Artist: Mayhem
Country: Norway
Label: Century Media / Darkness Shall Rise Productions
Formats: LP / Cassette Tape / CD
Year: 2026
More than any other Black Metal scene, the Norwegians have shown that it not only comprises a large group of visionary bands, but that this same group of bands is also creative to such an extent that it has shaped the direction of Black Metal as a genre on more than one occasion. If you take Darkthrone and Enslaved as two examples, this illustrates the point made above; one often seems intent on rushing backwards in time, whilst the other is adding an ever-wider palette of colours to its increasingly progressive sound. Mayhem is one of such bands too. This band’s whole discography evolves quite naturally from one album to another, but listening to individual albums shows a band that is ever consequent in pushing the musical boundaries with not losing one tiny bit of their quality.
The announcement of a new Mayhem album can therefore always count on attracting a great deal of attention. Friends and foes alike look forward to it; the purists will continue to complain that the band has now strayed too far from its original sound, whilst others can’t wait to add the new album to their collection. The fact that there is no shortage of (commercial) attention surrounding Mayhem is evidenced by the enormous number of box sets, live recordings and obscure rehearsal LPs that have surfaced in recent years via labels such as Peaceville Records. It’s as if every stray fart from Dead or Euronymous has to be pressed onto vinyl. That does a great disservice to the band’s mystique and legendary status, but there’s no denying that a new Mayhem album still sets hearts racing.
‘Liturgy Of Death’, the band’s latest offering from a couple of months back, is no difference. The benefit of reviewing this sort of record a little later as opposed to try to be the first one, is that you can let an album sink in a bit more and, more specifically, you can see others quarrel over it. This seventh album is no exception to Mayhem’s power to divide Black Metal fans. But, listening to it as objectively as possible, it is very hard to deny that ‘Liturgy Of Death’ is the band’s best record in a quite some time.
If we leave aside the ultimate classic releases such as the ‘Deathcrush’ mini-LP (1987) and ‘De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas’ (1994), you could almost list the controversies on a per-release basis: the addition of vocalist Maniac, the overly industrial sound and atmosphere of ‘Grand Declaration Of War’ (2000), Maniac’s departure and Attila Csihar’s return, the inscrutability of albums such as ‘Ordo Ad Chao’ (2007) and, above all, ‘Esoteric Warfare’ (2014), and now the deluge of pointless (re)releases – a crime of which Darkthrone is also guilty. You could easily fill a whole book with it.
Nevertheless, when listening to ‘Liturgy Of Death’, it is clear that the band is evolving at a natural pace and through logical steps. It is certainly possible to describe albums such as the aforementioned ‘Esoteric Warfare’ and the penultimate ‘Daemon’ (2019) as inaccessible and, across the board, downright difficult. This latest album could actually be described as the superlative of those two albums, but in a positive sense. It captures all the aspects that made those two albums quintessentially Mayhem, yet ‘Liturgy Of Death’ is significantly more accessible. Which is quite an achievement in itself, as the defiant riffs and unorthodox twists and turns the band navigates have not disappeared or even been toned down in the slightest. Mayhem’s main gain lies in the much fuller and more organic sound.
This simply underlines once again the fact that Mayhem are still a band that are willing and able to further develop their own sound, and who view stagnation as regression. Furthermore, however much I personally love the albums featuring Blasphemer on guitar, I think it’s fair to say objectively that this is musically the best line-up Mayhem has ever had, and one that has remained stable since the early 2010s. Not only does the band seem to be increasingly better aligned, but they also bring out the best in one another, both musically and creatively.
A more homogeneous sound, combined with equally unpredictable musical content, almost automatically results in a better album. Of course, opinions are still divided, but personally I would say that this is the best Mayhem album since 2004’s ‘Chimera’, which, with its very different sound, is also harder to compare with Mayhem anno 2026. It is not only the more convincing, natural balance between sound and complexity, but also the much better harmony between all the instruments and vocals. In short, in contrast to Darkthrone, which is becoming increasingly dull and pointless, Mayhem proves that it is still a long way from its expiration date.
