From The Dark Past... Comes A Mayhem Retrospective.

Tell Me, What Did You See There? In The Darkness Of The Past?

In a world of social media hot-take factories and ultra-curated online playlists, many have fallen away from the more traditional classics of Black Metal. In the fast world of frictionless access to endless hours of new Black Metal from all over the world, it makes sense that many new to the genre would glaze over a thirty-year-old record. Afterall, the limitless access to novel new experiences and participating in conversations about exciting new albums is preferable to retreading old territory, right?

In honor of the 30th anniversary of Mayhem’s iconic debut album today, I decided to write an album retrospective.

If one person reads this article and decides to revisit De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas as a result, I will consider it a success. Much of the contemporary discussion around Mayhem’s 1994 debut slates it as an overrated record that endures in the public consciousness due to the band’s notoriety. It does not help that searching “Black Metal” on every search engine results in images of this album… The extensive coverage of the band’s “history” over the decades by thousands of normie Youtubers and documentarians also does not help. In my opinion, it stands as a testament to how truly great and impactful De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas was and is. In general, the broader Black Metal scene’s iconoclasm in relation to this record, here, is counterproductive. There is Truth to the idea that some things are popular and well-known for a reason. Most of the “great” newly released Black Metal albums bloggers covered last week will be totally forgotten in a few months. Mayhem’s debut record has been ubiquitous for thirty years. The record’s DNA is so baked into so much of modern Black Metal, its influence is unrecognizable. There are a lot of things up for discussion when it comes to Black Metal, but Mayhem’s influence on the genre through the debut record is undeniable. Everything about the music changed between ’93-’94. Kanwulf (a.k.a Ash) of Nargaroth elaborated that 1993 was the year Black Metal became more than music. Euronymous’ murder was the climax of a downward spiral of increasingly extreme behavior that had proliferated the Norwegian scene by the early 90’s. Coming hot off the heels of the soft-death of the Norwegian Black Metal scene was the release of Mayhem’s debut full-length album. Six years of consistent work by the band and other important contributors was eclipsed, in part, by the violent collision of two of the biggest egos in the scene. Despite this, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas would serve as a grand retrospective of the ancient years, and the moment where a sound and aesthetic would consolidate around Mayhem’s form of “True Norwegian Black Metal.” This is why De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is such a landmark Black Metal record. As a genre and artform, Black Metal is simultaneously forward and backward-facing. It stares angrily at the future through pessimistic eyes. Black Metal is meditation on how to reverse the march of history, to travel back by rushing forward in an attempt to catch modernity off guard in one final brutal attack. De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas cemented these ideas and gave the artform a definitive sound and aesthetic going far beyond the Black Metal Venom had created over ten years earlier.

The album opens with “Funeral Fog,” a song the band had been rehearsing as early as 1989. Black Metal’s genesis as a discrete sound begins immediately with this slow, melodic riff given the illusion of breakneck tempo through the tremolo picking and furious double-bass drumbeat. Fenriz claims that it was Snorre Ruch (Blackthorn) that truly introduced tremolo picking into Black Metal, and Euronymous picked up the idea from Snorre one of the many times he came to the record shop, Helvete. Most of “Funeral Fog” consists of tremolo-picked riffs and it is undoubtedly one of the more atmospheric tracks as a result. Featuring lyrics written by Dead also gives the track an additional layer of notoriety. The music, combined with Attila’s incredible vocal performance, makes this song instantly memorable. It is an excellent soft-introduction into the kinds of songs the band will throw at us throughout this album.

Now, a quick note about the vocals on Mayhem’s debut before I continue to Freezing Moon…

Attila’s guest vocal performance on Mayhem’s debut record is one of the “right place- right time” things that makes De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas a perfect Black Metal record. Euronymous was made aware of Attila’s vocal style through trading for an early Tormentor tape. Hailing from then-Communist Hungary, Tormentor is a one-of-a-kind band with a wildly creative proto-Black Metal sound and aesthetic. Euronymous began corresponding with Attila as a result, where the latter shortly came to visit Norway and was invited to perform on Mayhem’s debut studio album. Understanding and appreciating the vocals in De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is a kind of Black Metal IQ-test in my opinion. Generally, if listeners “don’t get it” or dislike Attila’s delivery, it is indication they have not yet truly cut their teeth with the classics of the genre. Attila’s performance is part of what makes this record so fantastic. The vocals bring the record to a whole new level, working with the cavernous sound of Hellhammer’s drums to create some of the most seamless atmosphere in the history of the genre…

