Screw Emperor's "reunion", THIS is something to get excited about.

Emperor is only worth getting excited about for people who are going to Wacken, otherwise "big whoop". This is definitely more noteworthy.

Of the big name black metal bands, Ordo ad Chao was the best album ever released, so they have an almost impossible task at hand not disappointing me.

Written by Guest on 03.08.2013 at 01:05
so they have an almost impossible task at hand not disappointing me.

Nah, disappointing for me would be if they release a bad album... Matching an album like Ordo ad Chao is almost impossible and thus not fair. xD


...One can dream though.

What he said. i loved Ensalved's AEO... didn't expect the follow-up to be on that level, still not remotely disappointed with it. same boat here. i want a good Mayhem album.

Wow, I wasn't even under the impression that people actually cared about Mayhem past De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. Guess I'll have to check out their latest and see if it's as good as people say.

Written by Guest on 03.08.2013 at 01:17

Wow, I wasn't even under the impression that people actually cared about Mayhem past De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. Guess I'll have to check out their latest and see if it's as good as people say.

It's a love or hate album though. My bet is that those who hate it base it because there are no real hooks on that album or even melodies plus it has a very special production to say the least, hella bassy. It doesn't have any of the classic BM cliches. It's unique, extremely dense, textured and to me simply brilliant.

The difference with Enslaved is that they're consistent and move in a predictable path. Mayhem on the other hand change their sound on each release and Ordo stands as testament to how it can be a great thing. Unfortunately most of their other records are a testament to how that doesn't really work with a band as sketchy as Mayhem. Even making a good album is against the odds quite frankly considering the last 3 records could have been made by 3 different bands.

Nevertheless Enslaved albums are usually logical conclusions one to another. Unlike the disparate discog of Mayhem.

Written by Guest on 03.08.2013 at 01:48

Nevertheless Enslaved albums are usually logical conclusions one to another. Unlike the disparate discog of Mayhem.

Yeah, I think that's why I hated Ordo Ad Chao when it first came out. Chimera was the first Mayhem album I got, loved it, was expecting more of the same from the following one. Then became horribly disappointed (I think there's still an old moronic argument I was involved in somewhere are here when it first came out...)

I doubt I'll ever love it as much as every one else seems to, but I have learned to appreciate it more and more over the years. Regardless, it is an incredibly unique album I find.

After listening to the rest of Mayhem's discog over the years, you're right, none of the albums/eps sound at all similar to one another.

Expecting another OAD is too much maybe but I just hope that they move further in their experimental and unique approach. Also, can not wait to hear another theatrical performance bye Attila

You never know with Mayhem, they might as well release an acoustic album. Remember what Ulver did?

Written by Doc G. on 03.08.2013 at 06:32

Yeah, I think that's why I hated Ordo Ad Chao when it first came out. Chimera was the first Mayhem album I got, loved it, was expecting more of the same from the following one. Then became horribly disappointed (I think there's still an old moronic argument I was involved in somewhere are here when it first came out...)

I doubt I'll ever love it as much as every one else seems to, but I have learned to appreciate it more and more over the years. Regardless, it is an incredibly unique album I find.

After listening to the rest of Mayhem's discog over the years, you're right, none of the albums/eps sound at all similar to one another.

Yeah it's not always easy to get away from that first album of a band you heard in terms of appreciation, especially if you've only just gotten into that kind of music. While Ordo wasn't my first, it was still early-ish days for black metal for me and it ended up defining truly extreme metal, so unless Mayhem bring out something that is similar (unlikely) or something that redefines (even more unlikely I would think) then I'm probably going to have a hard time considering it something good.

The only reason i brought up Enslaved is that AEO was one of my absolute favorite albums (as you said OAC was one of yours) , and that i wasn't expecting the follow-up to be of the same quality or better. stylistic development is immaterial in this sense.

expecting a band to follow-up their pinnacle release with another is just setting yourself up for huge disappointment.

Agree, I fail to see any reason to expect something as redefining as OAC... Craig brought up Enslaved, I would bring up Esoteric since to me The Maniacal Vale is their grand unique masterpiece which owns most extreme metal in general and I honestly don't think they'll pull something like that any time soon... and that did not stop me from enjoying their last album for what it was and thus ended up to be one of my favorites from that year anyways.

Looking forward to this! But I really don't know what to expect. Do I dare to hope for a new "Ordo Ad Chao"? Do I even want a new "Ordo Ad Chao"? That album was so great and unique, it might be wrong to do it all over again.

