noted on my entry for early Norwegian black metal, this band also had (at various times) Abbath (of Immortal fame) and Jørn (of Hades fame). Varg has said his time in Old Funeral was highly educational, as he learned about the more technical aspects of music. 

A classic promotional pic of Varg

After the demise of this band, Vikernes revived the project Uruk-Hai before soon changing its name to Burzum, which is the word for "darkness" in the Black Speech of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.  He also started going by the stage name Count Grishnackh to further distance himself from his old ways. Burzum was more or less an old-school black metal project, but with the touch of that occultic edge that 1980s Mayhem had.

From the first untitled Burzum demo, this is "Lost Wisdom"

Vikernes put out two untitled demos in 1991 under the Burzum name.  They included many songs which went on to become classics, such as "Lost Wisdom," "Spell of Destruction," "A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit," and "Feeble Screams From Forests Unknown."  Many of these songs were instrumental, with no vocals.  Nonetheless, they highlighted the emerging Norwegian sound.  Bearing resemblance to what Mayhem had done up to this point, while maintaining some uniqueness, these Burzum tracks helped lay the template for many black metal bands to come.

This is from the 1992 self-titled album...

As is known,  Burzum recorded all of what would become his classic nineties material in the span of about a year. Recorded in January of 1992, Burzum first released a self-titled album.  This was put out on Euronymous's label Deathlike Silence Productions.  In terms of black metal sound, the self-titled album was a continuation of the the sound pioneered on the demos, but at the same time an improvement.  I think that Vikernes' vocals were more tortured, more insane-sounding than pretty much any other black metal vocalist up to that point in history.  That first album is one of black metal's all-time greats. It's simple, yet raw and merciless in its effect.

Recorded as part of two different sessions in 1992, Burzum put out an EP entitled Aske (which is the Norwegian word for 'ashes') in early 1993. Also released through Deathlike Silence Productions, this is one of the few Burzum releases with another musician on it. Samoth (of Emperor) played bass on Aske because for a brief while, Varg entertained the idea of playing live. He did not hold on to that notion for long. 

"Key to the Gates" is from Det Som Engang Var

Burzum's second full-length album was Det Som Engang Var. Recorded in April 1992, this album feels conceptually linked to the self- titled one. With music that still feels raw and primitive, DSEV is as good an introduction to Burzum as any. This album was released in 1993 through Varg's new label, Cymophane Records (which was a sublabel of white power label Resistance Records). It was pressed in a limited run (950 copies), so this resulted in many bootleg editions in circulation. 

From Burzum's 1994 album, this is "Inn I Slottet Fra Droemmen"

Burzum's third album was recorded in the fall of 1992. It took a while for this album to get released because Varg's legal troubles began mounting. He signed the rights to his last two albums over to a third party who then founded Misanthropy Records.  Once this dust settled, this album--titled Hvis lyset tar oss--was released by Misanthropy in April 1994. It felt like a departure from the previous two. Yes, the primitivism was still present, but we see a real transcendence being achieved on some of these tracks. In this way, it foreshadowed what was to come on Burzum's fourth full-length album. 

My favorite Burzum song,  "Darkness (Dunkelheit)"

Burzum's fourth full-length studio album--titled Filosofem--was recorded in early 1993. By his own admission, he was rebelling against the new developments in the black metal scene and this made its way into the recording sessions. He once called this album an "anti-black metal" album. But by rebelling against some of the emerging trends in the black metal scene, he merely set a new bar for black metal!  The raw production, the hypnotic riffs, the droning ambient...all of these things took Burzum's black metal to another level entirely. Many say that Hviss lyset tar oss is in the running for greatest black metal album of all time, but I place Filosofem higher. It was released through Misanthropy Records in 1996, after Varg had begun serving his jail sentence for his crimes (church burning, Euronymous's murder).

And this is as good a place as any to pause the story of Burzum. As is widely known, he was able to put out two fully ambient albums while in prison (while in prison, he claimed to have sworn off guitar-based music forever), but that doesn't interest me. Perhaps I'll resume his story where it picks up when he was released from prison....? We'll see.

