For the sake of order, it should be added that superlatives are usually also directed at the album preceding the first album (“De Mysteriis House Sathanas”) concert songs “Live in Leipzig” and EPs “Deathcrush”. The rest got stuck in their shadow, on the one hand taking hits for trying too hard to imitate the materials that have been the benchmark for all black metal since the early 1990s, and on the other for straying too far from them.
Trip-hop beat w “A Bloodsword and a Colder Sun” and Maniac monologues all over “Grand Declaration of War” from 2000 enraged those who expected a sequel faithful to the debut. Four years later, the band recorded a song that stuck more closely to its metal roots “Chimera”but this time he was criticized for moving away from the raw sound and too high production quality. On “Ordo ad chao” from 2007 – together with the singer Attila Csihar – so the thick, “muddy” sound returned, but then no one wanted to listen to these chthonic fumes…
After a seven-year break, on release “Esoteric Warfare”the biggest criticism was the lack of Blasphemer in the lineup, the main composer of previous materials, and – hard to dispute – monotony and lyrics whose authorship could be suspected of Sheldon Cooper from “The Big Bang Theory”. “Daemon” from 2019 received significantly higher marks due to its “return to the roots”, but there were also voices that Mayhem preyed on nostalgia, had nothing new to say, and in addition lost its unique character due to modern production.
After all these attempts, various and spanning many years, there can only be one diagnosis – this perfect, dream black metal monument, for which so many people have been waiting for years, will never be built. Mayhem will not meet the high, vague expectations and will not record a second “De Mysteriis…”. However, if you forget about them, the band’s discography will turn out to be much more interesting, a “Liturgy of Death” will be one of its strongest points.
You don’t have to wait for strong arguments – opening “Ephemeral Eternity” is one of the group’s best achievements. You can hear guest appearances there Garmawho no longer appears under this pseudonym. The leader of Ulver signs his name today, Kristoffer Ryggbut it is not a symbolic return to the past under the sign of the angry “Bergtatt: Et eeventyr i 5 capitler”. Although he did not use a synthesizer, currently his favorite working tool, the supporting vocals add a bit of subtlety to the late face of his band.
Csihar however, it was by no means overshadowed. He shines at the front, where the predictable lyrics (“Everything is emptiness, death reigns supreme”), with one verse sung in native Hungarian, serve more or less the same purpose as the strings on a guitar. What is more important is not what, but how. Slowly drawled, hoarsely spoken, sometimes even theatrically sung lines with drawn-out last syllables make a stunning impression. On the one hand, the voice is so absorbing that it never gets lost under the cannonade of blast beats and the noise of riffs maintained at quite a fast tempo in the most intense moments, on the other hand, the instrumentalists also do not allow themselves to be pushed into the position of extras.
A drummer with ornaments Hellhammer At most, it allows itself to hit the ride from time to time, but once it reaches the highest speed, it rumbles with an almost superhuman speed, constantly making sudden transitions on the toms. At the end there is a fragment with a bit of groove, but it does not bring any respite. Bass Necrobutcher it’s generally thoroughly blended into this rhythm, but it has its moment in the momentary dilution of the aura just before the fourth minute. Guitars can take up more space Ghoul and Telocha. Apart from the melodic tremolo picking typical of the genre, which takes over the entire acoustic space, they occasionally step aside and add single accents. Every element is in its place, and from the mutual interaction of musicians, a band emerges that, despite its average age exceeding fifty, is in exceptionally good shape. Fortunately, this isn’t a trap – the remaining forty minutes are as good as the intro.
There are a lot of non-obvious moments. A surprising turnaround after a pause in “Realm of Endless Misery”when Mayhem starts to sound like the illegitimate child of Siksa and Truchło Strzyga, born after a memorable joint tour in 2022. Also using almost exclusively voice and bass (with the addition of snare), but clearly more demonic. A religious choir reminiscent of Reverorum ib Malacht (or Batushka) and a short guitar solo immediately following it, but well set in the mood of the song. “Aeon’s End”. An instantly memorable riff from “Propitious Death”. Tribal ending “The Sentence of Absolution” resembling Sepultura of the “Roots” period rather than the most recognizable band of Scandinavian black metal.
These are interesting tidbits that shouldn’t scare off conservative listeners in the same way as that infamous trip-hop beat from years ago. There are also moments that directly evoke the atmosphere of “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas” (especially “Funeral of Existence”), so maybe it worked this time and everyone will be happy? Probably not, because someone will say that it’s not bold enough, too generic, too technical or not enough. There will definitely be someone who will be disturbed by the glass on the cover, because it looks too much like one of Ikea’s flagship products. This is the fate of Mayhem – it is always too some. Even when he releases such a successful album.
Mayhem “Liturgy of Death”, Century Media