Now, onto “Freezing Moon”, arguably one of the most iconic Black Metal songs ever. If I had to listen to only one Black Metal for the rest of my life, it would probably be “Freezing Moon.” It contains all the musical elements of Black Metal in one succinct, grim package. Each sequence flawlessly transitions into the next. From slow to fast, melodic to rhythmic, every moment of this song lands. “Freezing Moon” is one of the oldest post-Deathcrush Black Metal songs composed by Mayhem. Writing for De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas began immediately after Deathcrush was recorded, and a finished version of “Freezing Moon” was being rehearsed in the henhouse as early as 1989. This is one of Mayhem’s earliest innovations in “true” Black Metal, and it shows. There is a beautiful simplicity to this song. The riffs are straightforward, bleeding intention with an atmosphere and vision that had not been heard before this song. I am obsessed with the first minute and forty-seconds of this song. It is the pure grim DNA of Black Metal being woven together. Dead penned the lyrics for this song, and I believe most people familiar with the band’s catalogue would agree these are among his best. The final verse still gets me, regardless of whether it is Attila’s performance on the studio album or one of Dead’s various recorded performances:

            “Darkness is growing

Eternity opens

The cemetery lights up again

As in ancient times

Fallen souls die behind my steps

By following the freezing moon”

Dead’s clumsy command of English influenced the odd word choices and unique rhythm of the verses. Part of why Attila’s performance ups the ante of Dead’s hyper-aggressive straightforward delivery is his attempt to sing across the music and work with the riffs and drums. The listener catches an impression of it on “Funeral Fog,” but “Freezing Moon” is the prolonged moment where Attila’s vocal chops are put on display. His operatic delivery is striking in a way that is perfect for Black Metal, and incredibly difficult to imitate. Attila is a huge reason why this is such an iconic record.  

The transition from “Freezing Moon” to “Cursed In Eternity” is incredibly satisfying. Track three is a higher-tempo song, and Hellhammer massacres the drums during the intro. I can tell this is a track composed after the initial set of “true” Black Metal tracks, because the songwriting here takes an advanced turn. The transitions between riffs, in particular, are more intense. Hellhammer’s drumming falls like an avalanche on this track, gaining momentum and power as the song progresses. In my opinion, “Cursed In Eternity” belongs to Hellhammer. I love the breakneck tremolo picking of the guitars and the evolutions of Euronymous’ (and Blackthorn’s) Norwegian Black Metal riff that are on display. But I was reminded when running back through this song that my mind follows the drumming first. Hellhammer really elevates “Cursed In Eternity” to the next level. Everything about the song is cool, but the drumming edges into wildly innovative territory. When Darkthrone decided to axe the ill-fated Goatlord album, Fenriz made the deliberate decision to practice drumming less in order to make the Black Metal experience more primitive. Hellhammer found a way to adapt a more ambitious attitude and integrate it into Mayhem’s atmosphere. “Cursed In Eternity” is a heavy song, it is the first of several tracks on the album that change the pacing of the record through hard-hitting riffs. One should not mosh when listening to Black Metal, but I could imagine moshing to this song…

“Pagan Fears” is the fourth track, and it is probably my favorite Mayhem song. Another track with lyrics written by Dead, this is an often-overlooked moment where Dead had a huge hand in shaping the aesthetic of Black Metal. The repeated line, “The past is alive” in particular resonates with the nature of genre, one that simultaneously embraces the past and an accelerationist future. This is an earlier “true” Black Metal composition, being one of the post-Deathcrush songs appearing in the band’s live setlist in 1990. The riffs on this song are heavy. Not quite as evolved as some of the tracks that would feature on the finished record, but it rocks in a way that rivals a majority Black Metal being made current-year. The tremolo-picked riff that crawls around the bottom-few frets on Euronymous’ guitar has been a sound ubiquitous within Black Metal ever since. “Pagan Fears” brings an ancient, grim edge to the high-impact riffs that would be developed further into the sounds we hear in the second half. It keeps the pace up following “Cursed In Eternity” and I believe “Pagan Fears” has some of the most satisfying moments on the record.

Shortly after I saw Mayhem on their “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas Alive” tour in 2017, I caught Teloch on livestream saying “Life Eternal” is his favorite song off the record. He mentioned that he gets into a groove when playing it, it becomes effortless and the Black Metal begins moving through him. For a song composed in the leadup to 1994, “Life Eternal” has some unique riffs. The only other artist putting out similar riffs at the same time was (ironically) Burzum. Track five is a great break from the intensity of “Cursed In Eternity” and “Pagan Fears.” It redirects this intensity into a series of spiraling, hypnotic riffs that are the closest thing Mayhem got to “casting a spell” in the vein of 90’s Burzum. In classic Mayhem fashion, there are bursts of fast tremolo-picked interludes that interrupt the groove and inject the climax of the song. Lyrically, this might be my favorite song Mayhem has ever done. Dead wrote these lyrics as a gift to Colombian Black Metal band Typhon in the leadup to his death. Taking his infamous suicide into consideration gives these lyrics additional impact. Unlike the previous tracks Dead wrote lyrics for, the song was likely finished after his suicide. Therefore, we do not have his performance of the song on record. The band decided to use his lyrics for the album, and I consider Attila’s stand-in performance of “Life Eternal” as his best on the record. This is a mature track for 90’s Black Metal. There is a lot of technical interplay between the instruments, and the pacing of the song demonstrates an elevated understanding of what Black Metal songs could capably do. Again, relating this back to Hellhammer on “Cursed In Eternity,” Mayhem finds a way to incorporate an ambitious drive into their performance. It is the perfect blend of technical complexity with hard-hitting early Black Metal.