This song was recorded during the Hvis lyset tar oss sessions but never made it to album

Select Discography:

Demo I (1991)

Demo II (1991)

Burzum (demo) (1991)

Burzum (full-length) (1992)

Aske EP (1993)

Det som engang var (full-length) (1993)

Hvis lyset tar oss (full-length) (1994)

Filosofem (full-length) (1996)

Next time: NECROPHOBIC

Immortal

 

The legendary Norwegian scene of the early 1990s continues to astound us, even to this day. It is hard to imagine black metal of any shape or size without the groundbreaking work done by IMMORTAL, for example. After his stints in both Old Funeral and Amputation, Abbath went on to form Immortal with Demonaz in 1990.  They were initially more death metal than black metal, as is evident on the 1991 self titled demo.  It wasn't until the Immortal 7" EP (also released in 1991) that they changed their style to something more recognizably black metal.

"The Cold Winds of Funeral Frost" is off of the self-titled 7-inch

Immortal's sound clearly owed a debt to the sound of late 1980s and early 1990s Mayhem, but at the same time, it was a unique style.  Elements of Bathory (think Under the Sign of the Black Mark) also being present, Immortal went on to release a full-length album in 1992.  Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism is one of the best 1990s Norwegian black metal debut albums.  Immortal set themselves apart from the hordes of other black metal bands because they incorporated winter-themed lyrics.  Winter, cold, frost, and other climatic elements made perfect sense given Norway's harsh and unforgiving weather.

"Call of the Wintermoon" is one of Immortal's best known early songs

The big shift for Immortal in these earlier years was with the release of 1993's Pure Holocaust.  This album continued some of the stylistic elements of the material from Diabolical and the self-titled 7-inch, but at the same time, Immortal began to push the black metal style forward.  Blastbeats were featured prominently, and the overall speed was ratcheted up a notch unlike almost any other black metal band before this time.

This is "Storming Through Red Clouds and Holocaustwinds"

When Immortal released this album on the world, it truly changed the black metal landscape forever.  There had been fast black metal before (think Sarcofago, for example), but no one had put blastbeats into black metal to such a degree before.  Pure Holocaust stands, in my mind, as one of the technical highlights of all Norwegian black metal--indeed, of all black metal PERIOD.

While Pure Holocaust is one of their most influential albums, I hold that Battles in the North (Immortal's 1995 follow-up) is the superior release. On Holocaust, you can hear Immortal still figuring out what to do with and where to put their blastbeats. There are numerous places where the speed and blastbeats feel like an afterthought. Battles, on the other hand, had songs that were meticulously crafted, and the speed felt necessary and intentional. With each release, the black metal world was forced to sit up and take notice as Immortal changed the game again and again. Battles in the North, to my ears, ranks as a pure masterpiece of the highest order

Here is the title track from '95's Battles in the North

With their next release (1997's Blizzard Beasts), Immortal sought to push the boundaries of the sound they had innovated. Gone were the well-structured songs of Battles. Instead, the blastbeats were used to achieve a chaotic, almost tech-death approach. This album proved divisive among fans. Some loved how over-the-top it was, but some saw it as a step backwards from Battles.

"Winter of the Ages" showcases the insanity of Blizzard Beasts

This was a transitional time for Immortal, as Demonaz had to step down from his guitar-playing duties due to severe tendonitis in his arms. He was unable to play the extremely fast black metal riffing that Immortal's music required and was now relegated to the role of writer. This was also the time frame when drummer Horgh joined the band, and remained their long-time drummer  (they had had a rotating cast of drummers prior to him). But more change was on the horizon.

That change took the form of their 1999 album, At the Heart of Winter. A radical shift in their sound, this album managed to be too radical in sound for some of the old-school fans. But at the same time, many saw this as Immortal's peak. The album managed to incorporate all of the elements from previous albums, but the song structures clearly drew on Viking-era Bathory and classic heavy metal. Listen to the gorgeous soundscape that is "Withstand the Fall of Time":

This is off of 1999's At the Heart of Winter

2002's Sons of Northern Darkness gave us the masterful "Antarctica"

Immortal fully embraced this new sound on their next two albums, 2000's Damned in Black and 2002's Sons of Northern Darkness. Epic, sprawling black metal that meandered across multiple motifs, all while bringing to mind the inevitable evil of a true fimbulwinter is how I think of Immortal in this phase. Sons of Northern Darkness showed the world what black metal was capable of, in terms of artistry.

