It’s hard to forget the last time Mayhem played this venue back in Dec 2010. They brought blizzards of snow with them meaning many fans and even support bands were stranded and unable to get here. Suitably grim it was too. Today though, after the obvious earlier postponement of the show, it’s the polar opposite and we are sweltering in sunshine fierce enough to cause corpse-paint to melt and making wearing black a touch uncomfortable. Taking respite inside the Academy first up is local support Barshasketh.

I say local but their journey started in New Zealand before upping sticks and reconvening in Scotland. The quartet are crammed in at the front of the stage with little space to move around as they launch into ‘Ruins I’ from their latest self-titled album. It was ruinous, indeed due to the sound levels, hitting like a sledgehammer and decimating the front rows. It was obvious we were going to be more than a little deaf in the morning. Blast beats rain down, bass chunkily adds to the backbone, guitars weave and vocals snarl and snap. Things level out and are adjusted and we get a fully hostile and clinical attack perfectly illuminated by cold blue lighting.

Thorny guitar parts twist and turn adding atmosphere whilst the drums clatter away driving the pace but by now the intricacies are coming through loud and clear and the occasional slower parts during songs like ‘Resolve’ have us somewhat mesmerised before the next cleaving attack. No doubt new to many, I had caught this lot once before and there was recognition with the ghoulish and macabre grandeur of ‘Ophidian Henosis III’, proving a perfect match for inclusion on this date. The short and volatile set seemed to go down well with those in the rapidly filling venue and the band most certainly held their own here this evening.

It’s been years since I last saw Mortiis at some long-forgotten underground venue somewhere under railway arches in London. He was slaying vampires at the time, smelling the rain and in full on Goth mode. Tonight, was going to be a totally different affair and we were taken back in time to the dungeon-synth era of yore, one that Håvard Ellefsen was a founding father of as a much younger gnome. Having said that it is the latest album ‘Spirit Of Rebellion’ that we got in entirety tonight, this was an album that’s genesis spreads back to 1995’s ‘Ånden som gjorde opprør’ and was originally intended to be a re-recording of that work before mutating into something new. There is a huge sense of stirring nostalgia here and it sounds wonderful every note embellished and ringing loud and clear. Choral parts sweep away as buttons are manipulated and our masked Morlock is somewhat hidden behind his control panels making it rather difficult to see him properly. Dragged into fantasy land, the music does the talking admirably as we are enriched by the first of two epic numbers ‘A Dark Horizon.’ There are some occasional vocals but it is the music that truly fixates.

Just as we are getting into the swing of things the drama is suitably ramped up by a drummer in devilish mask hitting a kit at the side in a blur of motion and cavorting around like he was making some kind of Mephistophelean pact behind the swirling ice. The second part of this symphonic soundtrack is ‘Visions of an Ancient Future’ and the drums bounce around as people strain for a view. Its rammed now, if a dragon is unleashed the place will be a blast furnace with no chance of escape. Watching from above it’s an entrancing experience and easy to lose oneself in the stirring orchestral sound. I’m glad I saw this side of Mortiis live, outside the normal bedroom setting and think that it would be fantastic to witness at a festival just as the sun goes down and the sky turns a deep shade of crimson.

Nothing has stopped Mayhem dodging diseases and tearing through the USA and now Europe since bands have been allowed back on the road and tonight is the last of several shows on UK soil. Apart from Hellhammer’s massive drum kit the stage is stripped back as the rest of the group troop on to massive applause. All eyes are on what frontman Attila Csihar is going to be wearing and tonight it’s a mix of red priestly garb and black netting. The Daemonic ‘Falsified and Hated’ passes in a savage blur, the new material striking as utterly relentless in the live format and knocking us aback. Clarity is formed as we sweep back to the electronic war era with ‘To Daimonion’ which is a hugely welcome inclusion to the set. Attila absolutely nails the vocal parts although one cannot help remembering a staggering pigs-head and knives display of these songs at Wacken by former frontman Maniac.

I finally get the chance to take in the rest of the players. Stage right and in good lighting are Necrobutcher and Teloch, jousting with each other on guitar and bass. Atilla sticks to the shadows like a grim necromancer and to his left is guitarist Ghul suitably painted and looking like some kind of alien visitor from a strange planet. The set swings between newer material and old classics, no Norse nostalgia act here. ‘Bad Blood’ is absolutely vicious, ‘My Death’ a graven funeral rite before a quick change into robes sees ‘Freezing Moon’ and ‘Pagan Fears’ taking us back to the past. Attila is as theatrical as ever and keeps us entertained with various stage props, treading the boards with a cross of bones, dangling a noose and holding a skull aloft. Back in eagles nest vantage point one can take in the hemmed throng below. The centre of the pit looks bruising, people swept up and battling ferociously away.

Back to basics, drums roll out in a well recognisable rolling tattoo and the frontman is back in metalpunk gear to lead us through the unholiest rigours of the Deathcrush EP. The bass swaggers, the masses are driven further into brutalising each other and many are no doubt on the verge of collapse as 90 minutes or so after starting Mayhem conclude with Pure Fucking Armageddon.

There were some glazed faces on the tube platform after this potent display, those that I managed to speak to seemed in agreement that Mayhem totally slew tonight. Next stops Germany and Holland, no rest for the wicked quite yet!

(Pete Woods)