r/Mayhem

..."There was a lot of crap actually,” recalls Blasphemer. “I think Hellhammer got more shit than me. I mean, it was not like I forced my way into the band—I was asked and I accepted. I remember a couple of times when we were out he would end up in discussions, kind of defending why he did this [restart Mayhem]. People were not that convinced and were certain that we would do this to go out and earn as much cash as possible. But with time it sort of bounced off because we did nothing. I mean, I joined in October ’94 and we did not play until ’97, we were just rehearsing all the time.”

“We got no support at all basically,” confirms Necrobutcher. “Nobody was excited. People asked how we could go on in Mayhem without Euronymous. A lot of people said that in the beginning. We felt that the only way to shut their face was to release good shit… That’s why we rehearsed for four years.”

Featuring four songs—“I Am Thy Labyrinth,” “Fall of Seraphs,” “Ancient Skin,” and “Symbols of Bloodswords”—along with an electronic intro track, the opus remains one of the band’s most intense recordings. Frequently high-paced, it is a mass of distorted bass, searing guitars, and blisteringly fast but detailed percussion, all topped off by the inhuman screams of Maniac. Retaining the single-minded and often linear fury of De Mysteriis, the EP is nonetheless more technical and calculated, with unusually complicated drum patterns and guitar work breaking up the furious assaults.

“When you rehearse old songs as often as we did in those early years you begin to understand the patterns,” reflects Blasphemer, “and I think subconsciously I wanted to have some of the similarities from [De Mysteriis]. But at the same time it has this weirdness, the weird timings, ’cos I was always into that technical side. It was a combination of what I did and the older Mayhem stuff.”

“It was clearly aggressive people playing aggressive music,” comments Necrobutcher. “Negativity, drinking a lot… a bunch of pissed-off guys you know? Hellhammer was the only one who had a job—he was working as night guard so it didn’t collide with the rehearsals—so we were poor, piss-poor ’cos we didn’t do anything else but the band.”

Source: Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult, Dayal Patterson.

My passion and obsession for my beloved. My vampire, we were made for each other. I love him so much. No one, no girl, will ever be able to reach the level of love I feel for this vampire, my beloved, my husband, my boyfriend, my fiancé. I love him with all my heart. Pelle loves me and I love him. Yes, I tattooed "(Pelle loves me)" on my thigh because he truly loves me. I would say we are two soulmates, yes, or definitely! I am his vampire and he is my vampire. I want to join him...🪦💍 And another thing: I don't care who says my love for Pelle is scary. And another thing, I've already cut out Pelle's name in several places. And I want to make it clear that no girl, not a single one, will have the love I feel for Pelle Ohlin! I'm making this perfectly clear because we were made for each other (if anyone says otherwise, it's because they're jealous, and I'll kill anyone who says they love my Pelle more than I do (impossible) hahaha)

Pelle is my soulmate! 💍🪦 Pelle, my boyfriend

Pelle, my husband

If you were shocked, it's because you all've never seen me being truly obsessed and possessive, and remember, I don't want help from anyone. Pelle is mine, period. Understand that once and for all. I'm the one who loves him more.

(Forever pelle)

"...Infamously, Euronymous considered eating parts of Dead’s brain, but claimed that he changed his mind due to its condition. As he stated in The Sepulchral Voice zine, “I have never tried human flesh. We were going to try it when Dead died but he had been lying a little too long.” Instead he and Hellhammer fashioned fragments of Dead’s skull into necklaces, with further pieces sent to other friends and contacts of the band, including Morgan of Marduk and Christophe “Masmiseim” Mermod of Samael. More controversially, the pair developed the images of Dead’s body that had been taken by Euronymous, who openly planned to use these for Mayhem artwork. “I must add that it was interesting to be able to study (half) a human brain and rigor mortis,” he explained in one letter. “The pictures will be used on the Mayhem album.”

“I think the way people took it was absolutely wrong,” recalls Metalion. “No one really had an idea what was going on, so it was hard for people to deal with this in a proper way. [There was] a lot of stupid stuff, like Euronymous and Hellhammer wearing those necklaces of his brain. I think that people put on a tough mask and really went with the black metal lifestyle.”

“It’s like the whole black metal scene was traumatized with Mayhem and Dead and all that,” considers Snorre Ruch, the pioneering founder of Stigma Diabolicum/Thorns who also became the second guitarist in Mayhem. “There were a lot of unfortunate things happening to a group of people who were already on the sideline. Øystein was a key figure in the scene [and] he handled it by sending skull fragments to his friends. I received a skull fragment with a letter saying, ‘Now Dead has gone home,’ writing it like it’s something positive, something to take advantage of and he was trying to sell the story to the tabloid press, it was really dragging him down I think.”