That said, this began a time of uncertainty for Immortal. They broke up not long after the release of Sons. In the following years, they would re-unite and break up several more times. This culminated in a legal battle for the rights to the name of the band, as Demonaz and Abbath had competing ideas about the future direction of Immortal. Demonaz did eventually win the legal battle, and he and Horgh are now the current core of Immortal. 

Select Discography:

Immortal (demo) (1991)

Immortal 7" (1991)

Diabolical Fullmoon Mysticism (full-length) (1992)

Pure Holocaust (full-length) (1993)

Battles in the North (full-length) (1995)

Blizzard Beasts (full-length) (1997)

At the Heart of Winter (full-length) (1999)

Damned in Black (full-length) (2000)

Sons of Northern Darkness (full-length) (2002)

All Shall Fall (full-length) (2009)

The Seventh Date of Blashyrkh (live video) (2010)

Next time: UNLORD

Darkthrone's classic years

 

Members of Mayhem and Darkthrone in an early '90s photo

DARKTHRONE'S release of A Blaze in the Northern Sky in 1992 was an earth-shattering event in the history of black metal. The Norwegian scene hadn't put out many full-length studio albums yet, and Darkthrone's first album was basically death metal, not black metal. Darkthrone now consisted of three members since Dag Nilsen had left: Zephyrous, Nocturno Culto, and Fenriz. However, they had a renewed focus now that they were committed to black metal.

The follow-up to Blaze is the 1993 classic Under a Funeral Moon. On this album, Darkthrone (by their own admission) moved even further away from their death metal roots. They acknowledged that they had still used a death metal template for some of their songs on Blaze, but had now jettisoned that foundation. Even Fenriz himself admitted that Blaze was "a lot of death metal with some black metal parts." 1993's Under a Funeral Moon, however, was "pure black metal."

Here's "Unholy Black Metal," from Under a Funeral Moon

With Under a Funeral Moon (even more than Blaze), the classic second wave black metal template began to solidify. The primitive, blasting drums; the raw, screeched vocals; the tremolo picking riffs....all of it was present in a way that felt new and fresh. It has even been called the "blackest black metal" album that Darkthrone has ever made.

Soon after its release, Darkthrone entered the studio to record its follow-up. At the time, however, things had changed in the Norwegian scene. In 1991 and 1992, things in the Norwegian black metal scene had been relatively organic and tightly knit. There were few actual black metal bands and the focus was on the music. But by 1993, the church burnings and murders associated with the Inner Circle had begun to distract people from the music. It also attracted media attention and resulted in the scene being flooded with black metal posers. This state of affairs greatly influenced Darkthrone's mindset as they recorded their next album.

"Slottet I Det Fjerne" is one of their most famous tracks from Transilvanian Hunger

Now a duo (Zephyrous left the band after a car accident), Darkthrone released album number four in early 1994. This album--Transilvanian Hunger--was another masterpiece that changed the face of black metal. Even more raw, with an aura of misanthropic darkness (which resulted from a dark, ultra lo-fi production), Hunger had blazingly fast songs that influenced a generation of black metallers. Within the span of three years, Darkthrone had revolutionized black metal.

One source of controversy was the band's messaging on the album itself. On the back cover of the album, the band labeled their music as "Norwegian Aryan Black Metal," and in the liner notes they noted that anyone who criticized their music was behaving in a "Jewish" fashion. Years later, Fenriz himself noted that this kind of language was unacceptable and even called it "disgusting."

Off of Panzerfaust, this is "Hans siste vinter"

While Darkthrone's first three black metal albums (Blaze, Funeral, Hunger) are sometimes called their 'unholy trinity' because of how influential and revolutionary they were, I like to lump in their 1995 release, Panzerfaust, as well. The structure laid down on Hunger and Funeral were present, to some degree, but the production values were notably different. The vocals had a more vile, trebly feel to them than in previous albums, giving the entire album an angry rawness that was less present on the earlier releases. All told, Panzerfaust is just as essential as Under a Funeral Moon or Transilvanian Hunger.

