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Loucifer · Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 6:26 am Post subject: Mayhem Biography

Again, taken from Wikipedia...

Mayhem (also known as The True Mayhem) is a seminal black metal band formed in 1983, based in Oslo, Norway. The name "Mayhem" was derived from the title of a Venom song, "Mayhem With Mercy". Much controversy has followed the various murders, suicides and other forms of violence that have surrounded the band since its inception.

Over time Mayhem has evolved through a variety of black metal styles, delving at times into areas of dark avant-garde industrial and electronica. Highly influential, the group (especially in its 'classic' incarnation: 1991-1993) is widely considered to be one of the cornerstones of the black metal movement

Biography
Early Years (1983-1990)
Mayhem was founded in 1983 by guitarist / vocalist Euronymous (Øystein Aarseth - then 'Destructor'), bassist Necrobutcher (Jørn Stubberud) and drummer Manheim (Kjetil Manheim). Euronymous concentrated solely on guitar following the hiring of vocalist Messiah (Eirik Nordheim) in 1986. After a short period Maniac (Sven Erik Kristiansen) replaced Messiah and the band went on to make, following two previous demos, their third recording and first EP Deathcrush, with Euronymous's newly formed label 'Posercorpse Music'.

By this time, Mayhem's sound had developed from their initial death / speed metal influences to arrive at a sound more distinctive, dark and unique. Though maintaining the usual death metal obsessions in gore and violence, a more sinister, nihilistic preoccupation both religion and paganism had emerged, taking influence from Norse mythology and Satanism (though Euronymous disagreed with much of Aleister Crowley and Anton LaVey's teachings).

An initial release of 1,000 copies of 3rd demo Deathcrush quickly sold out and was later successfully repressed in 1993 by the Posercorspe Music label, since having been renamed Deathlike Silence Productions as a joint venture with Øystein's Oslo specialist record shop Helvete. Øystein's plans for this new outlet included that it was to be "...like a black church in the future. We've thought about having total darkness inside, so that people would have to carry torches to be able to see the records."

By the summer of 1988 both Manheim and Maniac had left the band; Manheim, tired of 'the life', to get a 'real' job, Maniac, following a failed suicide attempt and confinement in a mental institution. After two brief replacements, their positions were filled by Swede Dead (Per Yngve Ohlin, previously of Morbid), and scene drummer Hellhammer (Jan Axel Blomberg).

Dead, as suggested by his stage name, was melancholic by nature and fascinated by death, decay, and darkness. He left even Euronymous expressing concern for his mental stability, though despite this he was well liked on the scene, though regarded as a little naïve.

According to Bard Eithun "He (Dead) wasn't a guy you could know very well. I think even the other guys in Mayhem didn't know him very well. He was hard to get close to. I met him two weeks before he died. I'd met him maybe six to eight times, all in all. He had lots of weird ideas. I remember Aarseth was talking about him and said he did not have any humour. He did, but it was very obscure. Honestly, I don't think he was enjoying living in this world." [1]

Dead had, over time, carefully cultivated a notoriety for strange behavior; once buring a set of clothes underground for weeks so that he could later wear the decaying rags onstage. He had kept a rotting raven in a plastic bag so better to "inhale the scent of death" before going on stage. Such morbid fascinations and antics further developed Mayhem's progressing musical atmosphere, and by this point the band's lyrics had moved increasingly toward Satanism, darkness, depression and evil. A focal point of gigs at this time was the planting of pigs heads on stakes, center stage.

The new lineup with Dead and Euronymous was quickly to become the band's most notorious. After some live gigs in Norway and Germany (where Live in Leipzig was recorded), Mayhem started working on their first full length album: De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (Lord Satan's Secret Rites), though by the time of its eventual release the two cornerstone members would be dead.

Classic Line-up (1991-1993)

By April 1991, Dead was dead, aged 22, having suffered a self-administered shotgun wound to the head and several lacerations on the wrists, inflicted by a hunting knife he had bought that day. He killed himself in the basement of Euronymous' record shop. He left a note saying "Excuse all the blood" Euronymous told Necrobutcher that it was the only decent thing Dead had done for the band, and took photos of Deads corpse. There are rumours that Dead's brain was made into soup.

According to Stian Johannsen, who briefly took position as vocalist after Dead's suicide:

"He (Dead) didn't see himself as human; he saw himself as a creature from another world. He said he had many visions that his blood has frozen in his veins, that he was dead. That is the reason he took that name. He knew he would die..[2]."

