It’s become increasingly more popular of late for bands to play albums in their entirety live and if it is one with historic importance, why not in my opinion. Fans enjoy it and generally it is a draw that’s enough to have show’s selling out, so it’s a win all round for everyone involved. Hell even us writers occasionally like the fact that we don’t have to stand there scratching our heads and wondering what the set list is as believe it or not we don’t always have an encyclopaedic knowledge of everything. You could say it takes a certain spontaneity out of things but with a band like Mayhem you never know quite what they have in store for us and what (ahem) mood the players are likely to be in or what outlandish gear Atilla is going to be wearing. On first announcement that the band were going to play what is highly regarded by many as the most important and best black metal album of all time De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas in its entirety, I am sure that it was only destined to be a very few select shows. This included one UK outing at Temples Fest which went completely tits up and saw them doing it to a few lucky punters at the Fleece in Bristol. The rest of us here thought we had completely missed out but obviously shows were such a success the band have gone on to tour it extensively with festival dates, a US and Canada tour in Jan-Feb and a European one in March-April including London Electric Ballroom on 29/3/17. If you have lived under a rock and don’t have the album or wondering what it is possibly going to sound like the group have also gone and self released the album performed live and in its entirety recorded in Norrkjöping Sweden 18.12.2015 at Black Christmass Festival.

I’m surely already preaching to the perverted telling you what the original is like but here as soon as Hellhammer rolls in and mightily pounds his kit on the opening salvo of ‘Funeral Fog’ (fitting as a pea-souper is my outside accompaniment to this as I write) it is quickly evident that production wise things here pack an almighty punch. Guitars and bass furrow away and vocals venomously rise from the depths in necrotic fashion as Atilla starts his ghastly sermon to all that is cold and dead. It’s brash and bruising as well as cold and sinister, the melody and skeletal guitar work comes through slithering out sinuously courtesy of Ghul and Teloch and the atmosphere is palpable and deadly. A track by track dissection is hardly necessary, the album is naturally played consecutively as on original release and there is no chopping or changing of things as they play it all straight. Certain definitions do catch attention such as a massive cymbal crash culminating the first number and grinding grating bass runs from Necrobutcher who really keeps the bottom end rumbling in style and hoping coat things in a crusty doom tinged tangent on songs such as the foul and fetid ‘Life Eternal’

All that’s missing here is what you will get at the gigs themselves. The sound is as meaty as the carcasses they will no doubt be littering the stage with at select shows and the stench of unwashed bodies and stale beer should be absent too unless you are sitting at home like a foul stenchy bastard listening to it. I am guessing that the more the band play the album live the tighter things will get although even back here things sound well co-ordinated and tight. Of course the opposite could be true and I am sure some shows will have a chaotic element to them keeping everyone on their toes. See you on the road Mayhem, judging by this it’s bound to be a blast!

(8.5/10 Pete Woods)

https://www.facebook.com/mayhemofficial

https://mayhemofficial.bandcamp.com/album/de-mysteriis-dom-sathanas-alive