The intensity of tracks three and four return with “From The Dark Past.” After a bit of a break with “Life Eternal,” the band does not hesitate to cast the listener back into an assault of intense throaty tremolo-riffs. The palm-muting is the main difference here, something that we have not really heard since Deathcrush. “From The Dark Past” is a particularly visceral moment on De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. The interplay between the percussive guitar track and Hellhammer’s blistering drums has been burned into my memory over the years. Talking about perfect Black Metal albums like De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is tough, because I get into a rhythm of praising every element of the instrumentation and presentation… When I was preparing an outline for this retrospective, I initially pegged this as the “throwaway” track on the album. But upon revisiting the song on the original studio version and the 2016 “Alive” recording, this is a great track to prime listeners for the conclusion of the album. Any mental calcification that has accumulated over the course of the record would be sandblasted off by the effortless intensity of this song. Mayhem hurls “From The Dark Past” at listeners so effortlessly. Some albums are… that good.

“Buried By Time And Dust” is another old Mayhem “true” Black Metal composition. According to The Death Archives: Mayhem 1984-94, and some interviews I could dig up from Metallion’s Slayer zine, The band had a version of this song immediately on the heels of Deathcrush under the working title “Burn My Coffin.” This feels like a primitive track compared to the rest of the album. Similar to “Freezing Moon” and “Pagan Fears,” the song lacks the flair that Mayhem would develop in later years. The live recordings of the band rehearsing and performing this song in between ’89-‘90 are raw. Even on the finished studio album, there is a lot of Deathcrush­-esque bluntness that I believe survives. “Buried By Time And Dust” is uncharacteristically short, clocking in at three-and-a-half minutes on an album where the band seemingly settled on six as the “ideal” runtime for each track. The shorter length could be an additional hint at how early Mayhem might have composed “Buried By Time And Dust.” The shorter runtime compensates for the simplistic structure of the song. If anything, this track is a return to a more ancient sound and aesthetic to balance out the second half of the record.

Coming hot off the heels of “Buried By Time And Dust” is one of the most pivotal moments on the album. The final track… the title track, “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas.” This is a wicked song, and it is notable for essentially creating the style of melodic Black Metal riff featured in this song. In my opinion, “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas” is the pinnacle of Mayhem’s Black Metal songwriting chops on this record. I like to imagine this song was composed last, when the band was ready to combine the aesthetic elements the nascent Black Metal scene had developed throughout the late 80’s and early 90’s. Dead reports in Slayer Vol X that he was working on lyrics for the song in 1991. The lyrics on the final album version definitely follow the formula he established on earlier Mayhem songs. Dead creates these grim vignettes that we, the listeners, pass through as we listen to the album. The band definitely made the attempt to continue this trend, and lyrically we are left with a loosely-connected anthology of horror-laced, surreal scenes. Lyrically and aesthetically, this final track is the climax of the album. The butchered Latin translations repeated ritualistically by Attila throughout the song sets the scene perfectly. The instruments have a certain cacophonous quality on this track, lending an air of believability to the idea there is a real invocation taking place. This is Mayhem firing on all cylinders, they deliver a level of occult fury on this track that modern Black Metal bands can only hope to imitate. “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas” somehow manages to up the ante after seven consistently great and innovative Black Metal songs. A perfect ending to a perfectly paced album.

De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is a record that has stood the test of time. One of the things that makes Black Metal unique as a music genre, is we generally accept that the best records have already been made. I like to believe that thirty years ago, the surviving members of Mayhem knew they had been a part of something truly special. I think it is fascinating that Necrobutcher insisted to Hellhamer at Euronymous’ funeral in ‘93 that the band continue. Mayhem’s legacy is complicated, and their current niche within the Black Metal scene has changed drastically, but they are an immortal part of the artform largely due to De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. If the album had sucked, I believe we would be telling “the story” of Mayhem very differently. The work they did to develop the sound of the genre between ’89-’90 was instrumental in inspiring an entire generation of Scandinavian Black Metal bands. They would make a deliberate turn away from imitating bands like Venom, and turn towards creating a new discrete extreme artform. There are more bands nominally influenced by Mayhem than one could even count. No matter what happens within the global Black Metal scene in the coming decades, I imagine the status of De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas will remain largely unchanged. Now, if you have not already, go listen to the album.

Hail The Underground, and Hail Mayhem