Mayhem: Tales of Death, Life and Darkness
Norwegian metal masters MAYHEM have just returned with their latest album Liturgy Of Death and it is a typically formidable collection of pure black metal. We had the pleasure of talking to vocalist Attila Csihar to talk all things MAYHEM and the brilliant new album.
We commence with Attila talking about the new album and how huge it is in its outlook and execution. “I think the theme is grandiose, at least from my side, being the composer of the lyrics The music is embracing the whole heritage of MAYHEM. I feel it’s like a culmination of every album, and it’s definitely huge.”
Attila the touched on the lyrics for Liturgy Of Death and what inspired them. “I really inspire everyone to walk an individual path, don’t follow. When I did the lyrics, at that time, I was reading some stories, man. I read Epictetus. I love him. He’s one of the best philosophers. I think also Seneca. They were influencing me at that time.”
With the theme of death being a major part of the songs on the album, Attila explained how death is ever present, and how that inspires him. “When I was a kid, I just felt like it’s fascinating. Also, I thought it was very scary! Then you have these romantic thoughts about fires and stuff for life eternal. Because of my music or because of my art, I don’t remember any day when I didn’t have this thought that we’re gonna die. I think it’s a good thing to go and think about it like, okay, maybe this is my last day, and it’s important to know what it means. I think that we should at least be aware of it, and also we should never forget our time is limited on this place, and to do what matters to you.”
With a tour with MARDUK and IMMOLATION fast approaching, Attila told of his excitement surrounding taking the songs of Liturgy Of Death to the stage. “I’m really looking forward to it. MARDUK and IMMOLATION is a great package, if you are into this kind of music, The new show. I will have a new costume, this crown. It’s gonna be something new and it’s gonna be the evolution from the forty years anniversary tour, so it’s gonna be great.”
With MAYHEM‘s live show, Attila tells of how important the visual side of the band is when they play live. “The visual apart is important, and it’s always gonna be like that, with MAYEM and with my art.” Aside from his work with MAYHEM, Attila has worked with the likes of SUNN O))) and Jarboe as well as recent collaborations with Iggor Cavalera and FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY‘s Rhys Fulber, and we talked about the varied aspects of his work. “The most important thing for me is to try and be as diverse as possible. Jarboe was amazing and SUNN O))) was another amazing experience but it started to affect my hearing. It was way too loud! The stuff with Iggor and Rhys is kind of following in those steps, because it’s experimental, kind of the similar crowd of Sunn O)))”.
Attila then jokes about how he fits everything in! “I can’t even tell you how many albums I made in my life! I love to listen to music and create!”
Talk then turned to the Lords Of Chaos movie, that MAYEHM obviously play a huge part in, and how the experience of Atilla’s own son playing him came about. “When we heard about the movie, we were like, we don’t want any movie about us. Especially not some crap, so we totally closed our doors but it happened. Jonas Akerlund is a pretty cool guy, he used to play drums in BATHORY. I was on tour and phoned home, and then hey, guess what your son’s gonna play you!”
Attila then talked about making MAYHEM’s legendary debut album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. “It was a really intense time, and of course, one of the most important times in my career and life, which I couldn’t see at that time. Actually I didn’t know about MAYHEM until they approached me. In my first band TORMENTOR, we are still doing things too, my name was Mayhem, so that was a strange sign. I heard the Deathcrush album and I heard later that Euronymous, he really wanted to release TORMENTOR, that was part of his approach and then he invited me to MAYHEM. We were so young, but I was like, this is something else. This is something fucking really cool, so futuristic, something I never heard about before. The drumming of Hellhamner was mind blowing. I was listening to SLAYER. But this was like the next level!”
Attila then spoke of the staying power of MAYHEM, despite all that the band have been through, and how their founding guitarist is still with them in dark spirit. “I got very much into the music, and there was always a bunch of craziness, with the church burnings and all the rest, like murders and suicide and all this shit. It was pretty, pretty dark. We are still here, and Euronymous is with us. I always invoke him every night, and every show, is a ritual for me in that sense too.”
We end things with Attila telling of the legacy of MAYHEM and how their beliefs have stayed the same after all these years. “I still think it’s cool to challenge religions. I am very happy that black metal is so huge. We were right. Organised religions are bullshit. They just make conflict, and actually, they are evil.”
Liturgy of Death is out now via Century Media Records. View this interview, alongside dozens of other killer bands, in glorious print magazine fashion in DS128 here:
For more information on MAYHEM like their official page on Facebook.