Formation and Early Years (1984-1987)
Mayhem was founded in 1984 in Langhus, Norway, by guitarist Øystein Aarseth (Euronymous), bassist Jørn Stubberud (Necrobutcher), and drummer Kjetil Manheim. The band took its name from the Venom song “Mayhem with Mercy,” reflecting their admiration for the British black metal pioneers. Mayhem’s legacy is one of extremity. Metal is extreme by nature, and black metal is probably the most extreme sub-genre of metal and Mayhem would be the most extreme band of black metal due to their rather morbid and disturbing history.
In their early years, Mayhem was never the greatest band to walk the Earth. They were sloppy, their equipment sucked, but they had drive and an obession with being the most extreme band out there. I have to say their early recordings (some live, some recorded in rough fashion) were extremely harsh and un-accessible to the untrained ear and gave the band an air of extremity beyond their experience or capability.
The Arrival of Dead and the Dark Evolution (1988-1991)
In 1988, Swedish vocalist Per Yngve Ohlin, known as Dead, joined Mayhem, along with drummer Jan Axel Blomberg (known as “Hellhammer”). Dead had previously played with black metal band Morbid but had been a fan of Mayhem’s recordings. Dead’s stage presence and obsession with death gave the band an eerie reputation. He was known for self-harm on stage and even burying his clothes in rotting soil to achieve a “corpse-like” smell. The band’s morbid view on life gained them a strong underground following even before any of their recordings were released properly.
During this period, Mayhem recorded their influential album Deathcrush, showcasing their raw, chaotic sound and cementing their place in black metal history. The album was released in 1987 but to be fair I never heard it till 1992. Even for then it was still harsh and hard to listen to for my ears. I’ve reviewed this land-mark recording and you can see this from the links just below:
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For a more complete review of Mayhem’s “Deathchrush” album, be sure to read our review here |
The Tragic Death of Dead and Euronymous’ Infamous Actions (1991)
On April 8, 1991, Dead tragically took his own life with a shotgun in a house shared with Euronymous. Instead of calling the police, Euronymous took photos of the grizzly scene and allegedly made necklaces from Dead’s skull fragments for each member of the band to wear to remember him by (In regards to this, I actually once played a show with Mayhem and whist in a van with the guys, saw the necklace in question and asked Hellbutcher about it, to which he said, “Yes, it was an actual fragment of their vocalists skull, and yes he ate a fragment of their singers brain which was spattered all over the floor”. I can expand on that story, but for the sake of this article, I won’t.). One of these photos was later used as the cover of the underground bootleg album “Dawn of the Blackhearts” which of course now is a very sought after collectable.
The events surrounding their singers suicide marked a turning point for Mayhem, fuelling the band’s already notorious reputation and setting the stage for even darker events. The death of their singer “Dead” had raised the bar with the then young scene racing for the title of the most evil band ever and Mayhem were in front. Little did they know the shitstorm this would later generate for both black metal and the media in general.
The Arrival of Varg Vikernes and the Church Burnings (1992-1993)
After Dead’s death, bassist Necrobutcher left the band. Euronymous recruited Varg Vikernes (Burzum) to play bass. During this time, the Norwegian black metal scene became notorious for a series of church burnings and violent acts, with Varg at the centre of the controversy. These events thrust the fledgling black metal scene it the international limelight with multiple churches being burnt down and at least a couple of follow on deaths by members of other bands within the scene which further propelled the scene into notoriety.
Mayhem began recording their next studio recording, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, which would later become a landmark in black metal. Their second album featured a better sound (though still well rooted in the underground trademark sound of Norway at the time) and exposed the band to a much wider audience. Norweigian Black metal was now big business and gaining press in major metal magazines and record sales around the world.
The Murder of Euronymous (1993) and the Legacy of Mayhem
On August 10, 1993, Varg Vikernes stabbed Euronymous to death in his apartment. The murder was allegedly the result of personal disputes and power struggles within the black metal scene. Varg was arrested and sentenced to 21 years in prison. Varg has since been released and contintues to record and release music to this day.
Despite these violence and death, Mayhem’s footprint on the black metal scene contintued to grow. De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas was posthumously released in 1994, becoming one of the most influential black metal albums of all time. Bassist Necrobutcher of course took back his place as the bands bassist and the story of Mayhem continued on to this present day touring the world and releasing many more albums after those.