Slayed Necros
Void
It's somewhat monotonous towards the end, but the atmosphere is brilliant. And Attila's vocals are among the best I've ever heard.
Mayhem - De Mysteriis...
- Thread starter MasterOLightning
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V.V.V.V.V.
Houses Ov Mercury
I very much appreciate the influence it's given countless bands I enjoy and listen to on a daily basis, but I just don't like it much.
byrne
Certavi et vici
Everything said about DMDS is spot on and I don't really even like THAT much black metal (e.g. I just heard my first bit of Darkthrone's Transylvanian Hunger today, and it is heading for a deletion, I just don't think I'm going to enjoy it, or have any desire to listen to it)The Grimace said:I really really hate to agree with fotmbm, but anyone who thinks DMDS is 'mediocre' or 'overrated' is... yes I'm gonna make an absolute statement here... FUCKING WRONG. Just like 'Reign In Blood' is not overrated, just like 'Transilvanian Hunger' is in no way overrated, 'DMDS' is a grossly underappreciated work. Almost every single aspect of 'modern' (post-95) Black Metal was essetially invented on that album, including the use of clearer, thicker production to achieve atmosphere rather than simple lo-fi 'wall of sound' atomspherics. Attila's vocals on that album remain peerless to this day, because nobody has ever attempted to imitate them. Aarseth's massive guitar tone probably had more to do with every BM band after '96 using keyboards to fill out the mix than anything else. And though I'm not sure if Hellhammer had his V-drum snare by that point or if it was just heavy triggers, that overpoweringly bright and noisey drum sound was a first for any extreme metal style. Can you actually hear anything but the bell on the ride cymbal on any BM release before 'DMDS'? And Varg's playing speaks for itself. The man was as brilliant as any 10 other musicians in that scene combined.
And all that's not even mentioning the music itself. The title track and 'Freezing Moon' have more raw, hateful energy and chilling atmosphere than most any entire album that was ever to follow. If someone doesn't enjoy or understand a release that was so far ahead of it's time both in terms of the songwriting and the overall sound, even a decade later, that's not hard to understand. Is there any other album in all of BM that is so polarizing? Mayhem were gods. DMDS fucking rules.
Damn, that's the kind of rant I could only make about one of my top 10 albums of all time. Somebody say some shit about 'Blessed Are The Sick', watch me go the fuck off.
Anyway, back to the post, I can't believe your only complaint is the production is too clear ..
Btw: Altars > Blessed
MFJ
Active Member
I can't believe that I'm agreeing with Grimace here in some ways, but him and fotmbm are right; DMDS fucking rules. I have never heard another album that has the same atmosphere that it does.
Really, it's probably a situation similar to "In the Nightside Eclipse"; thanks to the band's other works, DMDS gets caught in the backlash.
Really, it's probably a situation similar to "In the Nightside Eclipse"; thanks to the band's other works, DMDS gets caught in the backlash.
The Grimace
New Metal Member
misfit said:
If you really just can't dig it, then get 'Blaze' and 'Funeral' first, absorb those, then jump into Trasilvanian Hunger. It was my first Darkthrone album when I was 14 or 15, but it took me a couple years and alot of listening to those other two albums first to really fall in love with what a unique statement it is. Now it's by-far my favorite.
Btw: Altars > Blessed
The Grimace said:I really really hate to agree with fotmbm, but anyone who thinks DMDS is 'mediocre' or 'overrated' is... yes I'm gonna make an absolute statement here... FUCKING WRONG. Just like 'Reign In Blood' is not overrated, just like 'Transilvanian Hunger' is in no way overrated, 'DMDS' is a grossly underappreciated work. Almost every single aspect of 'modern' (post-95) Black Metal was essetially invented on that album, including the use of clearer, thicker production to achieve atmosphere rather than simple lo-fi 'wall of sound' atomspherics. Attila's vocals on that album remain peerless to this day, because nobody has ever attempted to imitate them. Aarseth's massive guitar tone probably had more to do with every BM band after '96 using keyboards to fill out the mix than anything else. And though I'm not sure if Hellhammer had his V-drum snare by that point or if it was just heavy triggers, that overpoweringly bright and noisey drum sound was a first for any extreme metal style. Can you actually hear anything but the bell on the ride cymbal on any BM release before 'DMDS'? And Varg's playing speaks for itself. The man was as brilliant as any 10 other musicians in that scene combined.
And all that's not even mentioning the music itself. The title track and 'Freezing Moon' have more raw, hateful energy and chilling atmosphere than most any entire album that was ever to follow. If someone doesn't enjoy or understand a release that was so far ahead of it's time both in terms of the songwriting and the overall sound, even a decade later, that's not hard to understand. Is there any other album in all of BM that is so polarizing? Mayhem were gods. DMDS fucking rules.
Damn, that's the kind of rant I could only make about one of my top 10 albums of all time. Somebody say some shit about 'Blessed Are The Sick', watch me go the fuck off.
That was a solid argument. I'm not saying that this album is bad, or less than above average, I was just expecting more. The first two tracks are very good. I still haven't made up my mind on the vocals. They sound kind of ridiculous at times. At this point few of the riffs really stand out, and few caught my attention the first three times through. The drumming is good, but not great. You mention this being the first extreme metal band to have that kind of drum production, which makes sense, because making the drums the loudest instrument in the mix isn't going to sound like a great idea to most bands. Varg's bass tracks are nice, but nothing to make a bold statement about. You talk about keyboards being used to fill the void left by a weak guitar tone, as opposed to the strong tone on DMDS I would think it would have a lot more to do with bands trying to achieve the same feel as ITNE. The keyboards there do so much for that album, from the great intro to the nice break on Towards the Pantheon. I haven't heard a ton of the 2nd wave black metal bands, and I picked up DMDS to try to correct that. So far nothing is close to ITNE.
