Ahhh… Mayhem, one of the bands who got me into the underground so many years ago. Alas, like a good woman and bad sex Mayhem disappoints in so many ways. Mayhem has been around, maybe 12 years in some way or another and have released about 40 albums, tapes, and vinyls, on maybe 35 songs, this goes to show how powerful these guys are. Their power was definitely shown years back with the simply amazing De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, but unfortunately, the leader of the band Euronymous has been slain, Maniac is back in the band (this is never good), and Hellhammer has turned over a new life with Boy George in corpse paint, Nagash of Dimmu Borgir. This CD actually features very old members; Necrobutcher, who has been with the band off and on since the very beginning (although his time combined is not very much), Hellhammer, who has been one of the cornerstones of the band (and who now does all the interviews and pretty much controls the band) and the aforementioned Maniac, who is on my "I hate because they ruin good bands" list. The album opens up with a synth/noise type thing that is oh-so common these days, then breaks into the second song. Where this CD shines is the astounding drum work by Hellhammer. I had written him off honestly because of his work with such gay bands as Covenant but he can still pound the skins (I think the producer of this album knew this was true, simply because the drums are a bit higher in the mix than most bands would have). The guitars and bass are rather standard black metal speed, but where this CD fails is Maniac’s terrible vocals. Upon my first listen to the Deathcrush demo about 10 years ago, I said "This band is killer, but why the fuck did they put this loser in?". If you haven’t heard Maniac yet, just find a cat with a hair ball, and watch it cough it up, this is mostly what he sounds like. This album is great for black metal fans who need some new Mayhem material, but for those who are only mildly interested in the genre, stay away for nothing special is found.

Written By: Leif