Mayhem Album: “Grand Declaration of War [LP]”

This is truly is a masterpiece concept album that explores several genres of music, not just black metal.

Too complex for most people to understand and that is what Mayhem really stands for - separating the idiots from the intellectuals.

every mayhem release brings something new to the black metal genre and is always different from its preceeding release, and there are only four studio releases for all we know. quite little material indeed and it makes one think how could a band with only four studio releases, define and redefine the genre with every new album they make. Mayhem was surely lacking a lot in musicianship, back in 87 but what they lacked in, they made up for it with the honesty of their music. every time. "Purists" will say what they want and that would only add to their silly attitude. every Mayhem release is hair raising in its own right and Grand Declaration... is no different. The techno arrangements on track 7 makes this section of the album 10 times blacker an nihilistic. the band improves in songwriting and musicianship with every new studio effort and i can never get enough of the maniac's twisted philosophical preachings on 'view from nihil', while the rest of the band unleashes a nuclear holocaust pulling forth from the guitar, bass and drums and spilling from your sound system's tortured speakers. some would laugh if i said that mayhem's music is emotional (at least for me). other simply wouldnt understand. on this album they have created a gripping post nuclear war atmosphere (especially when the 200mph double bass drumming abruptly ceases and you're left with a void like you're the only one left to witness the oppressing nothingness around you) and the listener is left to imagine the wrenching demise of humanity and its tinny beliefs. a very controversial release which i felt i had to review after listening to it for nearly 3 years now. I've been listening to all kinds of extreme metal since 1993 and based on my modest experience i've come to understand that "purist" is another term for "narrow-minded". my music collection includes the blackest of black metal (graveland, ildjarn, mayhem, darkthrone...) along with mainstream artists that are definitely worth a listen (loreena mckennitt, lustmord, mortiis, tori amos...). Let's return to our review for now and highly recommend you mayhem's latest; this is intelligent music done by musicians in constant maturity. all hail!

I got this right after it came out last year and was BLOWN AWAY! This album is superb! It tells of a war in rebellion to the ideals imposed on individuals by society (could THAT be a possible start for WWIII?) and the sftermath of that war. What could have been a pretentious "look how sophisticated WE are" concept album is actually backed up by equally sophisticated music and lyrics. An intense listen, overall, and Mayhem's best (In my opinion!). For all those who gripe about the non "trueness" of this release, shut up! I could take my four track and make a "true" album (and probably get distro on...labels like No Colours) in a day or two. Stuff this good takes thought and planning. For those into the "evil" aspect of BM, there is plenty to find here (if you look below the surface) and for those into intelligent, genre-bending music, look no furthur! Mayhem have succeeded where many have failed... They have made a totally modern (post-modern?) album of fantastic dimensions and fantastic content. The best of 2000?

At first, this album begins where WLA left off- Literally and figuratively. The riff used for the end of Symbols of Bloodswords appears twice- in the opener, A Grand Declaration of War, and at the end of The View From Nihil, and this album is parts two and three of some sort of series about a grand war against Christianity, whereas WLA was part one. The riffs are even more mindblowing than the ones on WLA, and the production, while being very clean, cleaner than that of WLA (And WLA was uncomfortably clean for most Mayhem fans) but it's still very aggressive, with lots of mids and highs, and very cutting tone to the guitars and drums. Maniac's voice, while being a tad high pitched, is easy to get used to. And the drumming is so fast, I can't even replicate it in my mind. Yes, it's that fast. It puts every single album Mayhem made before and after this to shame.

