MoMM (62)

Finally, received these 2 in the mail...

Mayhem: Liturgy of Death

Personally, it's an underwhelming album compounded by the fact that it's too close to Daemon. I will continue to support them for their musicianship.

Dokken: Under Lock & Key

Yes, I'm still looking out for those glorious '80s releases. For this particular album, George Lynch, in my opinion, up his game guitar-wise. My go-to Dokken album had been Tooth & Nail but this one is slowly growing into me. Also, the guitar ideas here had been re-manifested elsewhere. If you are a Lynch fan, you'd know which one.

Weeping

Mayhem had just released a single from their upcoming album (Liturgy of Death: Feb 2026): Weep for Nothing. Do take a listen if you're interested: CLICK I really hope, it's not gonna be a Daemon Part II.

MOMM (45)

I don't enjoy LIVE music till I bought Slayer's Decade of Agression (1991). At that point in time, my ears were attuned to music production; clarity, balance, etc. You can tell if a band is worth its salt when they play live. You can cheat in so many ways in the studio but live, there's no technology to fall back on. For Mayhem especially, I make it a point to listen to their live music. Before the Teloch / Ghul duo, the band had only one guitarist & it's interesting how things panned out on live shows, especially when the guitarist did the solos; it educated me on the importance of having a competent bassist in the band to patch the 'emptiness' when this happens. 

Mayhem's Daemonic Rites you see above has 17 tracks with over an hour's worth of music but the Intro (1) & Sylvester Anfang (13) aren't exactly songs per se. The rest of the numbers consist of songs from their latest album, Daemon, De Mysteriis..., Grand Declaration & surprise, surprise... Chimera. Since Atilla is fronting the band, we get stellar performances for Daemon & De Mysteriis numbers. The Grand Declaration & Chimera songs, at best, are the band's re-interpretation of how Atilla interpreted the songs. For this live adventure, all I can say here is that the current line-up had become very coherent as a unit & hope they stay together for a good while. 

MOMM (17)

I seldom dwell into live stuff. I buy live albums with the intention to check substantiality, not the music because chances are, I've already heard what's on offer. Mayhem's Live in Sarpsborg was performed in 1990 featuring Dead on vocals. The music here is an unpleasant trip in terms of production - was there any to begin with? The drum's crashes & rides are undefined, compounded by the grizzly sounding distorted guitar & bass. I bought this album to check out what's the standard like back then - 1990, the world is about the be hit by the grunge explosion. But beyond the realms of mainstream showcases, Mayhem had already cast their dominance as the flag bearer of black metal. The only mark of excellence here is Hellhammer's drumming, the rest are too murky for consideration. 

MOMM (7)

Yet another Music of My Moment episode this weekend, a good time to catch up with the tunes that I love. 

Suzanne Vega (Solitude Standing). I grew up with the radio more than the TV. The radio was switched on when I was at home, especially during weekends. This is one of the reasons '80s music is still alive in me till this day. One of those catchy, memorable tunes still playing in my head is Suzanne Vega's Tom's Diner. If I hear it played for that day then it stuck with me for the rest of the week or so. I was also fortunate to have a very passionate Literature teacher in school who would use song lyrics to teach poetry; Luka was one of them. So the music of my moment was kept alive & relevant in ways that enriched me more than merely being a tune on the radio.

Mayhem (Atavistic Black Disorder / Kommando). This is not a new one from the lords of black metal, it's an interesting EP consisting of original tunes & covers. Out of the three black metal tunes, one track is an unreleased number which was not included in the preceding Daemon LP - Voces Ab Alta. The remaining songs are punk covers. That's right folks, many black metal philosophies perpetuated today got their roots from punk. Discharge, Dead Kennedys, Rudimentary Peni & Ramones contributed to the musical well-being of the Mayhem chaps & these were covered brilliantly here. Ex-Mayhem members, Billy Messiah & Sven Kristiansen, made their contributions count. Thoroughly enjoyable, this one.

Wishing you a good weekend, hopefully one filled with some music re-discivery of your own.

Holdswoth/ Mayhem

Couldn't resist these. If you've ever heard Holdsworth playing live in Japan on Youtube, you'd know how fat & smooth his tone was. It took a live release like this one for me to really like his tone. So much clarity in the overall music as well. One of the best live productions I've come across. Mayhem's Grand Declaration of War was re-released late last year with one-up mastering especially for the drums. The percussive tones are more upfront with a bolder bottom end push. Due to the hectic festive delivery schedule, it didn't make its way here before the year ended. It missed January as well but it's here now. 

Maniac inferno

Mayhem was joined by former vocal stalwart, Maniac during the recent Inferno festival. This guy is clearly my preferred vocalist in the band. Atilla is legendary but Maniac is a force to be reckoned with. With a band like Mayhem, you need someone confrontational but not treading too much on theatrics. Maniac's lyrics were clearly thought provoking, heretic but remains philosophical. It infused much thinking into a genre of music not known for much substance when it comes to singing- was there ever singing to begin with?

Live listening

For the entire week, I've been listening to live albums. I've limited liking for live releases because the tracks are re-hashing what was recorded before but with a perspective of that 'raw' take from live feeds. 

Slayer's Decade of Aggression was my first live purchase & it was overplayed & both the cassette tapes died. That's right, they were on cassette tape version. In my opinion, this was the standard to beat in terms of live releases as the production was clear, all instruments could be heard distinctly. 

