Mayhem: Blasphemer (Part 1)

Two years ago, I witnessed Mayhem's sonic assault here in Singapore; the black metal pioneer was indeed lethal in their live performance in terms of delivery & musicianship. More importantly, I was there to witness how good Blasphemer was.



Blasphemer aka Rune Eriksen, was (still is) a very talented player but not one to highlight his presence by doing a million notes per second solo- the band needed a musician & he was there to propel the band in this context. Blasphemer took guitar playing for Mayhem to a higher level by displaying praise-worthy commitments given his role. Wolf Lair Abyss was the E.P. which brought Mayhem back from the dead. Through this recording, we heard how his guitar multi-tracking proved to the world black metal wasn't about getting away with minimal instrument capacity. Subsequently, A Grand Declaration of War fused black metal's hostility with the decade's avant garde nuances, the product of which was deemed a genius of its time (Listen: A Bloodsword & a Colder Sun Part 1).



Prior to his departure, Blasphemer underscored his intentions with two arguably important releases with the band; Chimera & Ordo Ad Chao. The former showcased his perfectionist practices which were evident in the tight rhythm delivery. Also, the tone purist in him necessitated the lengthy process of an amplifier selection for this recording; if you think black metal is about going lo-fi & quasi-discernible in terms of guitar, with lots of corpse paint to hide the lack of taste, this album proved otherwise. However, having said that, Ordo Ad Chao was indeed lo-fi extravaganza (guitar-wise) but this release's stamped intentionwas that the black metal genre is currently forging an alliance with the artistic (Read: Deathspell Omega) but Ordo Ad Chao was on top of proceedings.

Blasphemer parted ways with Mayhem on 22nd April 2008 & currently in pursuit of personal musical commitments.



To be cont'd...



PS: The pic above were moments before Blasphemer snapped a string & his Warlock made way for a Washburn. If you visit the band's homepage, the pics featuring the Washburn guitar was the Singapore date.