The ammo used had been sent to him by Bergen, Norway musician Kristian Vikernes (aka Varg Vikernes, Count Grishnackh; ex Old Funeral, sole member of black metal band Burzum, later convicted murderer of Euronymous). Euronymous took a number of polaroids at the scene, some of which later appeared in the booklet of the subsequent Mayhem bootleg Dawn of the Black Hearts. Euronymous was particularly cold and opportunistic about Dead's suicide; in interviews he claimed, speciously, that Dead had killed himself due to the rising popularity of death metal, the American movement Black Metal had risen against. He also claimed to have collected and forged fragments of Dead's skull into necklaces, sending pieces to those he felt 'worthy'.

In 1993 Live in Leipzig was released as the band's tribute to Dead. The release was followed by the acclaimed bootleg Dawn Of The Black Hearts, though against Euronymous's wishes, the release having being driven by the bands label. Following police and media attention Necrobutcher left Mayhem, thinning the band's ranks down to two.

Later that year, the recording of Mayhem's upcoming album, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas resumed. In Dead's and Necrobutcher's absences, Attila Csihar handled vocals, with Vikernes on bass.

Due to adverse media and police attention, Euronymous was forced around this time to close his scene focal point record shop Helvete. By this stage he owed Vikernes 30.000 NOK (for album sales and related costs), which he was refusing to pay back, a fact argued over publicly on several occasions.

On the morning of August 10th 1993, Vikernes traveled, along with 21 year old Blackthorn (Snorre Westvold, of the band Thorns), the seven hours between Bergen to Euronymous's apartment in Oslo. They created alibis, en route, by getting friends to rent a video locally in their names. Upon arrival, Vikernes fatally stabbed Euronymous with a knife. The autopsy revealed that Euronymous suffered twenty-three stab wounds: two to the head, five to the neck, and sixteen to the back. However, Vikernes claims that Euronymous fell onto pieces of broken glass from a lamp shade broken in the ruckus, which he says, attributed to the multiple puncture wounds.

"(He died on) the first floor. I chased him and he fell down in the glass fragments, and I ran past him. I turned around to face him again. He was standing and the other guy came running up. I didn't know whether he was going to attack me too; he was Øystein's best friend. He was with me accidentally. I thought he might attack me because he was Øystein's best friend, I was waiting for it. Øystein got up and the other guy just ran past. Then everything was clear to me. Øystein came against me and I attacked him, quite simply. I got his chest and then I pounded his skull. He just sat down, dying momentarily" Varg Vikernes[3].

"I thought it was just some lunatic who was living in Oslo, or some drug people had killed him for some stupid reason. I didn't have any reason to suspect anyone, because the people in Sweden I didn't think were capable of doing anything like this" 'Metalion' 1992
Though initial suspicion pointed towards members of the Swedish scene, Grishnackh had left key pieces of evidence, including a blood stained copy of a recording contract (used as the pretense for his visit to Euronymous). Within days Grishnackh was apprehended by police and charged with the murder. He has continued to record for his one-man project Burzum while in prison. With only Hellhammer remaining, Mayhem effectively ceased to exist.

Later Years (1994-present)

In 1994, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas was released and formally dedicated to Euronymous. Its release had been delayed due to complaints filed by Euronymous' family, who had objected to the presence of bass parts played by Grishnackh. Contrary to contemporary reports these were not re-recorded by Hellhammer and appear unblemished.

By late 1995 Hellhammer had decided to reform the band with the help of new guitarist Blasphemer (Rune Erickson) and two previous Mayhem members - Maniac and Necrobutcher. The first release of this new lineup was a 1997 EP titled Wolf's Lair Abyss, and was followed by a some live European shows. One of these took place in Milan, Italy, guest starring Attila Csihar, and was recorded for the Mediolanum Capta Est live album of that year.

In 2000 the band's second full-length CD, Grand Declaration of War was released. Strongly influenced by progressive and avant-garde metal, the album was concept-based, dealing with themes of war and post-apocalyptic destruction. Maniac largely abandoned the traditional black metal rasp for dramatic spoken-word monologue, with most of the songs sequencing seamlessly into one another. Some criticised the album as avant-garde and electronic, while others saw it as a laudable attempt to recreate and redefine black metal (critic Brian Russ called it "really the first cohesive work the band has ever done" and "a fitting culmination to their career thus far"). In retrospect, the electronic elements of the album were often heavily overstated by its detractors, appearing notably in only a single track, "A Bloodsword and a Colder Sun (Part II of II),".