Select Discography:

A Blaze in the Northern Sky (1992)

Under a Funeral Moon (1993)

Transilvanian Hunger (1994)

Panzerfaust (1995)

Next time: MORBOSIDAD

Norwegian black metal before the boom....

It is no exaggeration to say that Norway's black metal scene is the most important in the history of the genre. Once the style took hold, and bands like Mayhem, Darkthrone, Immortal, Burzum, Thorns, and more began creating black metal music, the world of metal was forever changed. However, I want to highlight some important and lesser-known developments in Norwegian black metal before the explosion of the early 1990s.

Tromsø's 666

Mayhem, despite what most people know and think, is not actually the first Norwegian black metal band. They formed in 1984 in Oslo, this is true, but the band 666--from the city of Tromsø--predates the existence of Mayhem. They formed in 1982 and played a darkly satanic style of metal that owes a lot to 70s hard rock. They never released any proper studio albums, but did become known in the metal underground for their live shows. Their only releases, in fact, are recordings of several early 1980s live shows that surfaced in the 1990s and later.

"Lucifer" is one of 666's more well-known songs

Select Discography:

Live I (recorded 1982, released 1998)

Live II (recorded 1982, released 1998)

Live III (recorded 1983, released 2003)

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Sarpsborg's PERDITION HEARSE formed as Disorder in 1988, but by 1990 they had changed their name and were putting out demos of old-school black metal. Their sound was a very unrefined style that still drew on a death/thrash template but was recognizably black metal nonetheless.

"My Ancient Gods Behind Them" is off of the demo Mala Fide

The mastermind behind Perdition Hearse was the man known as Occultus. Despite Perdition Hearse's early appearance on the scene, Occultus himself would go on to be a part of the Norwegian black metal boom in his own right: he was one of the co-founders of the infamous Helvete record shop, and played session bass in Mayhem for a short time.

Select Discography:

Rehearsal (demo) (1990)

The Stealthy Beyond Death (demo) (1991)

Mala Fide (demo) (1992)

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In the 1980s and early 1990s, a few other bands in Norway popped up on the radar as part of early efforts at black metal. Some of these bands went on to make an impact; others, not so much. Black/thrash band BLASPHEMER, for example, isn't known for much beyond two nasty-sounding demos, and may very well be a joke band (one rumor is that Metalion, of Slayer magazine, was a member). Here is a sample of their sound from the 1986 demo Voice of Dead Babbs:

Oslo's VALHALL--having formed in 1987--followed a pretty interesting trajectory in relation to black metal. A side project of Darkthrone's Fenriz, they actually released a slew of noteworthy demos in the late 80s and early 90s before becoming a stoner doom band and leaving behind black/death metal entirely.

This is their 1988 demo Castle of Death in full

There were some other obscure bands that emerged before Norwegian black metal exploded from the underground into metal mainstream notoriety--like Råde's SLAUGHT or Askim's FESTER--but their impact was even more minimal than the above-mentioned bands.

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With all of that being said, two bands that are worth mentioning because of their role in shaping what would become the Norwegian black metal boom are OLD FUNERAL and THOU SHALT SUFFER. Neither band were really black metal, per se, but they both served as influences on the scene as well as bands with some rather famous rosters.

OLD FUNERAL

Forming as Funeral in 1988, they supposedly started calling themselves 'Old Funeral' because of another band named Funeral that arose shortly thereafter. Old Funeral was especially notable because it contained--at various points in its four years of existence--Abbath and Demonaz from Immortal, Varg from Burzum, and Jørn from Hades. Interestingly enough, these men were never all in the band at the same time.

"Skin and Bone" can be found on the 1990 demo, Abduction of Limbs

In terms of their sound, it clearly owed a large debt to the emerging Swedish death metal scene that was all the rage. The raw, evil style of this band can also clearly be seen as a precursor to the black metal brilliance that Norway would soon be known for.

The band more or less had a rotating roster, but it had broken up for good by 1992. After Mayhem's Euronymous had laid down the gauntlet in a late 1991 magazine interview--calling out Norwegian extreme metal musicians for their lack of creativity and blatant attempts at cloning American and Swedish death metal--many musicians answered the call by seeking to join the ranks of black metal elite. Abbath and Demonaz went on to form Immortal (after briefly dabbling in death metal again with AMPUTATION), Varg Vikernes resurrected Uruk-Hai (which eventually evolved into Burzum), and Jørn formed Hades.

