MAYHEM are kicking off the second leg of their European "Purgatorium"-tour that will again see the complete performance of their black metal landmark debut album 'De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas' tomorrow, March 24th at Nöjesfabriken in Karlstad, Sweden. The black onslaught will continue to ravage throughout fifteen more countries before its final curtain in Munich, Germany on the 16th of April.
Regarding this tour, legendary MAYHEM vocalist Attila Csihar commented:
"The first time I ever heard from Mayhem was in '91-'92 when I received a letter from Euronymous. I did not know that message was going to change my whole life. They were looking for a new vocalist to replace Dead on their debut album. Of course, I agreed to their offer and in 1993 we recorded 'De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas', which to me remains one of the most magical albums of all time."
The music opened some unfathomable dimensions that reached beyond what we were able to handle and it unleashed a complete chaos, which ended up at burning churches and eventually a murder within the band. It was almost impossible to release that record, but when it finally came out under the sun in '94, it left a lasting impact on the whole metal scene. The so-called "2nd wave of black metal" was born in the cold and dark underground of Oslo. At the same time MAYHEM collapsed and got burned down as well. From those ashes, the band had to rise again, when MAYHEM reunited with some old and new members. Yet that album always remained so strong and so unique that even after my reunion with MAYHEM in 2004, we were still not comfortable to present it live in full. Time passed and the whole band got stronger and more experienced. In 2016 we suddenly felt that it was time to finally play the whole record in order to unleash That Beast after more than two decades. 'De Mysteriis Dom Sathans' will soon become alive!"
MAYHEM tour
24 Mar 17 Karlstad (SE) Nöjesfabriken
25 Mar 17 Stockholm (SE) En Arena
26 Mar 17 København (DK) Amager Bio
27 Mar 17 Aarhus (DK) Train
28 Mar 17 Haarlem (NL) Patronaat
29 Mar 17 London (UK) Electric Ballroom
30 Mar 17 Manchester (UK) Club Academy
31 Mar 17 Dublin (IE) Academy
01 Apr 17 Glasgow (UK) Lord of the Land
03 Apr 17 Savigny-le-Temple (FR) L'Empreint
04 Apr 17 Lyon (FR) CCO
05 Apr 17 Lausanne (CH) Les Docks
06 Apr 17 Milano (IT) Live Club
07 Apr 17 Nova Gorica (SI) Mostovna
08 Apr 17 Wien (AT) Vienna Metal Meeting
09 Apr 17 Zagreb (HR) Vintage Club
10 Apr 17 Belgrade (RS) Dom Omladine
11 Apr 17 Sofia (BG) Mixtape5
12 Apr 17 Brasov (RO) Club Rockstadt
13 Apr 17 Athens (GR) Fuzz Club
15 Apr 17 Budapest (HU) Durer Kert
16 Apr 17 München (DE) Dark Easter Metal Meeting
MAYHEM festival
03 Aug 17 Wacken (DE) Wacken Open Air
It has been seven long years since MAYHEM released their fourth and last full-length "Ordo ad Chao". Founded as early as in 1984 in Oslo, Norway by the late and legendary frontman Øystein Aarseth aka Euronymous, bassist Jørn "Necrobutcher" Stubberud, and Kjetil "Manheim" Haraldsson on drums, the band took its name from the VENOM song "Mayhem with Mercy". Continuing and renewing the Black Metal style heralded by the English trio, MAYHEM soon became the instigators of the so called second wave and were at the heart of every controversy surrounding that genre. The suicide of misanthropic frontman Per Yngve "Dead" Ohlin. The murder of Euronymous by guest bass player "Count Grishnakh" alias the notorious Varg Vikernes. Church burnings, drugs and prison sentences, MAYHEM were always at the centre of the storm. Yet not even death could stop the Norwegians, who released one musical milestone after the other.
The incredible rawness of the "Deathcrush" EP (1987) was followed by the still iconic and genre defining "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" (1994), which featured devilish drummer Jan Axel "Hellhammer" Blomberg, who had joined in 1988. The vocalist on this album was the Hungarian Attila Csihar of TORMENTOR fame, who returned later in 2004 to take over from his meantime heir, the enigmatic original singer Sven-Erik "Maniac" Kristiansen. The latter was featured on the "Wolf's Lair Abyss" EP (1997), which was written mostly by highly talented guitarist Rune "Blasphemer" Eriksen, who scored a massive success with the highly controversial "Grand Declaration Of War" (2000). Those were followed by the more classic "Chimera" (2004) and a masterpiece of utter darkness called "Ordo Ad Chao" (2007) with Attila singing again, which inspired many bands to follow in its tracks.
MAYHEM had always witnessed many line-up changes due to the circumstances described above. Therefore even the loss of Blasphemer, who decided to focus on his other band AVA INFERI in 2008, did not stop the band. Activities mainly revolved around live shows, until the right balance was found again with the recruitment of Morten "Teloch" Iversen. The guitarist had already made a name for himself with NIDINGR, which is highly regarded amongst black metal enthusiasts yet remained mostly an underground phenomenon. Now his first compositional work with MAYHEM is unleashed and demonstrates how perfectly Teloch has captured the essence and spirit of the Norwegian legend by linking the band back to its roots, while at the same time taking a step forward into the spearhead position of the genre instead of dwelling in nostalgia. Tremble world, MAYHEM are back with a vengeance!
Line-up
Attila: vocals
Teloch: guitars
Necrobutcher: bass
Hellhammer: drums
Ghul: live guitar
More info:
https://www.facebook.com/mayhemofficial
https://www.thetruemayhem.com