The album, as I said, began with the same riff that WLA left off with, and the drums are in military style (lots of snare rolls, less neccessary than otherwise) and it will occasionally cut out- but that just helps the thing, because it's supposed to be a grand declaration of war. It then pauses for a microsecond, then goes into a speed inferno called "It Lies Where Upon You Lay" and slows down (don't worry, the riffs are still razor sharp and continue at high speed) but the drumming doesn't, but that just adds variety. The song abruptly cuts off, and goes into and even FASTER song called "A Time To Die" which is breathtaking in its speed. And when you think it's fast enough, it speeds up. And then it cuts out very abruptly, and then the snare rolls start up again, this time for "The View From Nihil", where Maniac, with slight distortion on his voice, (as if speaking through a megaphone) starts into a philosophical rant, as if he's indoctrinating us with some message, then the drums go into unforeseen and unprecendented speed and aggression, then it goes ahead a track (although it's still The View From Nihil) and goes into the opening riff again, this time with speeding drums. Then, all of a sudden, after the famous quote "I came not to send peace, but a sword, and I have made WAR!!!" And then a giant explosion happens, and you're left with nothing, just an odd ringing. The silence is incredibly unnerving, and it leaves you feeling cold, empty, and dead- exactly how it intends for you to feel. And that's the end of part two.

Part three begins with an oddly synthesized voice from Maniac, saying some odd gibberish, and then it goes into an electronic track. It's kinda weird, and totally non-mayhem and non-black metal, but it fits the album well. The feeling of post war destruction that began with the explosion in part two continues with the sounds of rushing winds and dust storms, and it then ends and goes into "Crystallized Pain In Destruction", a very fast riffed song with mid paced, albiet very technical, drumming, which just gets fast towards the end, and then cuts out, again, leaving you with nothing. In the middle of that song, the drumming slows a tad, and the riffs are spaced out and empty, and the feeling of emptiness continues into the next song, which is slow, but agonizing (Hence the title, Completion of Science in Agony) where it cuts out after about 7 minutes, still having the post war feel, with choirs (yes you heard right- at least they were men's choirs) going. And then it heads into the ending track, To Daimonion. Done live, it's disappointing. Done on this album, a bit slower than they do it live, and it satisfies, and signifies victory over the war scarred and fellout land and the end of the war against christianity. A hidden track and a little voice thing signify an epilogue, and then you feel the incredible destruction and post war fallout. It's so real and empty, it makes you agoraphobic, even in your own bedroom or your car. Even the smallest of spaces becomes to large, because the feel of this album is emptiness, as if you are in a vast, war scarred wasteland. There is nothing, and you are scared, lest there be something. A sense of evilness lurks in the background, but in the end, you realize there is nothing, and you are alone. ALONE!!! And those words ring out in your ears until you realize that it's only an album, that it's not real. But it still is unnerving, in how much it makes you feel alone and empty. And I don't mean alone in the sense that nobody is there for you or that nobody loves you. I mean alone in the sense that this album makes you feel as if you are the ONLY- and I mean ONLY- human left after the war. As if you are truly alone, and there is not only nobody there FOR you, but there is nobody there, PERIOD. Not reccommended for agoraphobics.

This album is Mayhem's most effortful album, and it shows. It will blow you away, and I put it in company of albums such as Emperor's Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire and Demise, and Borknagar's Empiricism. As a little side note, though, if you only appreciate tr00 and kvlt black metal, you won't like this, because, while being more metal than any of Mayhem's previous albums,it's not quite as black. Either way, it blows you away, and I am impressed with it.

It's hard to describe and to make honour to this modern brutal masterpiece, Mayhem has evoled.. since it's ''new'' line up.. the band got more and more technical... its not diferent this time...after all the stuff you all know.. (suicide , murder, church burnings , cannibalist etc)the originators of the true Norwegian Black Metal are back with this wonderfully technical and ideologicaly innovative album... Hellhammer's drummer is ''just'' the BEST I've ever listened to in metal... the variety is killer, the speed is unbelievable,I mean.. he got 100 times better in some years (not ''only 10X as someone said) in guitars... there he is.. BLASPHEMER (ex-Aura Noir) the guy who follows Hellhammer's technique in this records... vrey catchy riffs and top speed and precision, Necrobutcher is still handling the bass pretty well and Maniac... he is the crazy [one] behind the fantastic speech moments and in the possessed classic ones too... he is trully ManiaC , in the end Ill give it 5 stars for it's innovation and fantastic precision, all hail the new (old) Mayhem!