Meh-est of the Meh. High six to low seven. Nothing really memorable.

Back to Esoteric Warfare I go. Das da good shiz.

It's very... OK. Don't understand the high rating, unless no one here listens to standard black metal in the last few years, as that's all it is. Mayhem for people who don't like post-DMDS Mayhem (which is even still more original sounding than this) but sadly lacks enough of what makes Mayhem so unique for me.

Seeing them live on Monday so maybe this will have a bit more flair on stage.

Mayhem with non-crazy Attila is not Mayhem

Written by Mercurial on 02.11.2019 at 15:48

It's very... OK. Don't understand the high rating, unless no one here listens to standard black metal in the last few years, as that's all it is.

I think name recognition plays a big part as well. Some people will inflate (or deflate) their score based on the preconceptions of a band due to what they've done in the past. This is a solid album but nothing more than standard-issue material. I can see more votes bringing down the overall score as the 10 crowd blew their load on release day.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 02.11.2019 at 17:17

I think name recognition plays a big part as well. Some people will inflate (or deflate) their score based on the preconceptions of a band due to what they've done in the past. This is a solid album but nothing more than standard-issue material. I can see more votes bringing down the overall score as the 10 crowd blew their load on release day.

Well I think all ratings for any vaguely established band veer either way toward about 7.6 average or thereabouts these days, so I tend to gauge it on what side of that score something gets and by how much. Even an 8.3 by modern MS standards is quite a high score for something that isn't a melodeath album. You're right thought, latecomers will probably push that down a tad. Anyway, the album's fine, not the best, not the worst Mayhem I've heard, really.

I hear bits and pieces of several albums in Daemon, DMDS and Chimera being frontrunners of influences. It is fast, bordering relentless in some songs such as the opening track however lacks the atmosphere which made DMDS such a special album. Production wise i liken it to Chimera.

Much like influences it derives from an interesting discography with varying quality, there are things which Daemon achieves in its speed, groove and relentless approach. However it fails to be consistent in its quality and gets bland in its delivery as the albums second half draws to a close.

There are memorable moments and Daemon is certainly a good piece of music, however its not an outstanding record neither with its originality which it has none nor with its traditional approach since the haunting atmosphere made the initial Mayhem music is not there. .

I'm enjoying this quite a lot. My rating is not based on how different it is, but rather just how good it is, and it's getting better and better with every listen

This album was my entry to Black Metal and I even did not know about their history. Thank you, Mayhem.