Old Funeral's Select Discography:

The Fart that Should Not Be (demo) (1989)

Abduction of Limbs (demo) (1990)

Devoured Carcass 7" (1991)

The Older Ones (compilation) (1999)

THOU SHALT SUFFER

Thou Shalt Suffer, on the other hand, more or less served as proving grounds for musicians who would go on to form Emperor and Ildjarn (more on these two entities at a later date).

Initially formed in 1990 by Ihsahn and Samoth as Dark Device, Thou Shalt Suffer played more on the black metal side of the extreme metal spectrum than death metal. Exploring eerie and dark sounds with the synth compositions that Ihsahn provided, Thou Shalt Suffer was actually a pretty unique band for 1991 Norway. 

This is the title track from the 1991 demo Into the Woods of Belial

Again, much like Old Funeral, the members of Thou Shalt Suffer began to explore new sounds outside of the bounds of this project as a result of Euronymous's call to arms. Samoth, for example, began composing songs that would eventually become the first music for Emperor, and Ildjarn sought to form his own eponymous band that would go on to become highly influential.

Thou Shalt Suffer Select Discography:

Rehearsal (demo) (1991)

Open the Mysteries of Your Creation 7" (1991)

Into the Woods of Belial (demo) (1991)

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Next time: GRAVELAND

Eminenz

Hailing from Saxony in Germany, EMINENZ is a bit of a lesser-known black metal band, but one of historical importance. Formed in 1989, the founders of the band were veterans of the death metal scene. With vocalist Leviathan at the core, the band was rounded out by Zwerg and Butcher on guitars, Darkman on bass, and Iten on drums.

Eminenz's biggest claim to fame is that they were one of the supporting bands for Mayhem's 1990 European tour. This was the tour that gave the world the Live in Leipzig album. What was especially noteworthy about Eminenz earning this supporting slot was that they had no studio albums to their credit, and hardly any demos!

From their first demo, this is "Death Fall"

In terms of their sound, Eminenz's death metal influences can clearly be heard. On the early demos especially, the riffing clearly owes a debt to old-school death/thrash. Listen to "Death Fall" (above), from the 1990 demo Slayer of My Daughter, for a clear example.

After a series of well-received demos, they put out their first full-length, Exorial, in 1994. The interesting thing about this album--and Eminenz's style in general--is they draw heavily from a death metal template, all while crafting highly atmospheric music that clearly fits in the black metal tradition. Their use of well-placed keyboards lent an eerie and occultic aura to their sound. Check out the three-minute mark of "Jesus Wept Nevermore" (from the Exorial album), below:

Eminenz's sound hasn't really changed radically since Exorial. Their music still draws heavily on death metal riffing and song structures, but contains important elements of black metal. They may have never achieved the kind of success or notoriety that fellow countrymen Desaster, Nargaroth, or Nagelfar did (to name a few), but Eminenz has earned their place in the pantheon of German black metal elites.

Off of 1996's The Heretic, this is "Demons Cross a Fiery Path"

"Infernal Majesty", from the 2007 self-titled album, is a more recent example of their sound

Select Discography:

Slayer of Your Daughter (demo) (1990)

Necronomicon Exmortis (demo) (1991)

Ghost (demo) (1992)

Exorial (full-length) (1994)

The Heretic (full-length) (1996)

Anti-Genesis (On the 8th Day I Destroy Godcreation) (full-length) (1998)

The Blackest Dimension (full-length) (2000)

Eminenz (full-length) (2007)

Next time: ARCTURUS

Mayhem: The Dead Years, 1988-1991

And now for the most famous black metal band during its most famous period.  In 1988, vocalist Dead (Per Ygnve Ohlin) joined, having previously been in the Swedish black/death band Morbid.  In the same time frame, drummer Hellhammer joined.  With this, Mayhem's 'classic' line-up was born: Euronymous on guitar, Necrobutcher on bass, Helhammer on drums, and Dead on vocals.  They were coming off of the new-found underground notoriety that 1987's Deathcrush album had brought them.

