Mayhem - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (Deathlike Silence Productions/Century Black/1994)
This by far will remain (in my opinion) the first full-length and best
Mayhem output to date. The production sound with all of the
instruments
have such an evil/Satanic vibe to the overall sound of this
masterpiece.
There is such an enormous history with Mayhem and several line-up
changes
because of suicide, murder, and Melancholia associated with the band
members. I won't touch on the full history here I merely wish to speak
merely in terms of the album and why I like many others consider this
release to be a masterpiece which influenced so many Black Metal
outfits.
Beginning this onslaught is the up-tempo guitar output by Euronymous,
Varg
(whose bass tracks were mixed in lower than the original sound because
of
his murdering of Euronymous) and Hellhammer dishing out some fast-paced
drum
bits. I think Euronymous did make a good choice on who did vocals for
this
album which was Attila from Holland. His vocals are like no others and
tremendously eerie. Of course most Mayhem fans praised "Dead" as the
best
Mayhem vocalist I'd say that Attila does a good job making the record
sound
more demonic/Satanic in tone.
Dead wrote the lyrics to this release however the band made the album a
tribute to Euronymous and his passing back in 1994. For further
information
about the band check out http://www.mayhem.ontheweb.nl/ which is their
official site or the book "Lords Of Chaos" has a new edition out on
paperback.
Every track on this release is absolutely masterminded as the tempo
changes,
the vocals and drums don't just fit well altogether they fit like no
other
Black Metal release I've heard. Although the lead guitar isn't the
greatest
it still meshes well into the song's rhythm guitar output. 8 tracks of
pure
Norwegian Satanic Black Metal is what you get here.
Even though Euronymous played on a Les Paul he had a pedal which
brought the
sound to having a purely distorted tone to it. I really like the tempo
changes there are boughts of intensity lurking among most tracks
variation,
precision, and talent is entirely evident even though the production
sound
of the guitar is a bit muddled though you can still make out the riffs
and
bass. Attila's vocals are entirely undecipherable unless you read the
lyrics to this. They are very well thought out, dark and mysterious
but
that is what others thought of "Dead" was. Not to mention that his
severe
Melancholia killed him he still was able to write 8 awesome songs to
accompany the music to this.
I personally like the intro track "Funeral Fog" it has much riff
variety to
it but overall it's pretty fast/up-tempo especially the drum parts
Hellhammer completely dominates! But also check out "Pagan Fears".
Each
track is lengthy and anything but boring. These songs deserve utmost
praise
to them!
Rating: 10/10.
Line-up :
Attila Csihar - Vocals
Hellhammer - Drums
Varg Vikernes - Bass
Euronymous - Guitar
Track Listing:
1. Funeral Fog
2. Freezing Moon
3. Cursed in Eternity
4. Pagan Fears
5. Life Eternal
6. From the Dark Past
7. Buried by Time and Dust
8. De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
Length 46:01