Metal Reviews

Nerd. Generally people who respond to opinions with "Fail" are gigantic nerds who don't even understand metal.

If you don't feel Maniac's vocals you don't understand black metal. They are the definition of black metal.

Coincidentally, if memory serves me correctly Emperor and Immortal as well as payed tribute to them with covers. While Ulver is seemingly only now getting the credit they've worked for in those earlier years, I don't personally see Nattens Madrigal and Bergtatt rising to the level of importance as De mysteriis dom Sathanas. This withstanding I have nothing against Emperor or older Ulver, and musically speaking one can expect nothing more than the musicianship of their older work to be at best rushed and chaotic. A significant aspect of appreciation comes from understanding the atmospheric of the work, and Mayhem's older recordings are no different to Emperor's or Darkthrone's magnificent albums as they all evoke hostility.

I see Emperor as more musically important than Mayhem, but I also see the catalyst influence of Mayhem as being critical too.

Old Mayhem more influential than Ulver? Agreed, at least for Bergtatt. What else sounds like Bergtatt? Older Wyrd? A slight influence on old Opeth or Agalloch is traceable, but a bit of a stretch. But when this forum tried to reach a consensus on best black metal album ever way back in 2005, Bergatt came out on top.

Euronymous signed Enslaved and Sigh, and was on the verge of signing Rooting Christ to his label before his death. I don't doubt that had he lived Mayhem's musical output would have on the whole been better.

every Mayhem release is top notch black metal

I never really got the whole Mayhem thing. The only album of theirs I even kinda like is A Grand Declaration of War.

you haven't been listening to metal long enough then

Meh

I wasn't so big into black metal until I was locked up in a mental institution for 6 weeks and couldn't even listen to music until they let me have a little radio thing where I could listen to the radio.

THEN I HEARD MAYHEM..


AND IT WAS LIKE....



DEATH

No, because 'communism' equals 'delusion'.

Moving on, Maniac was the weakest vocalist Mayhem ever had. I consider Dead to be the best. To say that Maniac's vocals are "the definition of black metal" is both uninformed and a bit self-aggrandising, seeing as how you stated that you do the same vocals. I just hope you don't make a fool of yourself in public as much as your idol does.

For what it's worth, Nocturno Culto is the definitive black metal vocalist for me.

Mayhem on the radio, in a mental institution?

You're a tool.

Mayhem on the radio is what boggles me. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest would've been so much more intense.

"Hmm, what shall we do with this young man?"
"Lock him in a room, and give him a radio!"

Yay for mental health institutions.

I took a vote here on the subject more recently and Nightside Eclipse came out way on top.

Heres a question black metallers:

You can prevent one person from dying via time machine, Dead or Euronymous. Who would you save?

Euronymous, because Dead would just try to kill himself again. Duh.

Euronymous, to keep the world safe without these horrible Burzum prision records.

Smartarse

Interesting. I love both albums pretty equally but I wonder Nightside moved ahead of Bergtatt. Perhaps that Bergtatt just didn't seem to have much of an influence?

Yup. Euronymous, so Varg's sentence would have been shorter. Other than that, not much. Maybe prolong Dead's life a bit to feature on DMDS.

I wish I had the same perspective on Dead's vocal performance as you did. As I find him to be just an average death/thrash vocalist from that time period, Maniac on the other hand is a vocalist I admire a great deal. Regardless of what anyone thinks of his vocal and abstract lyrical approach, that shrieky hoarse style and his monlogues are something I find rather different. Nocturno Culto is also just a vocalist that is passable as well, with the exception of his performance on Transilvanian hunger which defines how a black metal vocalist should at least in practice sound like.

Live In Leipzig has Dead performing songs from De Mysteriis... as does the Mayhem/Meads of Asphodel split.

Attila did a great job on DMDS but Dead would have been at least as good if not better. He was only 21 (I think) when he killed himself. Certainly had time to hone his craft still.