Then came Emperor's Emperial Live Ceremony which was bought because I wanted to hear more bass from the Emperor tracks. Tyr played bass on this one & the production did justice to his efforts. Also, I wanted to hear how Ihsan's Rob Halford-esque shrieks fare in live situations & it was beyond doubt, top notch. 

Mayhem's live albums are gems. You can really hear the horror from each track's delivery because Maniac's vocals were uncompromising. The live tracks also made me listen to Blasphemer's guitar tracks closely as the studio versions were full of overdubbed fills so in live applications, one got to hear what Blasphemer chose to play so that the tracks would not sound empty.

Mayhem: Esoteric Warfare

I've been wanting to talk about this album but I held back. I gave it more listening time to fully appreciate the contents & presentation. Mayhem releases are sublime & largely oblivious to trend & what the world thinks black metal should be.

Before I proceed, this is the currne tMayhem line-up L-R (live guitarist included):

• Necrobutcher- bass
• Hellhammer- drums
• Charles Hedger- live guitars
• Atilla- Vocals
• Teloch- guitars

The highlight here would be how Mayhem deals with the departure of guitarist, Blasphemer considering he was the spine of the band, the reason for Mayhem sounding like they are for the past decade or so. It's downright difficult to emulate someone who is equally adept to guitar & song-writing but Teloch was the right pick. A close listen to Esoteric Warfare reveals a proper continuation to the Mayhem legacy, not a departure in terms of music. The music in question is very much where Ordo Ad Chao left off, meaning- Mayhem is oblivious to songwriting structure. The music just kills from the start, it's one huge cloud of sonic assault, speed isn't obligatory but a necessary punctuation most of the time. The other marked talking point here is the drumming. No, Hellhammer didn't forgo his mercenary drumming but you would here some purposeful passages where he took his time to deliver. There is not a trace of De Mysterii... to be discovered, I think we can move on with the band in this aspect. That was a done formula, still potent, but not one to be dwelling in for the sake of being true.

Charles Hedger is an accomplished guitarist. Despite not hearing him in the album, you'd do well to know him by trawling cyberspace. He's a respectable teacher to say the least & it is hoped that he adds much to the current state of Mayhem music as well as doing some for the subsequent album.

Right now, what the world termed as 'Djent' (there is no such thing, really) is taking over the metal scene & the commercial entities behind this propagation are more than happy to see the music through (while it lasts- remember Nu Metal?). Mayhem stays relevant in essence of what black metal is & should be- haunting, apocalyptic rebellion. They are there to mark the existence of a necessary metal spin-off for those who live the music would be around longer to re-tell musical chapters than those who are hitching rides in bandwagons.

Flashback: Mayhem in S'pore

I was busy looking for misplaced pickups earlier today & found this article which I've kept since 2006. That was the seminal year Mayhem performed in Singapore- without incident, mind you. Apparently, the New Paper, a domestic sensational fodder publication, ran an article on the heinous history of the band, raising ethical concerns along the way. No efforts were made to actually manifest liberal coverage of the issue at hand; was this the former apocalypse-inciting  Mayhem coming here to rape Singapore's humanity? Did the band thereafter change at all? Tsk, tsk...

Effort was made to actually exhibit the decadent lyrics but Deathcrush was Mayhem's debut EP, maybe the philosophical mind behind the band's lyrics changed throughout the years (which indeed happened...)?

The reality check here is definitely the existence of double standards when it comes to music. A scantily clad, pubic area exposing female is more likely to be given the license to gyrate on stage compared to the average heavy metal musician.

This aside, I'm glad that Mayhem, the impregnable initiators of black metal, performed here & I got to shake hands with the band after the show.

Related post: CLICK
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Obiter Dictum: JULY is here. It's the dreaded income tax month.

Euro Paul

I was playing my Les Paul today (yes, the Gibson version, otherwise I won't call it 'Les Paul') & was checking out some of the obscure, under-rated LP player when it crossed my mind Mayhem's Euronymous (RIP) was one. Do remember the LP at this point in time was still sporting a reasonable price tag & SLASH was only starting to tote his em, fake version, for that landmark Appetite for Destruction release. Chances are, Euronymous got his cheap & he didn't give a hoot about preserving the flame top attraction... to think Freezing Moon was written with this instrument, that's really grim...

Edwards!

This is a rare embrace; one of Mayhem's current live guitarist (Silmaeth) actually prefers an Edwards...

Mayhem: Blasphemer (Part 2)

After Mayhem's performance, I made it a point ot talk to Blasphemer during the autograph session. The crowd who stayed behind to do so was small so after Blasphemer put marker to poster, I lingered on for some music-related talk...

He actually has partial endorsements with BC Rich & Ibanez but isn't too particular with the instrument's brand name or parts detail; as long as it's good enough (in terms of feel & tone), he's game. This might be the reason why he didn't mind the back-up Washburn when his Warlock's string snapped during the show. After it was re-strung, he chose to stick with the Washburn (respect!!). His firm fav remains to be his Warlock which, prior to the Singapore date, had seen a neck replacement.

On a personal note, I'm of the opinion that Blasphemer has a knack for individualism/ distinction; I was like four/ five persons back in the queue when he spotted my t-shirt & shouted that it was nice & wanted to know where I got it. I was taken aback actually, believing that I had somehow gotten myself into a merchandise piracy quagmire but it turned out to be otherwise. He was actually appreciative of the fact that I actually spent money to have the Wolf's Lair Abyss promo poster printed- effort reflects dedication; so I found out.

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.