Report

Mayhem Reigns Over London With Marduk And Immolation

Europe often gets treated to amazing metal lineups. Be it at a festival or a tour, there's usually an exciting combination of bands joining forces to thrill the continent (especially in Germany.) Sadly, thanks largely to some ridiculous politics decisions over the last ten years, the United Kingdom is beginning to get left behind on this front, as it's becoming too expensive for artists to come to our grey, piss stained island. So, when three of extreme metal's fiercest names come together for a tour and there's a British date on the schedule, it doesn't matter if it's a Tuesday night in a city you don't live near, it can't be missed! And such was the case for the "Death Over Europe" tour, where Mayhem were showcasing their brand new album, "Liturgy Of Death," released a mere four days before the show.

Only twenty minutes after the doors opened, fans were treated to the first band of the night, Immolation. They've long been one of the most respected death metal bands to emerge from the New York scene, and one of the most reliable too. You know that Immolation will give you no nonsense death metal every time you hear them and tonight was no exception. It must be hard to boil down thirty five years of albums into ten songs but the quartet covered a lot of ground, with the most recent album, "Acts Of God" being the only record to feature more than one song to represent it, including opening number, "An Act Of God." There was no shortage of old favourites too, including the title track from their debut album, "Dawn Of Possession" and "Higher Coward" from the beloved, "Close To A World Below." Immolation has a strong stage presence, while also encouraging the audience to participate and enjoy themselves, without the cliche lines like "Are you ready to party!?" This was the perfect way to kick off the night.

Following Immolation, it was time for the first dose of Scandinavian black metal in the form of Swedish veterans Marduk. I'd never had the opportunity to see them before, so I was really looking forward to their performance. Aside from the smoke sprayed out at the beginning of their set which made the room smell like the cosmetics section at Boots, they proved to be worth the wait. They began with "Frontschwein," taken from the 2015 album of the same name and much like Immolation, provided fans with a healthy sampling of music from across their lengthy career. The set took a more bestial turn, lyrically at least, with "Wolves," followed by "Throne Of Rats," before unleashing further sonic fury with "Shovel Beats Sceptre."

The aforementioned smoke proved to be the only issue I had with Marduk's set, as it constantly obscured the band from public view, to the point where I didn't notice the bassist until four songs in. It did add to the mystique for a little while, but it would have been preferable to see what was going on. This small nitpick aside, the group still sounded superb and witnessing them live will give headbangers a further appreciation of the nuances of their music, noticing the passages which really make the songs more memorable than the standard black metal assault. "On Darkened Wings" was a standout for me, and they finished strongly by book ending their set with another "Frontschwein" song, "The Blond Beast," which was frankly brilliant. Marduk's longevity can be attributed to a variety of aspects and live performances like this make for a big part of that.

Finally, we come to the main event. Mayhem's early days may be what the general metal populace focuses on, but their catalogue is not to be slept on. While they are certainly the most important band in the infamous Norwegian black metal scene, they remain a big name because they didn't rely on their past like a nostalgia act. Instead, their music evolved and reached for esoteric ambitions, which they couldn't wait to demonstrate tonight when they began with "Realm Of Endless Misery" from their brand new album, "Liturgy Of Death." Immediately, they had the crowd in the palm of their hand with a mix of extreme music and theatrics, including a video screen behind a constructed platform, and frontman Attila Csihar's haunting costume, which was a take on the kind of robes worn by Catholic officials, though I must admit it evoked memories of the final boss from the game, "A Plague Tale: Innocense."

Speaking of clothing, Csihar changed outfits a few times throughout their show, each time looking very menacing and suitable for such dark music. This complimented the music perfectly, particularly the one-two punch of "Grand Declaration Of War," which came in the form of the astonishing "To Daimonion" and "View From Nihil," while "Daemon" and "Esoteric Warfare" were represented with a song each via "Bad Blood" and "Psywar" respectively. Meanwhile the "Chimera" record

Of course, the old material wasn't neglected either, with the "Deathcrush" EP and debut album, "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" represented by four songs from each. "Freezing Moon" was one of the most notable from these, as for the first half of the song, the band used deceased vocalist Dead's recording, before Csihar stepped back in to sing the rest of the song. More classics were also on display from these releases, including "Chainsaw Gutfuck," "Cursed In Eternity" and "From The Dark Past," before the show concluded with "Pure Fucking Armageddon." Mayhem's notoriety may always be around, but so will a devoted fan base, especially after being treated to such a thrilling show as this one.