History Music / Mayhem

Following Dead's suicide, Dead was replaced by Hungarian vocalist Attila Csihar, and Necrobutcher left the band and was temporarily replaced by Varg "Count Grishnakh" Vikernes, sole member of Bergen-based group Music/{{Burzum}}. During the recording of the band's first full-length album, ''De mysteriis Dom Sathanas'', tensions rose between Euronymous and Vikernes, which later resulted in Vikernes killing Euronymous, stabbing him a total of 21 times. Due to complaints from Euronymous's family, Hellhammer promised to remove Vikernes' basslines and record them himself, but this didn't happen. The explanation is either him feeling it was fitting that killer and victim should perform on the same album, or simply (and more likely) not having the time and money to go back and replace them, not to mention not knowing how to play bass. Vikernes' bass parts were, however, lowered in the mix (although some vinyl editions have them raised again, most likely owing to the remastering process for vinyl).

-> "[[NoTrueScotsman There exist no death metal bands today, only "life metal" bands.]] If a band cultivates and worship death than it's death metal, no matter what kind of metal they play. And "cultivating" death doesn't mean to think it's funny or being into gore, [[NietzscheWannabe but I mean being able to kill just because you hate life.]] [[OmnicidalManiac It's people who enjoys to see wars because a lot of people get killed.]] [[PretenderDiss And I know no "death" metal bands in this way. There's an abyss between us and the rest:]] Be careful and avoid being "open-minded". The [[HardcorePunk HC]] pigs have correctly made themselves guardians of morality: We'll become guardians of anti-morality."

* LargeHam: Attila is perhaps the most notorious example of this among BlackMetal vocalists, [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome not that anyone is complaining]]. His [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible unorthodox]] [[ManOfAThousandVoices amalgamation]] of [[GutturalGrowler guttural growls]] and operatic wailing is known for its theatrical qualities as well as being, well, [[{{Understatement}} highly emphatic]]. Maniac and Dead can also get pretty hammy.

* LimitedLyricsSong: Despite running for nearly ten minutes, "Completion in Science of Agony (Part I of II)" only contains three stanzas (sixteen lines) of lyrics. Some of this is due to the slow tempo of the song, but even then, more than half of the song is instrumental (or contains only wordless vocals). "Illuminate Eliminate", another nearly ten-minute song, doesn't have much more in the way of lyrics than "Completion", and for that matter, the two-minute Part II of "Completion" only contains two lines, while the AlbumIntroTrack "The Vortex Void of Inhumanity" only contains a single line, repeated several times. There are probably other examples as well.

* SingleStanzaSong: "The Vortex Void of Inhumanity" and "Completion in Science of Agony (Part II of II)".

* HiddenTrack: As mentioned above under BookEnds, there is one of these before the first song on ''Grand Declaration of War''.

* SopranoAndGravel: Most of the time they use the traditional HarshVocals of black metal, but there are occasional examples of sung passages in their work, such as on "De mysteriis Dom Sathanas" and "Symbols of Bloodswords". There is also a choir on "Completion in Science of Agony (Part I of II)" after the lengthy instrumental break.

* LargeHam: Attila is perhaps the most notorious example of this among BlackMetal vocalists, [[CrowningMusicOfAwesome not that anyone is complaining]]. His [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible unorthodox]] [[ManOfAThousandVoices amalgamation]] of [[GutturalGrowler guttural growls]] and operatic wailing is known for its theatrical qualities as well as being, well, [[{{Understatement}} highly emphatic]].

Following Dead's suicide, Dead was replaced by Hungarian vocalist Attila Csihar, and Necrobutcher left the band and was temporarily replaced by Varg "Count Grishnakh" Vikernes, sole member of Bergen-based group Music/{{Burzum}}. During the recording of the band's first full-length album, ''De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas'', tensions rose between Euronymous and Vikernes, which later resulted in Vikernes killing Euronymous, stabbing him a total of 21 times. Due to complaints from Euronymous's family, Hellhammer promised to remove Vikernes' basslines and record them himself, but this didn't happen. The explanation is either him feeling it was fitting that killer and victim should perform on the same album, or simply (and more likely) not having the time and money to go back and replace them, not to mention not knowing how to play bass. Vikernes' bass parts were, however, lowered in the mix (although some vinyl editions have them raised again, most likely owing to the remastering process for vinyl).