After a four year silence, Mayhem released a new album in 2004 titled Chimera. It showed a return to the earlier raw and brutal style, but with considerably better production values than earlier releases. Chimera still maintained a progressive edge, perhaps due to the increasing input of Blasphemer. In 2004, Maniac was forced out of the band; Stage fright had lead to both a dependence on alcohol and a reluctance to tour. This frustrated his bandmates and it is rumored that Necrobutcher signaled his departure from Mayhem by kicking him down a flight of stairs after he (Maniac) had gotten drunk before a gig and was unable to remember the lyrics. At this point Attila Csihar was reinstated as vocalist. The band is currently in the process of recording a new album, titled Ordo Ab Chao, scheduled for release sometime in 2006. As of May the 4th Mayhem is signed to "Seasons of Mist" records, a French label known for other quality Black Metal acts. As of current no release date has been announced, though "upcoming" should be hinting at a summer/fall release.

Discography

Albums/EPs
Deathcrush [EP] - (1987)
De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas - (1994)
Wolf's Lair Abyss [EP] - (1997)
Grand Declaration of War - (2000)
Chimera - (2004)

Live and compilation releases
Live in Leipzig [Live] - (1993)
Out From The Dark [Compilation] - (1996)
Ancient Skin / Necrolust [Compilation] - (1997)
Necrolust / Total Warfare [Split CD] - (1999)
Mediolanum Capta Est [Live] - (1999)
European Legions [Compilation] - (2001)
U.S. Legions [Compilation] - (2001)
Live In Marseille 2000 [Live] - (2001)
Freezing Moon / Jihad [Split CD] - (2002)
The Studio Experience [Box Set] - (2002)
Legions of War [Compilation] - (2003)

Demos and bootlegs
Voice of a Tortured Skull [Demo] - (1986)
Pure Fucking Armageddon [Demo] - (1986)
Live Zeitz [Bootleg] - (1990)
Dawn of the Black Hearts [Bootleg] - (1991)
Includes the legendary performance in Sarpsborg in 1990 with Dead, as well as Mayhem's first ever live performance in Lillehammer in 1986. The cover is one of the photos of Dead's suicide taken by Euronymous.
From The Darkest Past [Bootleg] - (1993)
An instrumental rehearsal from the De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas period, including most of the tracks from said album.
A Tribute To The Black Emperors [Bootleg - Split w/Morbid] - (1994)
Includes the December Moon demo of Dead's previous band, Morbid, released in 1987. It also features a compilation of Mayhem tracks: "Necrolust" from Deathcrush, "Funeral Fog" from Live in Leipzig, and "The Freezing Moon" and "Carnage," from the Projections of a Stained Mind compilation released on CBR in 1991. The tracks from the Projections of a Stained Mind compilation are the only two studio songs Mayhem ever recorded with Dead on vocals.
In Memorium [Bootleg] - (1996)
Includes a 1991 rehearsal featuring the "classic" lineup of Euronymous, Dead, Necrobutcher, and Hellhammer, an instrumental rehearsal from 1992 featuring Varg Vikernes on bass, and a rehearsal from 1991, after Dead's suicide, featuring the short-lived member Stian Occultus on bass and vocals.

Videography
Live In Bischofswerda [VHS] - (1998)
European Legions: Live In Marseille 2000 [VHS & DVD] - (2001)
Appearance in Metal: A Headbanger's Journey (2005)
Appearance in BBC One World series - Episode Name: 'Death Metal Murders' 2005

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Ed Nephwrack · Newbie Joined: 15 Aug 2006 Posts: 25

MAYHEM!

The ultimate Black Metal band. Indeed, it was the late, and thoroughly fucking great, Euronymous who popularised the term, and even persuaded bands like Emperor & Immortal to play black metal in the first place (both began as death acts). De Mysteris Dom Sathanas is, and shall forever be, the ultimate black metal record, thirteen years later it still destroys, and is even more relevant in an age where even black metal itself has become a sanitised, glossy product.

The Mayhem that exists today is still a PHENOMENAL band, don't get me wrong, one of the few black metal acts who still push boundaries, but for me, the true Mayhem died with Euro.
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Loucifer · Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 9:05 am Post subject:

Ed Nephwrack · Newbie Joined: 15 Aug 2006 Posts: 25

With post-Euro Mayhem, I'd start with A Grand Declaration of War - superb hyper-speed technical black metal, with some curveballs too in the form of some more straight-forward progressive rock/metal & some brooding electronica. Just a great concept album to listen to start to finish.
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Loucifer · Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 9:16 am Post subject:

Thanks Ed... *adds to "To Buy" list*

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