The disrespect Euronymous showed toward Dead proved to be the final straw for Necrobutcher, who cut all ties with the guitarist. “First of all I grieved like hell ’cos I loved the guy, he was my brother, one of my best friends. But the reaction from Øystein was not treating him like a friend, but as a piece of shit. He wanted to portray him as a crap idiot motherfucker. Didn’t want to go to the funeral, wanted to exploit the photos, all shit like that, so we were very divided in that way. Dead wasn’t just a fucking idiot, he was a really good friend, a really good guy, a lot of people loved him, so it devastated a lot of people. Pelle’s brother called me recently for the first time—he had plucked up the courage to call me eighteen years later—and the whole family is still completely traumatized.”

Euronymous arguably did represent Dead in a particularly cynical and callous manner, treating his death as a sort of statement of intent against the rest of the metal scene, and one that appeared to fit in and promote Euronymous’ own ideals. He even told The Sepulchral Voice, “When Dead blew his brains off it was the greatest act of promotion he ever did for us… It’s always great when someone dies—it doesn’t matter who.”

Source: Dayal Patterson, Black Metal: The Evolution of the Cult.

"...Corpsepaint we invented,” Necrobutcher states unequivocally. “That term, Dead actually came up with that from the days when he was in Morbid. The name corpsepaint was never used by the bands who used paint like Celtic Frost, King Diamond, Alice Cooper, Kiss or any other bands that used this sort of makeup. They weren’t painting themselves to look like they were dead, just to look evil or cool. With corpsepaint today, I don’t see any corpse … it’s to look cool or evil … [With Dead] it wasn’t like dark, it was green, decomposition colors, snot coming from the nose…” 

“I was in the studio when Dead recorded his only studio vocals for Mayhem and I will never forget it,” recalls Maniac. “His dedication was something that was very hard to come by even then, let alone these days. I had to hold a bag of dead crows for him when he was singing so he could sniff it for the right atmosphere. These crows had been in the ground for quite some time when he dug them up. His voice was really of another world. Those two are still my favorite Mayhem tracks.”

While it’s still hard to say if Pelle felt the need to live up to the “Dead” character, or whether the band gave him an outlet for his extreme tendencies, it does appear that his unbalanced outlook helped shape the direction Mayhem was taking, with the extremity of his behavior certainly appreciated by the rest of the band. 

“Weird is not the right word,” Euronymous explained in an interview with Morbid zine. “I honestly think DEAD is mentally insane. (He knows I am writing this!) Which other way can you describe a guy who does not eat in order to get [a] starving wound? Or have a T-shirt with funeral announcements on it? I’ve always wanted to have a guy like that in the band.” 

Thanks largely to Dead and Euronymous, who appear to have spurred each other on, the humor apparent in the band’s early days was quickly disappearing, and the tongue-in-cheek approach to over-the-top gore subjects was replaced by a more straight-faced exploration of evil and Satanism, along with more nihilistic offerings."

Source: Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult, Dayal Patterson. 

Thought it would fit to this subreddit cause he was definitely involved in the evolution of MayheM and it's also quite historical in black metal. You can even see the date on the calender, so it probably is the easiest photo to backtrace its date

"...The shop did indeed attract a lot of new fans, many of whom looked up to Euronymous. Respect undoubtedly crossed over into idolization for some who, having not known him in earlier, less “evil” times, had something of a one-sided impression. With his old friends Manheim and Necrobutcher gone, Euronymous was able to preach an increasingly extreme and rigid manifesto and present himself as he wished to be seen, free of the constraints older contacts might have placed on him.

“There would be many kids, and I think Euronymous loved it too,” recalls Apollyon, “lots of followers who would do anything for him. There were lots of bands and guys who brought their lunchboxes just to sit there all day and be with Euronymous.”

Says Necrobutcher, “When I was out of the picture nobody knew who he was. So he could put on this fake thing. Put on this robe, paint his face white and say stuff that had no truth in it.” Manheim agrees: “When you are close with people that have been living with you for many years and know what you really are, you just can’t try to be something you are not—” Necrobutcher interjects: “—’cos your mates would immediately pick up on it and say, ‘What the fuck are you saying?’” “Right,” says Manheim, “you will be exposed. But at the time when Euronymous was very extreme we still had a lot of contact. He could call me, we were talking about music, and all kinds of things, he was normal. The day after he could give you a call and he’d have friends over at Helvete and he’d be talking about burning churches like a different person. He’d be playing a role and he could do that, as there was nobody to correct him.”

“He was trying to convince himself and people around him that he was purest evil and Satanic and all that shit,” says Snorre Ruch. “I don’t know how many people fell for it, but the media liked it.”