During that time, they were associated with Gaahl, Gorgoroth's then-vocalist. While a cultured, soft-spoken and polite man who had a homosexual tryst with a Norwegian fashion stylist and modeling agent named Dan [=DeVero=], Gaahl nonetheless had a long history of violence. Gaahl is still being held responsible for kidnapping and torturing a man who walked on his property uninvited, cutting him and making him bleed into a cup, and threatening to use him as a sacrifice. They take trespassing pretty seriously in the Black Metal community.

Maniac was later fired due to his stage fright-related alcoholism (and has been involved in other projects, such as the doom band Skitliv) and replaced by Attila Csihar, who performed on the band's fourth album ''Ordo Ad Chao'', their most critically regarded since the seminal ''De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas'', which [[UnpleasableFanbase still has its fair share of detractors]].

* 1994 - ''De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas''

* 2007 - ''Ordo Ad Chao''

* AltumVidetur: ''Ordo ad chao'' is grammatically incorrect Latin for "order to chaos" (an inverted version of the Freemasons' motto, ''Ordo ab chao'', or "order from chaos". A grammatically correct version would be ''Ordo ad chaos''). ''De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas'' translates roughly as "Of Lord Satan's Secret Rites" or "About the Mystery of the Lord Satan". The band uses other Latin in its lyrics, though it is also not always grammatically correct.

* EpicRocking: A few of their songs are quite long. The longest is "Completion in Science of Agony (Part I of II)" from ''Grand Declaration of War'', which is 9:44 in length. "Illuminate Eliminate", from ''Ordo ad Chao'', is close behind at 9:40. Their songs tend to be pretty long anyway, though; there is only one song on ''De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas'' under five minutes in length, and half of them are longer than six.
* FriedrichNietzsche: Some of the lyrics on ''Grand Declaration of War'' are directly taken from his writings or inspired by him. The album's title is apparently his description of ''Twilight of the Idols'' („eine grosse Kriegserklärung“).
* GenreBusting / GenreRoulette: ''Grand Declaration of War'' had more than a bit of this, experimenting with AvantGardeMetal (the whole album), ProgressiveMetal ("In the Lies Where Upon You Lay" and "Completion in Science of Agony (Part I of II)"), DoomMetal ("Completion" again), and TripHop ("A Bloodsword and a Colder Sun") in addition to the band's usual BlackMetal roots. This wasn't entirely unprecedented in their discography as ''Wolf's Lair Abyss'' had already begun deploying electronic elements, and even before his death, Euronymous had indicated an interest in electronic music, so it's possible Mayhem's music would have ended up using some of these elements even if he hadn't died.

* KillAllHumans: Virtually the entirety of ''Ordo ad Chao'' consists of this.

* SopranoAndGravel: Most of the time they use the traditional HarshVocals of black metal, but there are occasional examples of sung passages in their work, such as on "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" and "Symbols of Bloodswords". There is also a choir on "Completion in Science of Agony (Part I of II)" after the lengthy instrumental break.

* StylisticSuck: ''Ordo ad Chao''; while Mayhem's earlier work was quite lo-fi, their years since their reformation had crystal clear production and electronic drums. ''Ordo ad Chao'' had muddy guitars, a very low-end sound (unheard of in black metal), and had under-produced drums (no EQ, triggers only on the bass drums).

* StylisticSuck: ''Ordo ad Chao''; while Mayhem's earlier work was quite lo-fi, their years since their reformation had crystal clear production and electronic drums. ''Ordo ad Chao'' had muddy guitars, a very low-end sound (unheard of any black metal), and had under-produced drums (no EQ, triggers only on the bass drums).
** In his interview for Until the Light Takes Us, Vikernes stated that they went out of their way to use the shittiest possible equipment while recording to the point where the mic used to record vocals was a tiny, outdated and almost nonfunctional headset.

* UncommonTime: "Deathcrush", "Chainsaw Gutsfuck", and "Slaughter of Dreams" among other tracks.

