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Dead (L) and Euronymous (R), 1990 or 1991, in the Kråkstad house
The interview featured here with both Mayhem's Euronymous and Dead from Metalion's Slayer 'Zine is one of the most cited and infamous interviews of black metal's entire history. You've likely read portions of it already, as it's been directly quoted if not outright reprinted in every tome treating the genre, not to mention in more articles on the band and black metal in general than I'm even aware of. It is absolutely mandatory reading.
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Euronymous and Dead - Slayer 'Zine # 8 - 1991
The mythology of Mayhem has, at this point, entered into canonical legend, and I won't recount it here. Perhaps at some point I'll do a full write-up of black metal's history, but that is a different (and massive) undertaking altogether. It is, at the very least, worth pointing out that by 1991, Dead was, erm,
dead, and Euronymous followed suit in 1993. Mayhem, while having been around longer than nearly everybody else as far as "second-wave" black metal is concerned, produced surprisingly little material from 1987 to 1994 (the primary years of concern for this blog). "Freezing Moon" and "Carnage," a pair of tracks recorded in 1990 for the
Projections of a Stained Mind compilation on the Swedish Chicken Brain Records, were the only Mayhem studio recordings to feature the "classic" lineup of Euronymous (guitars), Dead (vocals), Necrobutcher (bass), and Hellhammer (drums). While featured on the aforementioned compilation, they were also released as a standalone demo by the band, and in 1995 as a vinyl only EP. They are utterly essential listening, and represent a glimpse at how
De Mysteriis Dom. Sathanas may have sounded had they recorded it prior to Dead's suicide.
Mayhem - Studio Tracks with Dead, 1990
It seems that, in some circles, revisionism abounds with respect to Mayhem and their influence, not to mention the quality of their music, but the facts remain that they were utterly seminal with respect to the Norwegian scene and black metal's entire second wave, and furthermore that their music was utterly ground-breaking and remains both draw-dropping and among the absolute best the genre has offered and will ever offer to this day.
Respect.
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| The classic lineup, probably ca. 1990 or early 1991. From L to R: Hellhammer, Dead, Euronymous, Necrobutcher. |
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| Dead, probably ca. 1990 |
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| Euronymous, probably ca. 1990 |
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| Euronymous, probably ca. 1990 |
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Dead, probably ca. 1990
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| From L to R: Euronymous, Necrobutcher, Dead, probably ca. 1988 - 1990, potentially in the Kråkstad house |
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