Review of The New Mayhem Album "Liturgy Of Death".
Band Name: Mayhem
Album Title: Liturgy Of Death
Tracklist:
Ephemeral Eternity
Despair
Weep For Nothing
Aeon’s End
Funeral Of Existence
Realm Of Endless Misery
Propitious Death
The Sentence Of Absolution
Running Time: 48:54
Release Date: February 26, 2026
Rating: 9.5/10
Label: Century Media Records
Version Reviewed: Jewel Case CD
Band Members:
Attila - Vocals
Morten Bergeton Iverson - Guitars
Ghul - Guitars
Necrobutcher - Bass
Hellhammer - Drums
Additional Album Information:
Mastered By Thomas “Plec” Johan at The Panic Room
Additional Vocals By Ntacha Kanga And Garm
Additional Percussion By Necromorbus
Artwork And Layout By Daniele Valeriani
Mayhem is one of the most important names in all of Black Metal. I didn’t get the hype surrounding their EP “Deathcrush”. I mean, it’s a good album, but not excellent in my opinion and is as much Thrash as it is Black Metal. I admit it’s a very important album though, inspiring numerous bands that followed. Their first full length album “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas” however is in my top five list of favorite Black Metal albums. The band improved leaps and bounds in terms of songwriting, musician professionalism especially the production was way better. Over three decades have passed since “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas” was released and their new offering “Liturgy Of Death” is only their seventh full length album in that time. They don’t just throw an album out there and call it good. They work on things until they are happy with the result, as is evident on “Liturgy Of Death”.
After an intro consisting of church organ-sounding keyboards and choir-like chanting, the music gets super black and dark rather quickly. Mostly blazing fast with fast guitar strumming and double bass-heavy drumming, the music can also become more subdued and melancholier with a lot of dissonant guitars. All of the music is crafted with precision because… well, look at the lineup! Necrobutcher on Bass and the mighty Hellhammer of numerous other bands on drums! Also, Morten Bergeton Iverson from Bergeton and Nidingr and Ghul of Cradle Of Filth and other bands. This is a great pedigree when it comes to Black Metal musicians, and it shows on “Liturgy Of Death”. Let’s not forget Attila on vocals. He has always had the most unique Black Metal vocal style in my opinion. His voice is a lower register than most of his peers and he has this dark, sickening rasp-filled sound that separates him from all the other vocalists. He can also sing cleanly (yet darkly) and has a nice almost narrative style here and there on the album. The album's lyrics deal mostly with "Mortality from carious philosophical angles".
The artwork is interestingly dark, macabre and blasphemous. It is an altar of sorts, like a voodoo altar that has a decomposing head, a frog crucified on a cross, candles, tarot cards, flowers, feathers and other odd bits and pieces. I love this kind of art and the Mayhem logo on top of it all rules, as always. Inside of the sixteen-page booklet you will find all of the lyrics for the album as well as band and album information.
When people tell you Black Metal is played by musicians that can’t play their instruments, hand this album to them and tell them to shut the fuck up. “Liturgy Of Death” is a phenomenal entry into the world of this great genre and there is so much good on here that it will hold us all over until the band deems another album is worthy enough for them to release.
As always, I like to ask my readers to support the bands, labels and artists by purchasing the physical copies of the albums they love.
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