Mayhem

[darthbards]

I have just watched a documentary on this band called Mayhem.
I'm not into metal at all but was told by a friend they were clearly the most bizarre band ever.
I gave their music a listen and didn't like it,can't really judge it though as its a mile off what I like,in fairness I was told I wouldn't like the music but to watch the doco anyways.
As for the documentary,bizarre only scratches the surface. Their band story is one ridiculous tale after the other. Shocking would be a fair description,even those not easily shocked. Surely nothing compares to these metal madmen.

Anyway,has anyone heard or have an opinion on these blokes,and does anyone actually like them?
How do they sit in the metal scene for those who dig that sort of thing?

 

[James Colorado]

Mayhem are one of my favourite bands, and are revered in the black metal scene, mostly for their earlier releases. They're one of the prime movers in the Norwegian faction of the second wave of black metal, and their classic lineup of Necrobutcher-Hellhammer-Euronymus-Dead only recorded a handful of songs in the studio, their infamy coming from their live perfomances (Live In Leipzig a recording of such), as well as the De Mysteriis album, which even though was recorded with a 50% different lineup, was composed and performed for years by the classic quartet; both this studio album and the aforementioned live recording are absolutely seminal releases in the scene.

Things changed once the band reformed after some of the more sordid aspects of their history had caused them to break up, and with the ever shifting lineup altered again, the new guitarist's compositions took the band in more of an avant garde direction. I do enjoy it, but nowhere near as much as the classic lineup's material (Wolf's Lair Abyss though is the standout from the avant garde era).

For someone who isn't passionate about this style of music, it can be hard to get past the inter-band murder, suicide, and Church arsons (the Dawn of the Black Hearts release has as its cover a rather graphic image of Dead's corpse post-suicide), but putting that to one side and focusing only on the music, there can be absolutely no denying their influence on black metal, nor their creative legacy in its own right.

 

[darthbards]

Mayhem are one of my favourite bands, and are revered in the black metal scene, mostly for their earlier releases. They're one of the prime movers in the Norwegian faction of the second wave of black metal, and their classic lineup of Necrobutcher-Hellhammer-Euronymus-Dead only recorded a handful of songs in the studio, their infamy coming from their live perfomances (Live In Leipzig a recording of such), as well as the De Mysteriis album, which even though was recorded with a 50% different lineup, was composed and performed for years by the classic quartet; both this studio album and the aforementioned live recording are absolutely seminal releases in the scene.

Things changed once the band reformed after some of the more sordid aspects of their history had caused them to break up, and with the ever shifting lineup altered again, the new guitarist's compositions took the band in more of an avant garde direction. I do enjoy it, but nowhere near as much as the classic lineup's material (Wolf's Lair Abyss though is the standout from the avant garde era).

For someone who isn't passionate about this style of music, it can be hard to get past the inter-band murder, suicide, and Church arsons (the Dawn of the Black Hearts release has as its cover a rather graphic image of Dead's corpse post-suicide), but putting that to one side and focusing only on the music, there can be absolutely no denying their influence on black metal, nor their creative legacy in its own right.

Cheers for the reply. Yes I've picked up a lot of what you have said via the documentary and some follow up Wikipedia reading,mainly to do with Euronomous,Dead and Count Grishnack.
Even though I'm not into the scene I can surprisingly get past the interband stuff but it's certainly shocking. Do you feel you like the band more because of this? Surely it has some effect one way or the other?
I feel in some ways I agree with Euronomous's political beliefs about the music and what it relates to and what is pure black metal and what isn't. Let me say though I made these observations having no interest in the beliefs or the music. I do feel however political type things and belief structures can cross over into many different areas and basically hold the same weight. I'm led to believe from my research that Euronomous was a big leader not just in the music but in the scene in general and was very much looked up to.
Just one last thing,could you share your thought 's on the band Burzum? Are they similar in style and sound to Mayhem. Are they equally revered in the black metal scene.

 

[James Colorado]

Cheers for the reply. Yes I've picked up a lot of what you have said via the documentary and some follow up Wikipedia reading,mainly to do with Euronomous,Dead and Count Grishnack.
Even though I'm not into the scene I can surprisingly get past the interband stuff but it's certainly shocking. Do you feel you like the band more because of this? Surely it has some effect one way or the other?
I feel in some ways I agree with Euronomous's political beliefs about the music and what it relates to and what is pure black metal and what isn't. Let me say though I made these observations having no interest in the beliefs or the music. I do feel however political type things and belief structures can cross over into many different areas and basically hold the same weight. I'm led to believe from my research that Euronomous was a big leader not just in the music but in the scene in general and was very much looked up to.
Just one last thing,could you share your thought 's on the band Burzum? Are they similar in style and sound to Mayhem. Are they equally revered in the black metal scene.

The sordid elements of their history are what piqued my interest when I first got into black metal; I was very much curious as to the sorts of personalities that created this music, and what gave rise to their infamy. I have only an academic interest in what passes for true black metal or not, as my personal beliefs are very much the opposite of, and in many cases despised by, many of the musicians whose work I enjoy and am passionate about. That to me is the key, it's simply the music, though in the case of this genre more than any other, the beliefs and opinions of its practitioners are so integral to the music that they are difficult to disentangle. Personally, I like to be challenged which is why my favourite genre of music is so tied up with attitudes that are the opposite of my own, or at least those of my idealised self.

