Psywar, a combination of the words psychological warfare, is not only the first release by Mayhem in years, it’s also the first new release from the band with new guitarist, Teloch. Musically, this single is a logical continuation of Mayhem’s sound from Ordo ad Chao, with more of a focus on eerie, industrial atmosphere achieved through frenzied dissonance than kickass riffs. In the first half of the song, especially, there’s some death metal creeping in through Teloch’s riffs. Attila’s vocals are just fantastic. All that needs to be said about the man’s range and power has already been said. Needless to say, his inhumane barks, growls, and shrieks are phenomenal, and essentially carry the track. His skill as a lyricist, however…

Disassociation
Subhumanization
Born behind enemy lines
The battlefield is our minds

Phoenix from the ashes of failure
Velon bloodprime
Your souls undermine
Symbols burned inside

Now, I normally don’t pay much attention to lyrics in metal, simply because they’re usually indecipherable without numerous listens with lyrics in hand. Atilla, however, makes sure that his vocals are easily understood. I watched the lyrics video when the song dropped, and after that especially, I couldn’t help but to pay attention to them. As you can see, the band’s going for a quasi-occult type of vibe on Psywar, but it comes across rather juvenile. Not a huge deal, but it does detract from the song.

From Beyond the Event Horizon is on the B side of the split, and comes from the Budapest Recording Sessions. The track begins with drawn out chords and hoarse, yelled vocals, before gradually picking up speed and bursting forth in a torrent of dissonance and hate, not unlike Psywar. It’s a pretty cool track, and I wonder how much more material was written at the same time.

Overall, Psywar is a fine single. But that’s it; just fine. Now, don’t get me wrong, besides the lyrics, there’s little to criticize. Psywar and Beyond the Event Horizon are both decent tracks. But Mayhem’s Mayhem. I expected more from them. Hopefully Psywar is one of the weaker tracks on the album, because as it stands now, I’m slightly less excited about Esoteric Warfare. There’s no real reason to pick up this single on its own. I’m sure collectors will love the fact that it contains an unreleased track, but other than that, there isn’t much to get excited about.