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Mayhem
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Line Up:
Hellhammer: Drums
Maniac: Vocals
Necrobutcher: Bass
Blasphemer: Guitars
Mayhem was formed in Norway in 1984. The founding members were Øystein Aarseth (aka Euronymous, although he first took the name Destructor, - guitar), Jorn Stubberud (aka Necrobutcher - bass), and Kjetil Manheim (aka Manheim - drums). They took the name Mayhem from the song 'Mayhem With Mercy', originally recorded by black metal originators, Venom. They recorded their first demo, 'Pure Fucking Armageddon' in 1986. This was released in a limited 1000 copies. The demo was extremely brutal, although very low sound quality. In autumn of that same year Mayhem got their first real vocalist in Sven Erik Kristiansen (Maniac). Then in the winter of 1987 Mayhem entered the studio to record the legendary 'Deathcrush' demo. This demo gained Mayhem a cult fanbase. It was later re-released as a mini LP on Euronymous' own Posercorpse/Deathlike Silence Productions label.
Soon after the mini LP was released, Maniac and Manheim left the band. Mayhem recruited a new vocalist, Per Yngve Ohlin (aka Dead, vocalist of the cult Swedish band Morbid), and a new drummer, Jan Axel Von Blomberg (Hellhammer). The band recorded two songs for the CBR 'Projections Of A Stained Mind' compilation album, 'Freezing Moon' and 'Carnage'. The band then toured Turkey and East Germany. This tour was where the legendary show in Leipzig, East Germany took place. That show was released as the 'Live In Leipzig' album.
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In April of 1991 Dead committed suicide. Shortly after Dead's suicide, Necrobutcher left the band. Occultus joined the band as vocalist/bassist to replace Dead & Necrobutcher, but left shortly after joining. Euronymous brought in Varg Vikernes (Count Grishnackh from the one-man band Burzum) to play bass, and Attila Csihar (vocalist for the legendary Hungarian band Tormentor) on vocals. Blackthorn (from legendary band Thorns) joined for a short time as a second guitrist, but left soon after joining. This line up recorded the long awaited first full length Mayhem album 'De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas'. After the album had been recorded, things started to go wrong between Euronymous and Count Grishnackh. The troubles between the two escalated to the highest level, and ended with Grishnack stabbing Euronymous to death. The story of the Euronymous murder, and the Norweigan black metal scene in general from the early 1990's has been told time & time again. I am not going through the whole story here. If you want to read more about all of it, then buy the book Lords Of Chaos.
Now Hellhammer was the only remaining member of Mayhem. The bass tracks on the 'De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas' album were supposedly rerecorded by Hellhammer out of respect for Euronymous. In fact this was not true, and the bass tracks on De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, are indeed done by Count Grishnackh. It was finally released in 1993. It was considered to be the final memory of Mayhem.
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Mayhem had gained a huge cult following by this time. The chaos in Norways black metal scene in the early 1990's had gained worldwide attention. Unfortunately fans were left with only the few recordings Mayhem had released during their existence, and a slew of bootleg albums. They had become one of the most infamous and legendary bands in the underground metal scene. They were gone but not forgotten.
In 1995, Hellhammer got in touch with Maniac and Necrobutcher. He wanted to reform Mayhem. They recruited a guitarist Necrobutcher knew, Rune Erickson (Blasphemer). Now they had a full line up. They agreed that if the right feeling wasn't there then they would forget the idea of reforming Mayhem. Fortunately, the feeling was there more than ever. In 1997 they recorded the mini LP 'Wolfs Lair Abyss', and proved that they could truly carry on the legacy of Mayhem. They toured Europe, and did a small tour in the United States and Mexico. In November of 1998 the band recorded the full length live album 'Mediolanum Capta Est' in Milano, Italy. Mayhem were definitely back.
The band unleashed a brand new full length album entitled 'Grand Declaration Of War' in 2000. It was quite a different album than their previous efforts. It is Mayhem's vision of black metal for the new millennium. Despite the altered style on the new album it is definitely Mayhem and it pulses with the power that has come through on all their releases. Following the release of the album was the first ever full tour of the United States for the band. Then the band proceeded to tour Europe as well. An official video release of a show from Marseille, France was released in February, 2001. Mayhem are declaring war on everything! Also Mayhem will have another new live album. In Europe it will be called "European Legions", and in the USA it will be "US Legions." The album contains live tracks, and aswell a few demo tracks from the last album. Hail Mayhem.
Bio written by The Offical Mayhem Website, altered some by me "Blackwinged."
- March 24, 2001
Blackwinged
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