Mayhem – Southampton Engine Rooms
Murder, church burnings, satanic rituals and dubious far-right tendencies. These are among just a few reasons to stay clear of bands such as Mayhem. Largely responsible for creating the Norwegian Black Metal scene in the late 80’s, their offstage antics have become notorious worldwide. Yet, take away the disturbing back story and it’s impossible not to acknowledge the impact Mayhem have had on the music scene.
Mortiis
Mortiis – Engine Rooms, Southampton 2022
Again, no stranger to controversy, fellow Norwegian Håvard “Mortiis” Ellefsen is a one-time member of Emperor. The band whose past drummer Faust committed murder, having happily stabbed his unprovoked victim 37 times only to be re-hired after his 14 years in prison. Whereas, I’d like to think Mortiis as a solo artist had long since distanced himself somewhat.
Standing alone behind a desk in his trademark latex mask, pointy ears and dreadlocks, Mortiis supported Mayhem in Southampton with a soundscape of eerie Dungeon Synth with occasional vocals thrown in.
Backed with bleak imagery projected behind him, Mortiis recreated elements from his album “Spirit of Rebellion“. The dark medieval electronica was brought alive by Tim Van Horn sporadically hitting 3 floor drums and a single symbol in perfect timing. Altogether, creating a set that ended up being visually compelling and musically intense.
Mayhem
Mayhem – Engine Rooms, Southampton 2022
Since the early suicide of vocalist Dead and the murder of guitarist Euronymous (by former bandmate Varg Vikernes), Necrobutcher on bass has remained the band’s only original member. Although the mighty Hellhammer has been pounding drums since 1987 and guitarists Teloch and Ghul have both become longstanding members. Then there’s the theatrical stage presence and extreme vocals of Attila Csiher.
Attila was always pivotal in the group’s formative years as well as having re-joined in 2004. Dominating the stage with a voice as evil as the music, Mayhem launched into a set split into 3 sections.
Act 1 consisted of more recent material, in which the band blasted effortlessly through 6 or 7 tracks with immense ferocity. It also soon became clear that despite a couple of less savoury characters, a pit at a Black Metal concert remained a relatively safe place for those willing to dive into the chaos.
De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
There was absolutely no let-up until a brief pause before Act 2 commenced. During which several tracks were taken from the genre-defining classic and fan-favourite “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas“. Regardless of all their wrongdoings, this was an insanely good gig.
Carrying on as a band possessed, Act 3 consisted of songs from the “Deathcrush” EP alongside a couple of recent tracks. Either way, whichever era Mayhem offered up, it was all brutally heavy. The speed of some of those riffs, the onslaught of Hellhammer’s drums and the screams of frontman Atilla. Both musically and visually speaking, this was one hell of an experience.
Not to mention the abundance of corpse paint, various stage props, costume changes and indoor pyrotechnics. Albeit luckily no pigs’ heads are thrown into the audience these days. All of which contributed to a fantastic show, without any satanic sacrifices or churches being harmed in the process.
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