A diamond in the rough.... from my vinyl vault: Mayhem's, "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas"

Mayhem's, "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas"

I picked up this incredible reissue of Mayhem's debut black metal classic today at Skinnie's Records. It was re-released a little while back by Back On Black records in 2013 on 180 gram and on a limited 500 copy press of purple splatter vinyl.

This album came third in line after Burzum's first two albums and Darkthrone's first three albums; and the Mayhem debut along with these albums are the three quintessential bands that created the second-wave black metal sound that would spawn countless of other bands to follow in their footsteps and make it known beyond the borders of Norway and as a new subgenre of its own.

Mayhem have always had lots of controversy surrounding them with the suicide of their original vocalist Per Yngve Ohlin (better known by his stage name, "Dead") and the murder of Øystein Aarseth (a.k.a, "Euronymous) by Mayhem's own Varg Vikernes, whom is also the one-man band behind the Burzum moniker. However, plenty of media coverage/silly hype and documentation is rather over-saturated on this angle. This review, and the reason for my personal interest in the group is strictly for musical purposes only and for its historical importance within the context of heavy metal.

Back of, "De Mysteriis Dom Sathans"

There are a lot of interesting things happening musically around the creation of this album, and there was virtually almost nothing else quite like it with the main exceptions of Burzum and Darkthrone (of course some first wave black metal such as Bathory also applies-- the bottom line is that its a very short list of a small handful of groups mostly in Norway all contributing to an entirely new extreme form of metal).

Key characteristics of the album and of Mayhem's early sound are part of what made this album and the early era of the second wave of black metal so unique. Hellhammer's drumming is arguably totally the most impressive display of talent up to this point within the genres early releases; effortlessly blastbeating away, excellent tom rolls, with pummeling double bass on the kick drum. The fuzzed-out guitar effects created the icy distortion the genre is so known for-- the tonality of it was so distinct and different from the classic death metal tones of the time, particularly from that of the Swedish death metal scene. Tremolo picking pulls and breaks apart minor chord progressions, along with thrashy pulverizing riffs, coupled with melodic chunky bass lines. Varg Vikernes (though not a permanent member of Mayhem's lineup) did fill in to play bass on the album, the bass lines are well executed-- but its the drumming and the guitar work that takes the spotlight on this record. I would argue the most addicting track is the legendary, "Freezing Moon"-- the song showcases an incredible riff and a sense of memorability to it, while also displaying all the trademark characteristics of the bands sound.

Attila Csihar took over vocal duties after their original vocalist Dead shot himself. There are recordings of demos and live concerts with Dead--- but this was the groups first studio/official LP recording, and Attila took over after Dead's suicide. His style is unique to the genre at the time-- he intentionally did very strange moans and deep eerie chant-like voices, he sets a very haunting atmosphere appropriate for Mayhem, and his performance matches the music well. 

Reissued on purple splatter colored vinyl.

Originally released on Euronymous's Deathlike Silence label, the record has now been re-released a total of 31 times on various formats. An original copy of the first LP pressing (cataloged as Anti-Mosh 006) has up to date sold at the highest at $453.14 on Discogs (too rich for my blood-- I will just enjoy this reissue!). So the reissue of this historically important and also timeless classic of the Norwegian black metal scene is now affordable and a neat addition into the collection of diehard metal fans. I imagine it will only be a short time before it gets reissued time and time again, as a record so ahead of its time is bound to have people looking back and listening to it over and over; as black metal continues to evolve, and even the newest and most groundbreaking bands within the genre carrying the torch today are undeniably influenced by Mayhem.