This is great news

You're all talking in an objective manner, as if hopes and expectations are somehow based on objective facts. It's all well and good saying that we shouldn't want another Ordo (or AEO, or Maniacal Vale etc. whatever), or at least something of vaguely similar sound and quality, but if you genuinely feel that way too then I doubt you like said albums as much as you think you do. That or you're just a bit dead inside and have lost some of your passion along the way

You can't set yourself up for disappointment. If you like the band in question enough then disappointment will come naturally regardless of second guessing yourself with a few wise words. If you're having to adjust your listening habits to enjoy an album that is under par then you're doing yourself (and the band really) a huge disservice.

Unlike the predictable, reliable Enslavedoteric, Mayhem will probably release an album that's nothing like Ordo, and probably won't be as good as it either. If that's not cause for disappointment then I don't know what is.

Great news, I only can say, "expect the unexpected", Mayhem are like a new band with every album they release.

Upon hearing the news of the new album, I decided to revisit all Mayhem full lengths to see if my old ratings are as valid as they were a few years back. They are, with one exception. "Chimera", my favourite album, seems a bit weaker than it was then, so I lowered the rating from 9 to 8. And it turms out that all their full lengths get an 8 from me Even though they're so different, they're all very solid. So now I'm expecting another solid release.

Written by Guest on 04.08.2013 at 15:13

Unlike the predictable, reliable Enslavedoteric, Mayhem will probably release an album that's nothing like Ordo, and probably won't be as good as it either. If that's not cause for disappointment then I don't know what is.

Yeah I understand your logic here. On the other side, I'm very excited for this on the fact that I know it will most likely sound nothing like OAC. There's an absolutely minute chance that they could ever write something in that style that is anywhere near as good, so a change to something different feels right. I like a band that's unpredictable.

Quote:
If you're having to adjust your listening habits to enjoy an album that is under par then you're doing yourself (and the band really) a huge disservice.

What do you mean with "adjust your listening habits"?
I'm just saying that I refuse to think anything of any band (even and specially favorites) if I haven't even heard the new product. Plus, I rarely take previous albums into acount unless the styles are similar. With a band like Mayhem, all possibilities are valid. Going from unique to derivative is to me just a perpendicular axis of greatness/awful.

Written by Guest on 04.08.2013 at 15:13
It's all well and good saying that we shouldn't want another Ordo (or AEO, or Maniacal Vale etc. whatever), or at least something of vaguely similar sound and quality, but if you genuinely feel that way too then I doubt you like said albums as much as you think you do.

Yeah, I call bullshit when you wrote "something of vaguely similar sound and quality". A part of that is true though. Yeah... I genuinely feel that we shouldn't expect something of similar sound or quality but where did I ever wrote we shouldn't want something of similar quality? Of course we should and that's the whole point of what I wrote previously. I want quality. That's all.
Now, if you are asking me of what I want in terms of sound: I don't think I want another album in a similar style like OAC. I mean... I'd really like to but I sincerely doubt they could pull it off again so I'd rather have a different style than a shadow of their masterpiece.

Quote:
That or you're just a bit dead inside and have lost some of your passion along the way

Then we clearly have a different opinion of what passion for a band's work means. With passion being another thing that can't be discussed objectively and specially not measured. We'll leave it a that.

You guys are getting too much into this. Just wait for the fucking album, don't build a religion around it half a year before its release. Why all those rants about expectations, disappointments, inability to top best releases (like you can fucking know that already). Mayhem might release an acoutstic post-metal experimental album for all we know.

I for one just want to get a good album. Fuck me if I care whether it's a step up from their previous work, or it's back to their roots. GOOD MUSIC is all that counts. "Seasons in the Abyss" was a brilliant album, even though it was just a reworking of "South of Heaven". So was "Master of Puppets" after "Ride the Lightning". And so was "RIITIIR" after "Axioma Ethica Odini" for that matter.

Stop expecting, just listen.

Written by Daniell on 06.08.2013 at 23:36

"Seasons in the Abyss" was a brilliant album, even though it was just a reworking of "South of Heaven".

No, it wasn't It was an immense disappointment. ' South Of Haven' was brilliant but 'Seasons' was just average and really not a reworking of of South, more like an extremely watered down version of South

Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 07.08.2013 at 12:07

No, it wasn't It was an immense disappointment. ' South Of Haven' was brilliant but 'Seasons' was just average and really not a reworking of of South, more like an extremely watered down version of South

to each his own I suppose

After six years after their masterpiece "Ordo Ad Chao", this is a surprising news! it would be great that Attila performs the vocalls!