* SopranoAndGravel: Most of the time they use the traditional HarshVocals of black metal, but there are occasional examples of sung passages in their work, such as on "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" and "Symbols of Bloodswords". There is also a choir on "Completion in Science of Agony (Part I of II)" in the lengthy instrumental break.

* SopranoAndGravel: Most of the time they use the traditional HarshVocals of black metal, but there are occasional examples of sung passages in their work, such as on "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" and "Symbols of Bloodswords".

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: Solid 10 on Average.

* ContemptibleCover: ''[[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/59/DawnOfTheBlackHearts.jpg Dawn of the Black Hearts]]''. ('''{{NSFW}}''')

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: 10.

Following Dead's suicide, Dead was replaced by Hungarian vocalist Attila Csihar, and Necrobutcher left the band and was temporarily replaced by Varg "Count Grishnakh" Vikernes, sole member of Bergen-based group Music/{{Burzum}}. During the recording of the band's first full-length album, ''De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas'', tensions rose between Euronymous and Vikernes, which later resulted in Vikernes killing Euronymous, stabbing him a total of 21 times. Due to complaints from Euronymous's family, Hellhammer promised to remove Vikernes' basslines and record them himself, but this didn't happen. The explanation is either him feeling it was fitting that killer and victim should perform on the same album, or simply (and more likely) not having the time and money to go back and replace them, not to mention not knowing how to play bass.

* RecurringRiff: There is one that appears in "Symbols of Bloodswords", "Grand Declaration of War", and "View from Nihil". See BookEnds above.

* SubliminalSeduction: Done subtly on ''Grand Declaration of War''. The HiddenTrack before the first song is a backmasked version of the last song on the album.

-> "[[NoTrueScotsman There exist no death metal bands today, only “life metal” bands.]] If a band cultivates and worship death than it’s death metal, no matter what kind of metal they play. And “cultivating” death doesn’t mean to think it’s funny or being into gore, [[NietzscheWannabe but I mean being able to kill just because you hate life.]] [[OmnicidalManiac It’s people who enjoys to see wars because a lot of people get killed.]] [[PretenderDiss And I know no “death” metal bands in this way. There’s an abyss between us and the rest:]] be careful and avoid being “open-minded”. The [[HardcorePunk HC]] pigs have correctly made themselves guardians of morality: we’ll become guardians of anti-morality.”

The story of the group Mayhem marks possibly the darkest chapter in metal--nay, music--history.

Forming in the mid-1980s and taking their name from a song by the band Music/{{Venom}} (who also coined the term BlackMetal), the Norwegian band's original line-up consisted of guitarist Euronymous (Øystein Aarseth), bassist Necrobutcher[[note]]Not to be confused with the pro wrestler. That Necro Butcher is two words, Mayhem's Necrobutcher is just one. Know the difference, it could save your life. Seriously, black metal fans can be scary, especially some of the ones whose favorite band is Mayhem.[[/note]] (Jørn Stubberud) and drummer Kjetil Manheim. When the group was originally formed, Euronymous also sang, before being replaced by [[MeaningfulName Maniac]] (Sven Erik Kristiansen) on vocals (who was [[HilariousInHindsight placed in a mental institution]] after the recording of the infamous ''Deathcrush'' EP)[[note]]No word on whether the two events were at all connected[[/note]]. Manheim also left the band that time. The band found replacements in drummer Hellhammer (Jan Axel Blomberg) and the Swedish vocalist Per Yngve Ohlin, nicknamed "[[PropheticName Dead]]" (previously of obscure cult-act "Morbid"), for his love of, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin surprise, surprise, death]]: he would wear clothes people had been buried in months before, cut himself on stage (one point he cut himself so much on stage he had to be sent to the hospital in bad need of a transfusion), and kept a dead crow in a jar because he liked "the stench of death". Despite these amusing quirks, [[SarcasmMode for some reason]] everyone who met him had ill feelings about him and always said that he looked like he hated being alive. These folks would ultimately be proven correct when one day, Euronymous entered the house that Dead was staying in and found him, appropriately enough, dead, a [[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill bullet wound in his head and his wrists cut open]] (Dead just wanted to be sure).

