|
Mayhem were among the pioneers of Scandinavian black metal.
Formed in the mid 1980s by
guitarist Oystien "Euronymous" Aarseth
and
bassist Jorn "Necrobutcher" Stubberud,
they released the raw EPs
Pure Fucking Armageddon (1986)
and
Deathcrush (1987), debuting vocalist Sven-Erik "Maniac" Kristiansen.
New vocalist Per-Yngve "Dead" Ohlin committed suicide in 1991 and
Stubberud left the band, which began to indulge in pseudo-nazi postures.
Aarseth was murdered in 1993 by new bassist
Christian "Count Grishnackh" Vikernes, who played on
De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (1994).
Before the murder,
Grishnackh had already started his project Burzum (1991),
that contains lengthy super-distorted nightmares such as
Feeble Screams From Forests Unknown,
A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit and
My Journey To The Stars.
Burzum/Aske (Back On Black, 2005) reissues the first album and the first EP.
He continued to record Burzum albums while in prison, moving towards a more electronic/ambient sound:
Daudi Baldrs (1997 - Back On Black, 2005), which was the first album recorded in prison (although released only several years later) and arranged with keyboards only;
the suspenseful and otherwordly Det Som Engang (1993 - Back On Black, 2005), which unleashed the epics of En Ring Till aa Herske and
Suu Mikrokosmos Tegn while crafting the glacially surreal instrumental soundscapes of Han Som Reiste and Naar Himmelen Klarne;
Hvis Lyset Tar Oss (1994), containing only four massively droning glacial
tracks, i.e.
Det Som En Gang Var (14:21), Hvis Lyset Tar Oss (8:05),
Inn I Slottet Fra Droemmen (7:52) and Tomhet (14:12).
Burzum's masterpiece was
Filosofem (1996), containing five lengthy tracks
(particularly Dunkelheit)
plus the
25-minute monolith Rundtgaing Av Den Transcendentale Egenhetens Stotte:
besides providing the demonic vocals, Grishnackh played all the instruments, focusing less on keyboards than on guitars, layered the instruments in a suffocating manner, and set the music to a demented rhythm that subverted the accepted rules of black metal.
This phase ended with
the mini-album Hlidskjalf (1999 - Back On Black, 2005), the ideal end
of the loop, again an all-keyboards work.
Grand Declaration of War (Necropolis, 2000) marked a new beginning,
shifting the center of mass towards spoken vocals and keyboards.
Draugen (Back On Black, 2006) collects Burzum rarities.
|
(Translation by/ Tradotto da Luca Vitelli)
I Mayhem sono stai fra i pionieri del black metal scandinavo. Formatisi
nella met… degli anni 80 dal chitarrista Oystien "Euronymus" Aarseth e dal
bassista Jorn "Necrobutcher" Stubberud, realizzarono i rozzi ep PURE FUCKING
ARMAGEDDON (1986) e DEATHCRUSH (1987), con il vocalist debuttante Sven-Erik
"Maniac" Kristiansen. Il successivo cantante Per-Yngve "Dead" Ohlin si
suicido` nel 1991 e Stubberud lasci• la band, che comincio` ad indulgere in
pose pseudo-naziste. Aarseth venne assassinato nel 1993 dal nuovo bassista
Christian "Count Grishnackh" Vikernes, che suon• su DE MYSTERIIS DOM
SATHANAS (1994).
Prima dell'uccisione, Grishnackh aveva gi… cominciato il suo progetto BURZUM
(1991), che conteneva lunghi incubi come Feeble screams from forests
unknown, A Lost forgotten sad spirit, e my journey to the stars, e ha
continuato a registrare album mentre era in prigione, muovendosi verso un
sound pi— electronic/ambient: DET SOM ENGANG VAR (1993), album pieno di
suspence, che aggiunge le epiche di En Ring Till aa Herske e Suu Mikrokosmos
Tegn e i surreali passaggi sonori di Han Som Reiste e Naar Himmelen Klarne,
HVIS LYSET TAR OSS (1994), contiene solo quattro tracce, i.e. Det Som Engang
Var (14:21), Hvis Lyset Tar Oss (8:05), Inn I Slottet Fra Droemmen (7:52) e
Tomhet (14:12), FILOSOFEM (1996) contiene cinque canzoni pi— il monolite da
25 minuti Rundtgaing Av Den Trascendentale Egenhetens Stotte. Questa fase si
conclude con i mini albums DAULDI BALDRS (1997), arrangiato con il solo uso
di tastiere, e HLIDSKJAFF (1999). GRAND DECLARATION OF WAR (2000) segna una
nuova partenza, spostando il centro sul massiccio uso di vocals parlate e
tastiere.
|
