Recent album “Liturgy of Death” causing MAYHEM

Despite the odd discourse about the direction some of their more recent albums have taken, Mayhem is by far an iconic name in black metal with good reason. Liturgy of Death, their most recent album, is reminiscent of their earlier sound. Ultimately, it's just a cornerstone band doing what they do best at their best.

Liturgy of Death dwells on the theme of mortality, as I'm sure every review will have made a comment on, but the mix of languages used in the lyrics gives a further impression. It's not uncommon for Mayhem to use multiple languages in one song, but in the context of an album exploring mortality the way one language is perfectly comprehensible to one listener but not to another demonstrates how individual experiences of death are and yet, in the same way you are not alone in (not) understanding a language, this individuality isn't isolating and elevates the album from just being a long list of doom and gloom. You can say I'm reaching, but I'm a writer by choice and a music journalist by chance so you'll have to let me lean into my actual skill set from time to time if you want a full length review.

Attila Csihar's vocals give the album a disturbing uniqueness, his voice is able to take on a character wonderfully even if that character is a gurgling zombie-maybe-Gollum-like one. In other words, there's a great creativity put into this album and it's backed by the musical talent you know and love Mayhem for.

Weep For Nothing is a stand out track to me. There's a lack of harmony in the melody that reflects the strange balance between birth and death explored in the lyrics, the two opposing ideas clashing as they become realised musically. I love the effects on the guitar (Iversen/ Hedger, mixed by Tore Stjerna) it gives it this really cold, icy sound like being lost in a snow storm and Blomberg's hammering (forgive the pun) on the drums like he's trying to send them into the next life.

Overall a good album and definitely one that will please anyone who's been a bit miffed with some of Mayhem's recent releases.

You can listen to the album Here