Reviews list for Mayhem (NOR) - De mysteriis dom Sathanas (1994)

This is it. Possibly the most famous Black Metal Album of all time. How big is it? Well, I teach in a place where the primary artists among my students are SadaBaby, SexyRed, TGrizzley, and other tons of Detroit based trap rap, but they know this album. Is it coasting off of controversey or is there something to it? Let's find out!

It's actually really damn good. The bands gorey history might get a decent audience in the door, but all of that stuff happened in the early 90's, we would not talk about it in high regard 30years later if there was no substance. It has a unique production that somehow satisfies both fans of polished production and the ultra-raw stuff. It's got the blast beats, the razorsharp tremelo picked guitars, and atmosphere for days. It also has Athila Csaer on the microphone, and he's a force of nature. He actually performed this whole album accompied only by a smalll string ensemble, you can find this on youtube, and it's worth seeking out. You even get audible basslines!

Every track is great here, a no-skips affair for the black metal crowd. It's all just very tight, diabolical in all the right ways, and though Sathanas is in the album title, it doesn't lean on explicit references to Satan and hell, or take cheapshots at Christianity. Instead of hearing about Satan explicity, you just feel him everywhere in this album, like he's in the corner of the room behind you the whole time. Lyrically you get poetic descriptions of sinister forces; a fog that moves through a village and kills all the trees in it's wake, contemplation and committment to suicide only to die unremarkably and unremembered, a ghost that haunts the icy forest forever following the freezing moon, etc. 
It's all far more frightening than anything by the overtly satanic bands. 

In medieval times certain intervals of music were prohibited because it was believed to summon satan. I don't believe in such a thing, but if it were possible to summon the dark lord by playing music this would be a good album to do it with. 

The Malevolent Aura

De mysteriis dom Sathanas is undoubtedly one of the most important Black Metal albums from a historical standpoint, but for me it marks the turning point for the genre where it came out of the obscure, lo-fi shadows and paved the way for the modern style Black Metal I'm familiar with today. The stories about Mayhem during this period of Black Metal are legendary as well, and I urge you to go and read up on it as it's an incredibly interesting piece of music history, but as of right now I'm sticking to the actual music itself, which is a beast to tackle in of itself. While I consider Bathory's Under the Sign of the Black Mark to be the rawest and purest expression of classic Black Metal, De mysteriis dom Sathanas serves as a necessary evolution to the sound, becoming even more complex, furious, and sinister. The songs are longer and have a more developed structure with a larger variety of riffs and tremolo chord progressions compared to the thrashy beginnings of the genre, and I'm a big fan of the approach. Even though Mayhem doesn't fully ditch the grinding and slightly thin Black Metal style production, many of the common lo-fi recording elements some have come to expect out of their classic Black Metal are nowhere to be found, leading to way more clarity in the guitar riffs and a better, echo-y punch from the drums. There's tons of by-the-books, mid-90's Black Metal out there though, so what sets this album so far apart from the rest?

From the drumming, to the riffing, to the vile and off-the-cuff vocals, everything in De mysteriis dom Sathanas fits together and compliments each other in a way that stands out from other Black Metal at the time. Hellhammer lives up to his name and delivers an absolutely insane performance on every single track on this album, with blisteringly tight blast beats and a fantastic sense of accents to add just the right amount of emphasis onto the furious riffing. Black Metal drumming has a tendency to sound a bit deranged and unorganized sometimes, but it feels like not a single kick or cymbal is missed on this entire album, which is impressive in of itself. The percussion is constantly pushing every song forward at a mile a minute with every square inch being filled with something interesting. Mayhem had a knack for Black Metal riffs as well, with almost every single riff on this album being some of the best that the genre has to offer with their intricate approach to the normal tremolo riffing you'd expect. Each riff feels like it has so much progression to it without losing any of the aggression, thanks in part to the drum accents. "Funeral Fog" wastes no time and gives a taste of how sinister tremolo chord progressions can be right at the start, "Freezing Moon's" slower section showcases their adept takes at slower Black Metal chugs, and "From the Dark Past's" off-kilter groove shows that there's some much needed variety hidden behind all the tremolo and double bass. The bass is also given some time to shine through in "Pagan Fears" and "Life Eternal", even though it's pretty easy to miss the first time through.

