This legendary, yet roughly produced live album is one of the cornerstones of Mayhem, featuring...
Euronymous - Guitar
Dead - Vocals
HellHammer - Drums
Necrobutcher - Bass
This album, recorded on November 26, 1990 (though released in 1993) is what is said to be the true Mayhem. Throughout the course of the show, pigs heads, and other meat were thrown into the audience as well as the band having bags with dead ravens in them so they could always smell death and decay.
As most of you know, vocalist Dead commited suicide before recording the second full length 'De Mysterii Dom Sathanas.' Soon after the recording of 'De Mysterii...' was finished, Euronymous was murdered by then bassist Varg Vikernes, leading to many issues about the bands fate...for more info visit www.thetruemayhem.com
The album starts off with DeathCrush which begins with it's slow almost doomy power chords and Dead's haunting screams after about a minute of audience cheer and sound checking. This song shifts between tremelo picking and the slower riffs very well. A good opener. The next track Necrolust picks the album a bit with some heavy riffing to start it off, before going into all out black metal mode. Intense drumming, fast music, and extremely fast vocals here. This song is pure speed all the way through. A nice, intense song.
Funeral Fog is probably the most melodic song on this album, the guitar riff here is very catchy, and even melodic. This melody is then shattered by chilling screams. This song continues to shift between catchy melodies, and evil black metal. This is one of the best mayhem songs, ever. This atmosphere leads perfectly into The Freezing Moon, one of the most recognizable Mayhem songs ever. From the intro to the solo, straight through to the end of this song it is pure evil. This is the best song on the album, and possibly one of the best black metal songs ever.
The next track Carnage opens with Dead almost taunting the audience, leading right into some typical black metal, this song has some heavy riffing but nothing special here. A solid track, nonetheless.
Buried by Time and Dust is defined by it's incredibley fast drumming, for the time this was recorded, drum beats like this one were very uncommon. This song is extremely fast. This song is almost reminiscent of a Darkthrone song in it's raw aggressiveness. This is one of the best songs on the album. The album keeps intensity with Pagan Fears which is upbeat, the opening riff is interesting, to say the least. This song blast into hyper black metal mode with some solid tremelo picking and chilling vocals. Good stuff here, at times this song can even be called catchy. Good track, solid riffs.
The next two tracks are taken to the extreme, this is what Mayhem is all about. At about this time in the concert there were pig heads and other assorted meat products scattered about the stage and floor, the people who remained at the concert would soon go onto form bands like Immortal, Darkthrone, and Emperor. This is a defining in black metal.
Chainsaw Guts*** is a slower song, defined by the vocals, Dead sounds like he is dying (ironic isn't it?) The song picks up and slows down throughout the song, but it's basically the same doomy riff for about 5 minutes.
The last track, Pure ***ing Armageddon starts with Dead tantalizing the crowd with chants of 'Join us in pure ***ing armageddon! Then the song blasts into chaos, everything is happening before returning a normal structure, this song continues to be very fast, as the title implies. I love this song, just for it's pure energy. Great song.
If you are into black metal, this album is an essential (even more so than De Mysterii Dom Sathanas in my opinion.) On that note i give this album 4/5, pure energy here, the music may not be top notch (at all really) but in this case it does not matter. Raw black metal energy, this album captures the energy of the show very well, i love it.