Outwardly, and most noticeably in interviews, Euronymous continued to propagate an extremely evil image, becoming increasingly cold and heartless in his statements. “I have no friends, just the guys I’m allied with, if my girlfriend dies I won’t cry, I will misuse the corpse,” he told Norwegian publication Beat. When asked about the humorous elements within Deathcrush, he explained, “That was then. Now we mean partying is bad. It’s better to sit and cut yourself, than to go out and have fun… It’s many years since I managed to feel love. This is just the way it is. This is a main concept.”

Source: Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult, Dayal Patterson.

So i sewed this patch on my pants, but after i did it came to my attention that it includes a eagle that looks like the Nazi eagle, it has the Hirden logo and totenkopf

You have written all the lyrics for the new album. What kind of mood do you have to be in to write lyrics for a MAYHEM album?

Attila: It's like a trance-like mood, or I don't know what's the word for it, when I have my channels open … I can't write it like, for instance, this beautiful morning. It's not like I have a list of topics and I pick one of these, this is going to work. No, it's more like I got this vision, and I had this thing just manifesting, which is crazy. When I realized it's so profound, it's so deep-meaning, I just realized it's such a big challenge, and I was thinking I'm 55 now, maybe I'm grown up enough to deal with that. This just came to me, and I realized how deep it is, and then I just started to make scratches, and when I feel the inspiration, sometimes I just sit down and write it quickly, and then I come back to this later. I have a lot of notes. I try to get the right inspiration at the right time. It cannot be just at any time. But of course, I have to also push myself a little bit into it. It's kind of half work, half trance-like state. I enjoy it, actually. I mostly enjoy playing live, but composing, writing is also good.

It's not a secret that you're a huge fan of cannabis as well, so are drugs something that help you to get into that trance-like mood, or do you prefer to stay sober when working on lyrics, for example?

Attila: That's true, I love cannabis, but I don't know how it came… I am currently straight edge now. (laughs) I stopped doing it. We'll see how long it takes. I think it comes with my age maybe, but I think when I wrote the lyrics, probably I smoked a little bit here or there, but it's not a crucial thing. It's not about that. Actually, I think it's better when I'm clean. But sometimes inspirations come under the effect of cannabis.It's OK, you know. But I don't like to get high and then work. It's actually the other way around. I prefer to do it and then maybe have a spliff and then look into it. But then again, I'm totally straight edge now. Actually, I don't even do coffee. I do black tea – that's my highest thing… (laughs)

But when I write for MAYHEM, there is kind of a limitation, because I personally actually have a light side, too. But my whole life and everything is about the dark side for me somehow, it turned out like that. But that’s kind of balanced out. I’m also a human being – fortunately and unfortunately. I’m here, too, dealing with stuff, I have family, I have loved ones, I love animals, pets, I love the sun, you know, I love nature. So it’s not like I’m just completely a dark person. But yeah, when it comes to MAYHEM and my art in general, it’s always kind of limited into that. Or it’s just more like it’s coming naturally. I don’t feel natural if I write about the other side. Somehow this is my path.

Including the bonus tracks, the last words you sing on the album are „Deathlike Silence“ – I guess thats not a coincidence, but a reference to Euronymous‘ label?

Attila: Yes, absolutely … it’s no coincidence. I have those guys always in my mind, you know. Euronymous and Dead are obviously always part of the band, and at the live shows we still always invoke them: Every night, every MAYHEM-show, and it’s been decades now, I invoke them. People won’t hear it … normally, I do it in the songs from „De Mysteries Dom Satanas“, for instance during „Life Eternal“, when the long intro part starts, I whisper their names and I invoke them. But not only them, even like my friend Jon Nödtveidt or Joy Jordison, who passed away … or some other musicians, friends, I was spiritually connected. So I invoke all my musicians‘ friends who passed away … but especially them. This new album is also about that, so they are crucial, they are the death in our family. They already passed away, so it’s a little bit to mention them, and it’s a little bit like going back to that, and yeah, kind of invoking them in that sense.

Talking about the lineup and how stable it is, if you think back to the point when Blasphemer left after „Ordo Ad Chao“: Was it questionable whether the band had a future? As far as I remember, Morten then came along like a savior and basically brought the music for „Esoteric Warfare“ with him?

Attila: I don’t think it’s true. He didn’t have the album ready. We started to work together when he joined.

