Mayhem — Esoteric Warfare

Seven years is nearly an eternity in metal. With most bands pumping out releases every two to three years lest they fade to irrelevance, Mayhem, as the legitimate founder of black metal, stands in stark contrast. Seven years after Ordo ad Chao, Esoteric Warfare marks the long awaited return of Mayhem and is the first album with their new guitarist, Teloch. I suppose the best and worst thing about Mayhem is that the band has never released the same album twice. By that I mean that is, despite the ever changing lineup, Mayhem albums always sound like Mayhem albums, despite sounding very differently. The bad thing is that it’s difficult to guess what to expect when listening to a new Mayhem album for the first time. And for me at least, this is a challenge.

I’ll openly admit it: the first time I listened to both the album’s single and the full album I was disappointed. Disappointed that the band opted for an atmosphere based album rather than one built around killer riffs. Disappointed that Attila wasn’t quite as deranged a vocalist as I had hoped. Disappointed that there was even this strange death metal and industrial like influence on the album. Disappointed, in short, that the album wasn’t exactly what I had wanted. But after the third or fourth listen things began to click.

Esoteric Warfare contains an unusual amount of variation for a black metal album. Songs like “PsyWar,” “Trinity,” and “Pandaemon” are relatively straight forward black metal numbers with slight death tinges in the low end riffing style. “MILAB” is a slower track built around slow dissonant chords guided by Attila’s inhumane, tension-building growls and shrieks. “Watchers” bursts forth with unbridled fury before evolving to a slow, atmospheric section and then finally returning to the explosive black metal of the beginning. “VI Sec” marks the low point of the album, with its plodding first half, but “Throne of Time,” Corpse of Care,” and “Posthuman” get things back on track. The album culminates with the closer “Aion Suntelia,” a mid-paced, groovy track showcasing Attila’s phenomenal range as a vocalist. 

The song writing is as tight as you’d expect from a band 30 years into its career, and with the exception of “VI Sec,” the album flows extremely well. The production, while not raw by any means, is dirty enough to maintain a rough edge and prevents the razor-sharp instrumental work from sounding mechanical and devoid of energy. Everything sounds great with the exception of the kick drum sounding annoyingly clicky during the prolonged sections of double bass.

All in all, Esoteric Warfare is a damn fine album. All members do an exceptional job and the song writing is excellent. Though it doesn’t do what I or others wanted it to do, it does exactly what Mayhem wanted it to do. It speaks volumes of the band’s ability and innovation. Thirty long and difficult years after the band’s formation, they still manage to create an album that sounds entirely unique. The album is something of a shock the first few listens, but after becoming accustomed to the changes it’s impossible to say that Esoteric Warfare is nothing but quality.