Yes, Oystein Arseth was very much a leader in the early scene, but probably moreso of young black metal musicians in Oslo (one of their contemporaries, for example, was Immortal, who are from Bergen and forged their own path; their material sounds very different to Mayhem, though to someone who doesn't make a habit of listening to the genre, it's probably all cacophonous croaking). He ran a record store named after the Norwegian word for Hell, where visitors were supposed to be only able to browse by candlelight. This is where the "Inner Circle" met, and it's been speculated that a dispute over leadership of this group may have prompted Varg to kill him.

As for Varg's own work, Burzum are tied to the history of Mayhem for obvious reasons, with Euronymous also contributing to the early development of that project. Burzum has its own identity though, with the early releases defined by a very thin guitar tone, simplistic song structure and tortured vocal style, gradually becoming more experimental, and even slightly complex at times, culminating in the dark-ambient Viking-themed prison recordings.

Personally, I prefer Mayhem, but Burzum are also highly regarded, and with very good reason. To conclude this very round about way of answering your question, Live In Leipzig is in my desert island top 10, as its historical significance complements the quality of the material, the significance being the pathos of knowing after the fact what these young men did to themselves in pursuit of an ideal, and then what this led some of them to do to each other (taking this album as a fable for the scene itself).

 

[Dee Snider]

Mayhem are legendary. The suicide, murder and other activities of band members helped build the 'legend' but make no mistake about it - 'De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas' is probably the best black metal album ever released and Live in Leipzig an great live album.

Mayhem & Burzum were obviously contemporaries in the early Norwegian Black Metal scene (eg Varg actually played bass in Mayhem for a time before murdering Euronymous). I'd say Mayhem has 1 classic studio release (and a couple of awesome live albums) whereas Burzum would have 3 or 4 classic albums. But Burzum never played live (unless they have since Varg was released from prison??).

Question to the OP: did you google 'Dawn of the Black Hearts' album cover? I bet you did....

 

[darthbards]

Mayhem are legendary. The suicide, murder and other activities of band members helped build the 'legend' but make no mistake about it - 'De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas' is probably the best black metal album ever released and Live in Leipzig an great live album.

Mayhem & Burzum were obviously contemporaries in the early Norwegian Black Metal scene (eg Varg actually played bass in Mayhem for a time before murdering Euronymous). I'd say Mayhem has 1 classic studio release (and a couple of awesome live albums) whereas Burzum would have 3 or 4 classic albums. But Burzum never played live (unless they have since Varg was released from prison??).

Question to the OP: did you google 'Dawn of the Black Hearts' album cover? I bet you did....

Yes I certainly did Google the album cover,how couldn't I once hearing the tale.
This dead character also tripped me out.The makeup to look like death seems normal enough,but burying his clothes to smell like death,carrying dead birds in his pocket to get the smell of death. Sure sounds like a wacky dude. I heard he asked one of the bandmates once to bury him before a gig so he himself could smell and look a bit more deathly.

And yes,I'm sure I did read somewhere that Burzum have never played live. I was aware Varg played Bass for a time. I also believe Euronomous's parents asked for Vargs bass parts to be not included on one of their albums and the band agreed but then included it anyway. The reasoning was actually fair enough, as they said it captures the moment and time and tells a unique tale. They got the unique part right.

I wonder how well they investigated Deaths death. It certainly helped the band's popularity and Euronomous seemed very focused on the band's success but also his place in the whole seen. Deaths passing sounds like it occurred at a secluded house the band were using for rehearsals. I have also heard Euronomous had a good feeling dead was going to kill himself though and was leaving him some opportunities. Apparently he fiddled with the crime scene to get the best photos possible. That sounds terrible enough until you dig deeper and learn about him making jewellery out of the skull fragments that he then gave to those he considered worthy. Never heard much about an investigation so I can only assume all was above board. I certainly don't need to assume to carefully with these apparent legends of black metal.
They certainly got the band's name right.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and love of the band to mate.

 

[Schauermann]

Good stuff.Mayhem and Burzum are in my top 10 bands as well.

 

[dumb]

a fan of their classic stuff and have not taken an interest in what they've put out in the last 20 years. not sure if this is the documentary you're talking about, last watched it some time ago.



or if this bit covering dead is part of that one.




dead was plainly disturbed, but i have a kind of respect for the commitment to his craft (whatever that was)

 

[darthbards]

a fan of their classic stuff and have not taken an interest in what they've put out in the last 20 years. not sure if this is the documentary you're talking about, last watched it some time ago.



or if this bit covering dead is part of that one.




dead was plainly disturbed, but i have a kind of respect for the commitment to his craft (whatever that was)

Yes,this was the documentary I originally watched. I thought it was excellent and a reasonable introduction for those unfamiliar with the band like myself.
I would actually recommend it to all music fans no matter what type of music you are into. I've heard of some crazy bands but nothing comes close to these guys.

 

[_VXV]

Yes,this was the documentary I originally watched. I thought it was excellent and a reasonable introduction for those unfamiliar with the band like myself.
I would actually recommend it to all music fans no matter what type of music you are into. I've heard of some crazy bands but nothing comes close to these guys.

If you are interested in what Varg is up to these days check his YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/ThuleanPerspective
I'll let you look if you like & make up your own mind.

There was supposed to be a movie based on the prementioned events, Lords Of Chaos, which in turn is based on the book of the same name. We'll all lambast it but surely all watch it.

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Fun fact: Tim May's autobiography was called Mayhem