As much as Mayhem nails the Black Metal riffing with stellar transitions, the vocals are where my patience can start to run thin on this album. I've grown to really enjoy Attila's vile delivery since it's so unique, but there are still some areas where I wish that he'd gone for a slightly different approach, especially on the closing title track. For the uninitiated, Attila's performance is one of the most random and dramatic I've ever heard, with him not so much growling or screaming as he is vomiting words out of his throat. Given Black Metal's evil nature, I think it fits wonderfully well on most of the tracks in here, with the spoken word-like delivery being especially chilling on "Freezing Moon" and "Pagan Fears". However, he definitely goes overboard with what I can only presume to be his attempt at throat singing on "From the Dark Past" and some extremely awkward sections in "Funeral Fog" and "De mysteriis dom Sathanas". Even though it can feel incredibly aimless at times, the vocals are what cap off this album as a one of a kind Black Metal experience that still sounds as malevolent and sinister as ever.

I very much regard this album as a classic, even though it's not technically perfect in my eyes. The album still wears itself thin for me by the time I get to "Buried by Time and Dust" due to slight sameness of the riffs getting a little old, but that doesn't take away from the fact that all 8 tracks are extremely high quality classic Black Metal. Mayhem were able to turn Black Metal up a notch with extremely precise drumming and a whirlwind of riffing as Attila croaks at you, sounding like he's from beyond the grave. There's a ton of complexity hidden beneath the fast, technical performances that honestly rewarded me for getting so invested in this album in an attempt to understand Black Metal's evolution. While I enjoy other classic Black Metal offerings a bit more overall, De mysteriis dom Sathanas will always have a unique and evil aura to it that other albums fail to fully capture.

A classic album that epitomizes everything that is black metal. Damn essential!

Mayhem's De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas album was and is much more than just another black metal album. This release (and the band behind it) has a history attached to it that makes for fascinating reading (including murder, suicide and church burnings) and probably more than any other album, epitomizes what black metal was truly meant to be. Now I'm not one of those guys that says black metal should remain "true" and should never venture out into more experimental realms. Personally, I think that all genres become stale unless they broaden their influences and become a little adventurous at some point. Nor am I someone that encourages anti-authoritarian or anti-religious actions (despite my skeptical nature). But right from the outset, this wonderful little genre we call black metal was designed to be evil, inaccessible and morbidly atmospheric. De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is all of those things and has an incredible aura attached to it that's difficult to describe.

First and foremost, I think Euronymous was simply a genius when it comes to writing malevolent, cold, black metal riffs. Every track on this album has multiple cracking riffs and I wish so very much that he had been able to continue his musical vision and not been cowardly slain by Varg. Hellhammer's drumming is incredible to say the least and while every performance he has ever produced is worth listening to, I think this one is the one he will be remembered for. It's strange to read that Varg's bass lines were lowered in the mix after he murdered Euronymous as I can't say it had all that much effect. They are usually quite audible throughout the album and are certainly of a high quality. Which brings me to without doubt the most controversial aspect of De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. Attila Csihar! I'll be the first to admit that Attila's vocals are incredibly strange and at times just downright ugly. When I first heard the album way back in the mid 90s, I was put off so much by his performance that I couldn't listen to the album at all. But slowly over time I came to accept them and then somehow, to love them. Perhaps it has a lot to do with the fact that the man has since performed for many other bands and it's just a matter of getting used them. Or perhaps they're just so spasmodically strange, that it takes quite a few listens to come to grips with. Either way, these days I can't imagine this classic album with any other vocalist and I truly think his creepy, chaotic style suits the backdrop perfectly.

There are no bad tracks to be found and it's difficult to pick out highlights, but I think my personal favourites would be Funeral Fog, Freezing Moon, Pagan Fears, Life Eternal, Buried by Time and Dust and the title track. As silly as it would be to call De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas underrated (it's considered a classic by thousands all over the world), I do think it is occasionally harshly judged due to the vocals. I highly encourage any black metal fans out there that haven't yet experienced this wonderful piece of history, to make sure they don't dismiss it too easily. It's slight inaccessibility (from a vocal point of view) only adds to the package and in my opinion, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is one of the very best albums extreme metal has to offer and a near perfect example of a style that makes my life so much more enjoyable!