ALBUM REVIEW: Daemon – Mayhem

You’d be hard pressed to find any other band with a history as shocking and well documented of MAYHEM. With a biography including murder, suicide, church burnings and a genre-defining debut album, it’s no surprise the band are one of, if not the, most recognisable names in black metal. Despite forming in 1984, the legendary outfit only released their ironclad classic De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas a full decade later in 1994, with no other albums to follow until the 21st century. Five years on from their fifth record, Esoteric Warfare, and 25 years after their classic debut, MAYHEM return once more with their sixth album, Daemon.

The creation of Daemon came on the back of an extensive period of celebration for MAYHEM, with the band playing De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas in full at every show. This prelude to their sixth record proved to be incredibly important, as prior the band had gone through an intense period of experimentation that received mixed reviews at best. However, the celebration shows of De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas have clearly bled into the band’s veins, and greatly influenced Daemon. The end result is a record far closer to their debut than anything MAYHEM have released in over 20 years.

This is clear right from the opening moments of Daemon, with MAYHEM thrusting straight for the jugular with The Dying False King. Though touches of groove and atmosphere bleed through, and the Gregorian style of chanted vocals towards the track’s close is a nice new addition to the band’s sonic arsenal, this is for the most part a furious blast of classic black metal. This return to the roots style bleeds through much of the record. Bad Blood is eviscerating, with some killer solo work to boot; Aeon Daemonium is heavy on the atmosphere, creating a sonic hellscape as it blasts through its six minute run time; and if the furious double tap of single Of Worms and Ruins and closer Invoke the Oath doesn’t have you reaching for black candles and Googling directions to your nearest church then there’s something very wrong indeed.

However, to suggest that MAYHEM are merely rehashing the classic sound of their debut would be a gross characterisation. There is still plenty of deviation from the De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas template throughout Daemon – albeit, not to the same extent as Ordo ad Chao or Esoteric Warfare. Agenda Ignis is largely built upon a bass heavy, jarring progression while lead single Worthless Abominations Destroyed is almost entirely instrumental, save for Attila‘s anguished groans, Gregorian chants and a brief vocal attack near the song’s climax. Highlight moment Falsified and Hated is a top notch, furious affair of blackened ferocity, with some unexpected but not unwelcome synth and a restrained, haunting interlude around the mid way point.

For fans who are, perhaps naively, expecting MAYHEM to come storming out the gate with their strongest album to date, disappointment lies this way. De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas was the product of a moment in time, and can never be recaptured. However, taken on its own merits rather than a comparison to a release old enough to have graduated university, Daemon is a blindingly great time. It lacks a bit of memorability, and is noticeably devoid of hooks, but really, if you’re expecting big singalong choruses you’re in the wrong place entirely. Masterful songcraft, a return to the roots of the band’s style and a hunger to keep pushing the sound forward, without deviating too far from what makes MAYHEM MAYHEM, Daemon proves to be one of the most pleasant surprises in 2019’s already stellar black metal catalogue.

Rating: 8/10

Daemon is out now via Century Media Records. 

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