He had some ideas, but we kind of turned them down, actually. Then he had to start again… this is a typical MAYHEM thing … (laughs) But it’s true, it’s was really, really difficult. After Blasphemer left, I was actually … not heartbroken, but I don’t know how to say: We had so much on the same page and we were a really good creative force, but I understood his choice at the end, and I respected it, of course. We all respected it. It was his decision to leave the band for whatever the reason. But it was really difficult to find a replacement: Morton was at that time not available, he was in GORGOROTH. Charles was in CRADLE OF FILTH at that point, which sounds a little bit strange, but I have nothing against that band, actually. I don’t know, if people complain … I don’t really care. I look at the persons, and he just happened to play in that band. Anyway, we didn’t want to break up other bands to get some people out of them, so we had to deal with Krister [Dreyer, alias Morfeus] and Vagus Nox. They were also great, but somehow the chemistry didn’t work.

To be in MAYHEM takes more than just to be in a band. You really have to sacrifice your life. Charles sometimes jokes to me. You know, I told him, dude, are you sure you want to destroy your life? And he sometimes referes to that. It’s a joke, of course, but I tell him: I warned you, man! (laughs) But seriously, it takes a lot more then just playing in a random band. Your life is going to be around it, and your life will be in this dark energy and around this darkness. It’s a lot to carry on your shoulder. It’s a crazy history, a crazy heritage, and it’s about integrity. It’s not an easy task, actually. Even when I came in for the first time: I started playing live when I was 15, and I was always super secure, and I was kicking ass on stage. When I went on stage with MAYHEM, in the first half year or year, I felt like, holy shit, this is so different. It’s not that easy. This is really hard to make people to believe in it. People have expectations when they come to a MAYHEM show, and to make them to believe, to trust in us, to trust that it’s true, what I’m saying … that was a heavy task. So I guess it’s the same for the guitar players, too. It’s very difficult. Blasphemer put a very high standard, also Euronymous. Those are big shoes to fill!

You guys have 40 years of MAYHEM in the books, you are over 50 now yourself … what do you think, how long will MAYHEM be around? Do you plan to play live at the age of 60 or 70 as well, or are there any plans to retire?

Attila: I don’t know … we’ll see. Everybody says we sound better than ever, and I couldn’t hear bigger compliments than that. That’s crazy to achieve that as a 40 years old band. I mean, it’s up to Hellhammer: We always tell each other it’s time to take care of our health. I’m doing planks every day, I’m Straight Edge now. I’m kind of like facing with the fact that we are getting older, so we can’t do the same crazy shit as before, but that’s OK.

Link to the FULL interview: https://www.metal1.info/interviews/mayhem-attila-csihar-liturgy-of-death/?lang=english

Dayal Patterson is a journalist and writer, author of several books on Black Metal, including "Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult.

You’ve interviewed a handful of Mayhem members past and present. Did you discuss Dead? I’ve always been curious as to how Mayhem feels about Dead’s legacy as it stands today.

Dayal: Yes, Dead is discussed quite thoroughly, through interviews with Necrobutcher, who I guess was probably his best friend by the end, and also Maniac and Manheim. I think all members of Mayhem are aware of the profound impact Dead had and of course, that impact is felt in so many of today’s bands. Along with Euronymous and Varg and a few others, he may be considered one of the most important figures in Black Metal history. That said, it must be addressed that he was not a good man, and some of the mythologising of him today, particularly by younger acolytes, perhaps overlooks that. I’ve tried to take a balanced approach to this matter.

What kind of impressions did you get about these bands’ overall opinion of today’s Black Metal scene?

Dayal: Interesting question. I think most long-time Black Metal participants recognise that this is a very good time for the genre in terms of its popularity and the infrastructure that is now in place, which makes it much easier to tour, release albums, promote your work and so on. At the same time, I think the most exciting and vital years were unquestionably the late 1980s to the early 2000s – that’s not just me being an old man claiming ‘things were better in my day’, ‘objectively’, Black Metal was most exciting when it was still underground and developing rapidly, and when everyone was totally dedicated to it. In the last ten years, Black Metal has reached a massively expanded audience, which isn’t a bad thing as it allows more ambitious events and releases, but the fact that there are now ‘casual Black Metal fans’, and people that listen to (and even make) this music without taking it seriously obviously changes the dynamics somewhat.

That’s how things go of course. I am a huge fan of late 1970s and early 1980s UK punk: Obviously, I’m way too young to have been there at the time, but I love the music, and still see the bands live, but it was through watching documentaries and, most of all, reading interviews and books that I came to really understand the context of the whole thing. That’s what I hope to do with my books. You can read these books and get a real understanding of what it all means and where it came from even if you got into Black Metal after the fact. I mean I wasn’t there when it all kicked off either, everyone has to come into it as a newcomer at some point. But if you discovered Black Metal in the last decade you’re getting a slightly distorted and shallow picture unless you dig a little deeper. The immediacy of today’s internet-driven society isn’t necessarily totally in keeping with the nature of this genre after all.

Link to the FULL interview: https://thisisblackmetal.com/interview-dayal-patterson/

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