Style: Avant-garde black metal, industrial, spoken word
Primary Emotions/Themes: Philosophical deconstruction of religion
Thoughts: Whoever said they saw this one coming from Mayhem at the time of release was lying. The shift in style is so large, and so completely off the wall that it rivals that of Dodhiemsgard's change on 666 international.
While Grand Declaration of War is still decidedly metal, to call this second wave black metal would be outright falsehood. I read somewhere years ago that there was a shift in the Norwegian black metal scene around the time of the turn of the millennium. A contentious effort to make the music more inaccessible and experimental. They dubbed it the third wave of black metal.
While I'm not sure I agree with the terminology used, the shift that this author described was spot on. There were many artists in metal that shifted from the traditional stylings into something more... experimental. Less accessible, less tame (if you can call black metal tame).
Mayhem's entry into this new wave of Norwegian metal is a combination of the blistering black metal that they are known for mixed with several curious elements. The first of which is lengthy spoken word passages. Maniac has no problems giving speeches during the majority of this record. So much so that I labeled this as "speech metal" when it first came out.
These dialogues focus on the duality of man vs the divine and how we are diametrically opposed to one another. They are fine for what they are, but do get a bit long in the tooth by the end of the album.
The backing instrumentals during these spoken parts are often militaristic in nature. Hellhammer will often have snare rolls like you would hear during a march playing along with the odd riffs that Blasphemer put together. The end result makes the spoken word sections of the album sound like Maniac is giving a speech to a military unit about to head into war. Considering the title of the album, I suppose that was the intent.
The band also diverges from metal all together in the later half of the album. Industrial and electronics take over the lead from the guitars as the main driver of the music. The vocals remain largely spoken word, but they are distorted and more mechanical than anything on the first half. Any trace of black metal is completely removed at this point - save for a few select riffs here and there.
The album does return to black metal to finish itself out, but by that point the statements have been made. The band is looking to deviate from the established sounds in ways that no one has done prior to this. It's a bit too experimental for its own good, and as such a lot of the album falls flat on its face. That said, when the band do make things work they tend to come together quite well. It's a fascinating time capsule of a time long past. As another former black metal band would say: An incentive to further frolic only.
Written March 4th 2024
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