MAYHEM – Brisbane, Australia 20th January 2023
The infamy surrounding Norwegian Black Metallers Mayhem, includes a wicked history of church burnings and death. Their notorious past cultivated the black metal scene in the 80’s and the remaining member Necrobutcher, continues to carry their legacy of chaotic and abrasive music.
The Triffid is a wonderful venue in Brisbane and it packed out for this triple kill of a line-up. Werewolves are a blackened death metal machine and while only a few years old this band set the bar high. Werewolves are an Australian super-group sharing members from Psycroptic, The Beserker, Ruins, Abramelin and more. Destroying with wicked blast beats and intense groovy rhythms they obliterated the stage. Many new fans had been made as their name was not well known to all, after tonight that will rapidly change.
Ulcerate entered with a slower pace and ambient music with less death and a harder technical emphasis. Chugging riffs and drilling kicks they slowly their increase their tempo breaking out into blast beats. Ulcerate aren’t a band of visual theatrics, but a blackened euphoria for the ears. Ending their set with grim and heavy “Stare into death or be still” so melodic yet the crowd were standing stationary. Inhuman drummer Jamie Merat is a pace machine as he meticulously slowed the tempo and threw off his headphones, like he’d completed a marathon and they left the stage.
By this point of the evening the crowd had been standing still all night until corpse painted Mayhem incarnated their evil music through the speakers. The crowd had erupted into a violent circle pit contrary to most black metal gigs. The normalisation of standing still with crossed arms was not an option for these fans anymore as they went wild. Mayhem hold their fast riffs and ambient chants and fill the room with chaotic energy.
Abrasive metal that has years of curated craft and visions in their musical history. Since the 80’s they have been able to create music that fans love, and their musicianship is as infamous as their history. A band who set out originally to be unliked are loved by their fans down under. Through the creation of their bloody beginnings, this new wave of black metal has much less spilling of blood. Infamous church burnings and murder surround them that a movie was made “Lords of Chaos” starring Rory Culkin.
Mayhem today are vastly different to their horrific past and their bone chilling and ritualistic performance is well crafted. Mayhem remains dark and evil through song and while they aren’t as shock horror as their past, their music has consistently lived as these black metal pioneers continue to invent and maintain their high stature. The future of black metal cannot ignore its gory history or un-burn those churches, but they will continue to create the most nefarious of Satanic music.
Review & photos: Nikki Christina
