🎶 Mayhem
🌎Oslo, Norway
📀 Liturgy of Death
® Century Media Records
📅 06/02/2026

Anyone who searches for MAYHEM’s channel on YouTube will see that it is called “The True Mayhem”. As if one could get confused since from the first notes of “Ephemeral Eternity”, the listener knows that the descent into Hades has already begun.

MAYHEM always moved at their own speed and never fit into corporate dos and dont’s with the goal of releasing a new album every 2-3 years. Since their formation in 1984, it took 10 whole years for their first full-length album, “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas”, and in 2026 they released only their seventh. Its predecessor, “Deamon”, was released in 2019 and since then the planet has been going downhill at the speed of light. I don’t know if this was an inspiration for Necrobutcher and his company, but the atmosphere that “Liturgy of Death” exudes is so suffocating and post-apocalyptic that the album could be played on loop from the loudspeakers while the world around us collapses.

The album consists of 8 songs with an average duration of about six minutes. But in no case any of them is babbling or exaggerating. The 8 songs function like 8 small horror stories. Dense and magnificent compositions, devastating riffs and unimaginable drumming by Jan Axel Blomberg (or Hellhammer). But what stands out in “Liturgy of Death” is the almost theatrical interpretation of Attila Csihar who uses many different techniques depending on the occasion. From the characteristic growls to the ominous screams and the spoken word parts. A typical example is “Weep For Nothing” whose recitation reminds us of the huge Christopher Lee as Saruman in the movie “Lord of the Rings” while he is preparing to cast some damning spell on Middle-earth.

The tempo differs from song to song and each listener can find one that suits their own tastes. From the orgiastic, speedy “Aeon’s End” to the mid-tempo, ritualistic “Funeral Of Existence”, MAYHEM use music as a tool to create the images and emotions they want. I don’t know if they succeed in it completely or to such an extent that “Liturgy of Death” can be put on a par with their first classic albums. Certainly, however, its production is such that it reminds of something from the past since it is full and clean, but not so much that the magic of Black Metal is lost.

For someone who is not a loyal follower of MAYHEM, like myself, “Liturgy of Death” is a remarkable album of the genre that bears the band’s stamp. Tight, atmospheric, orgiastic. Comparison with the past, most of the time and for most bands, does not work in their favor so we will not go down these paths. Times change, bands evolve and grow (age-wise and otherwise) so let’s enjoy them while we can.

★ 8/10
✍🏻 Kostas Boudoukos