Following Dead's suicide, Dead was replaced by Hungarian vocalist Attila Csihar, and Necrobutcher left the band and was temporarily replaced by Varg "Count Grishnakh" Vikernes, sole member of Bergen-based group Music/{{Burzum}}. During the recording of the band's first full-length album, ''De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas'', tensions rose between Euronymous and Vikernes, which later resulted in Vikernes killing Euronymous, stabbing him a total of 21 times. Due to complaints from Euronymous's family, Hellhammer promised to remove Vikernes's basslines and record them himself, but this didn't happen. The explanation is either him feeling it was fitting that killer and victim should perform on the same album, or simply (and more likely) not having the time and money to go back and replace them, not to mention not knowing how to play bass.

!!Mayhem exhibits the following tropes:

* AltumVidetur: ''Ordo ad chao'' is grammatically incorrect Latin for "order to chaos" (an inverted version of the Freemasons' motto, ''Ordo ab chao'', or "order from chaos". A grammatically correct version would be ''Ordo ad chaos''). ''De mysteriis Dom Sathanas'' translates roughly as "Of Lord Satan's Secret Rites" or "About the Mystery of the Lord Satan". The band uses other Latin in its lyrics, though it is also not always grammatically correct.

* GenrePopularizer: For black metal. Specifically speaking, Mayhem essentially started up second-wave black metal, but first-wave black metal covers a lot of bands that are totally dissimilar to Mayhem (CelticFrost and [[Music/KingDiamond Mercyful Fate]], for example), and the actual black metal genre didn't really have a proper definition until Mayhem and co. came along. (It is worth noting, however, that many of the second wave's most important characteristics had already been established by Music/{{Bathory}}, particularly on ''Under the Sign of the Black Mark'').

Following Dead's suicide, Dead was replaced by Hungarian vocalist Attila Csihar, and Necrobutcher left the band and was temporarily replaced by Varg "Count Grishnakh" Vikernes, sole member of Bergen-based group {{Burzum}}. During the recording of the band's first full-length album, ''De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas'', tensions rose between Euronymous and Vikernes, which later resulted in Vikernes killing Euronymous, stabbing him a total of 21 times. Due to complaints from Euronymous's family, Hellhammer promised to remove Vikernes's basslines and record them himself, but this didn't happen. The explanation is either him feeling it was fitting that killer and victim should perform on the same album, or simply (and more likely) not having the time and money to go back and replace them, not to mention not knowing how to play bass.

Blasphemer has since left the band, owing to his various other projects (such as Ava Inferi and Aura Noir), and was replaced by a succession of live guitarists (among them Morfeus and Teloch). The band reportedly have a new album due out later in 2014.

* AltumVidetur: ''Ordo ad chao'' is grammatically incorrect Latin for "Out of order comes chaos" (an inverted version of the Freemasons' motto, ''Ordo ab chao'', or "Out of chaos comes order". A grammatically correct version would be ''Ordo ad chaos''). ''De mysteriis Dom Sathanas'' translates roughly as "Of Lord Satan's Secret Rites" or "About the Mystery of the Lord Satan". The band uses other Latin in its lyrics, though it is also not always grammatically correct.

* AltumVidetur: ''Ordo ad chao'' is grammatically incorrect Latin for "Out of order comes chaos" (an inverted version of the Freemasons' motto, ''Ordo ab chao'', or "Out of chaos comes order". A grammatically correct version would be ''Ordo ad chaos''). ''De mysteriis Dom Sathanas'' translates roughly as "Of Lord Satan's Secret Rites". The band uses other Latin in its lyrics, though it is also not always grammatically correct.

* GenrePopularizer: For black metal. Specifically speaking, Mayhem essentially started up second-wave black metal, but first-wave black metal covers a lot of bands that are totally dissimilar to Mayhem (CelticFrost and MercyfulFate, for example), and the actual black metal genre didn't really have a proper definition until Mayhem and co. came along. (It is worth noting, however, that many of the second wave's most important characteristics had already been established by Music/{{Bathory}}, particularly on ''Under the Sign of the Black Mark'').

* UnpleasableFanbase: Of the band's post-''DMDS'' output, only ''Wolf's Lair Abyss'' seems to be largely free of detractors. It doesn't help that part of the fanbase regarded the reformation of the band in the wake of Euronymous' death as being inappropriate to begin with.