MAYHEM — Wolf's Lair Abyss (review)

MAYHEM — Wolf's Lair Abyss album cover EP · 1997 · Black Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3/5 ·
Warthur
The Mark II, post-Euronymous Mayhem launched themselves onto the scene the same way the Mark I Mayhem did - with a short and sweet EP with Maniac on vocals. But whereas Deathcrush was raw, lo-fi and stripped down, Wolf's Lair Abyss showcases an intriguing new direction for Mayhem, hinting at a form of technical black metal which backs up Maniac's incredibly angry vocals with some of the most complex songwriting the band had brought to bear. Ultimately, it's a taster of the style the band would commit themselves to fully on Grand Declaration of War, but whereas that album was highly divisive (at least in terms of its original mix) here there's just enough of the old Mayhem's spirit present to inject a little anger into it. The end result is an intriguing EP which, like its predecessor, attempts to open a new chapter in black metal, but it feels a little artificial, clean and calculating next to the filth-encrusted murk of Deathcrush.
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