MAYHEM · Esoteric Warfare | BLACK 2LP

Black double vinyl in gatefold sleeve.

Background information about 'Esoteric Warfare'

Seven long years after "Ordo Ad Chao" shook the metal world to its core, Mayhem returns with their fifth studio offering that's equal parts devastating and disorienting.This is the band's first album with Teloch on guitar since Blasphemer's departure from the band in 2008, and man, does this new blood inject some serious venom into the Norwegian legends' sound.The lyrics focus less on the classically Satanic themes of the band's early work, instead referring to occult and conspiracy theory concepts such as psychic powers, mind control and alien tampering with human evolution- we're talking proper mind-bending territory here that'll leave you questioning reality itself.

The album opens with "Watchers" -where Hellhammer's position at the forefront of the Mayhem sound is immediately apparent, his double-tap kick-drum attack reaches its signature warp-speed pacebefore diving into atmospheric passages that showcase the band's evolved dynamics."Esoteric Warfare" is filled with ebbs and flows evident from the opening track which becomes slow and sparse in the middle before blasting off again. Attila Csihar's vocals remain as unhinged as ever -there is nothing more disquieting, more utterly effective than the voice of Attila Csihar, he encapsulates the very zeitgeist of genocide in the liquor and nicotine embalmed tissues of his syrinx. Tracks like "Trinity" and "Posthuman" demonstrate the band's willingness to experiment while keeping that signature Mayhem brutality intact.

For fans of:
Emperor, Darkthrone, Thorns, and 1349

Track listing

LP 1:
A1. Watchers
A2. Psywar
B1. Trinity
B2. Pandaemon
B3. MILAB

LP 2:
C1. VI.Sec.
C2. Throne Of Time
C3. Corpse Of Care
D1. Posthuman
D2. Aion Suntelia

Manufacturer: Sasu Soundworks Sarl, 126 Boulevard Bara, Heliopolis 2, Lot B4, 13013 Marseille, France, Contact: www.season-of-mist.com