The Grimace
New Metal Member
(must mention that ITNE is on my top 10 BM albums list along with DMDS, I'm in no way putting it down, but I do think it's misguided to overstate it's importance when compared to the masterpiece work of the band that was directly responsible for Emperor's {and everyone else's} very existance)
DMDS wasn't responsible for ITNE; in fact, 3/8 of ITNE existed before DMDS did on either "Wrath of the Tyrant" or the self titled.
I'll assume that you're speaking of "In the Nightside Eclipse" by Emperor.
That's because that's an album that relies heavily on that orchestrated effect brought on by the heavy use of keyboards. And of the well-known second wave black metal bands, Emperor are the only ones that do that combined with speed and brutality. Burzum also relies on keyboards to aachieve that "grande" effect, but that's more ambient and mid-paced than Emperor, and that's obviously not what you're looking for.
If the early second wave scene isn't your thing, with the exception of Emperor, maybe you could try some newer black metal bands, like 1349 or something. Or better yet! Immortal! Battles in the North and Pure Holocaust!!
That's because that's an album that relies heavily on that orchestrated effect brought on by the heavy use of keyboards. And of the well-known second wave black metal bands, Emperor are the only ones that do that combined with speed and brutality. Burzum also relies on keyboards to aachieve that "grande" effect, but that's more ambient and mid-paced than Emperor, and that's obviously not what you're looking for.
If the early second wave scene isn't your thing, with the exception of Emperor, maybe you could try some newer black metal bands, like 1349 or something. Or better yet! Immortal! Battles in the North and Pure Holocaust!!
Immortal, while utterly awesome during their glory days, was most definitely early second wave BM.
The Grimace
New Metal Member
Cynical said:
I phrased that in kind of a crappy way, I meant Mayhem as a band was responsible for yadda yadda...
EDIT: Did you just actually say '3/8' instead of... like... "some"?
Mayhem really wasn't as important as they're given credit for; before DMDS, which was as much Snorre and Varg as it was Mayhem, they were really only retreading what bands like Venom had done.
It's worth noting that Varg puts the "fired the first shot" honor on Darkthrone; it's also worth noting that Darkthrone was one of only two of those bands that was playing decent music before they turned BM (the other was Samoth and Ihsahn's project Thou Shalt Suffer, which was completely unrelated to today's Thou Shalt Suffer), and by far the better of those two, which does lend that claim some credence.
Edit- and yes, I said 3/8. Three of the eight songs on ITNE were previously on other albums; "I Am the Black Wizards" and "Cosmic Keys to My Creations and Times" were on their self titled, and "Beyond the Great Vast Forest" was on "Wrath of the Tyrant" as "My Empire's Doom".
It's worth noting that Varg puts the "fired the first shot" honor on Darkthrone; it's also worth noting that Darkthrone was one of only two of those bands that was playing decent music before they turned BM (the other was Samoth and Ihsahn's project Thou Shalt Suffer, which was completely unrelated to today's Thou Shalt Suffer), and by far the better of those two, which does lend that claim some credence.
Edit- and yes, I said 3/8. Three of the eight songs on ITNE were previously on other albums; "I Am the Black Wizards" and "Cosmic Keys to My Creations and Times" were on their self titled, and "Beyond the Great Vast Forest" was on "Wrath of the Tyrant" as "My Empire's Doom".
Cynical said:
The structure of my last phrase was definately flawed. I never meant to imply that Immortal wasn't second wave, because they definately were. Not only second wave, but second wave pioneers! They, Burzum, Mayhem and Darkthrone are undoubtebly the most important second wave black metal bands in the norwegian scene.
The Grimace
New Metal Member
Cynical said:
Have you... umm... heard Venom before? This is why I look at your posts the same way my dog looks at me when I fart.
@Cynical: Yes, I suppose you're right. I'm not all that huge on them, myself, so I have a tendency of simply leaving them out... Doesn't exactly reflect well on my arguements.
Yes, I've heard Venom. And pre- DMDS Mayhem wasn't really going much, if any beyond them; and Hellhammer and Bathory were definitely further ahead.The Grimace said:Have you... umm... heard Venom before? This is why I look at your posts the same way my dog looks at me when I fart.
I figure to have any credibility, one must own...
Darkthrone - TH
Mayhem - DMDS or Live in Leipzig
Burzum - Hvis Lyset Tar Oss
Immortal - Pure Holocaust
Emperor - ITNE
So at some point I'm going to either trade for or buy those that I don't have. I'm not quite familiar with Enslaved, other than knowing that they recorded Hordanes Land with Emperor. How do they compare to those others, which I've all heard something of?
Darkthrone - TH
Mayhem - DMDS or Live in Leipzig
Burzum - Hvis Lyset Tar Oss
Immortal - Pure Holocaust
Emperor - ITNE
So at some point I'm going to either trade for or buy those that I don't have. I'm not quite familiar with Enslaved, other than knowing that they recorded Hordanes Land with Emperor. How do they compare to those others, which I've all heard something of?
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