A 1988 rehearsal of "Necrolust" with Dead...

In the years 1988-1990, Mayhem was truly an underground phenomenon.  They released no albums, no officially sanctioned demos, no live albums.  Nevertheless, the bootlegs that circulated in the underground during this time period cemented their reputation as one of black metal's elite.  Live shows all over Europe also helped create the Mayhem mythos.

In 1990, two new studio tracks surfaced: 'Carnage" (one of their older classics, but with Dead on vocals) and "Freezing Moon".  These tracks have seen the light of day as not only a demo cassette entitled Studio Tracks, but also as a seven-inch entitled Freezing Moon.

The legendary "Freezing Moon", from the 1990 rehearsal

Much as Mayhem's early years peaked with the Deathcrush EP in 1987, the Dead years peaked with the Live in Leipzig album.  This was recorded in late 1990 at a performance in Leipzig, but was not released on CD until 1993.  The material released both officially and unofficially in these years can be considered some of the best that old-school Norwegian black metal has to offer.

From the Live in Leipzig album, this is my favorite track from this era, "Funeral Fog"

In my opinion, Dead was the best vocalist Mayhem ever had: more talented than Messiah, more consistent than Attila, less annoying than Maniac.  He, as is well known, killed himself in 1991.  With his suicide, Mayhem's second (and some would argue, best) phase came to an end.  The next phase will be explored at a later date....

Select Discography:

Ha-Elm Zalag (bootleg rehearsal) (1988)
War and Sodomy (Live in Zeitz) (live bootleg) (1990)
Studio Tracks (demo) (1990)
Out From the Dark (bootleg demo) (1991)
Last Breath (Last Recordings with Dead) (bootleg rehearsal) (1991)
Live in Leipzig (live album) (recorded 1990, released 1993)
Dawn of the Black Hearts (Live in Sarpsborg, 1990) (released 1995)

Next time: PROFANATICA

Mayhem: The Early Years, 1985-1987

The story of MAYHEM is pretty well-documented at this point.  They formed in 1984 in Oslo, Norway, taking their name from the instrumental Venom song, "Mayhem With Mercy".  The founders were guitarist/vocalist Euronymous, bassist Necrobutcher, and drummer Manheim.  Drawing their influence from bands like Venom and Bathory, a lot of their early material was covers.  They produced a very rough, raw demo in 1985 entitled Voice of a Tortured Skull.  It never got an official release and is still considered a bootleg down to this day.

The classic song "Carnage", without vocals, from 1985's Voice of a Tortured Skull

In these early years, Mayhem became known more for their demos than anything else.  Euronymous tended to vocal duties until they landed Maniac on vocals sometime in 1986.  In 1986, they put out the official demo Pure Fucking Armageddon and recorded live tracks that later were put out on the bootleg album The Dawn of the Black Hearts.

"Ghoul", from Pure Fucking Armageddon

In 1986, Maniac (or was it Messiah?) joined on vocals.  In 1987, they put out the Deathrehearsal demo and the very famous EP Deathcrush.  I would say along with Sarcofago's INRI and Bathory's Under the Sign..., Deathcrush was one of the black metal highlights of 1987.  One can really hear a modern black metal sound taking shape on Deathcrush.  The genres were really beginning to differentiate themselves from each other by this time, with thrash and death and black metal all carving out specific niches.

I love this song.  "Deathcrush" is such a classic.

With vile, tortured vocals and the kind of distortion which is still with modern black metal to this day, Mayhem achieved something fairly unique on Deathcrush.  There weren't really a lot of black metal bands that sounded uniquely black metal.  They were, for the most part, black/thrash or black/death or some other blurring of genres.  Mayhem really marked a shift.


After 1987, Mayhem changed quite a bit.  Hellhammer took over on drums, and the infamous Dead took over on vocals.  I will focus on Mayhem during the Dead years at a later date.....

Select Discography:

Voice of a Tortured Skull (demo) (1985)
Pure Fucking Armageddon (demo) (1986)
Deathrehearsal (demo) (1987)
Deathcrush EP (1987)

Next time:  SARCOFAGO