Mayhem and Mortiis: The Belasco - Los Angeles, CA - 4/11/25
The annual Decibel Magazine Tour hit The Belasco in Los Angeles, California. This year’s lineup proved to be one of the best lineups. It featured New Skeletal Faces, Imperial Triumphant, Mortiis and Mayhem. A lineup like this was guaranteed to attract metalheads from Southern California. Even before doors opened, hungry fans were lined up just eager to end their Friday the best way possible.
Mortiis is from Norway and performs dungeon synth/electronic music. He also known as the original bassist for Norwegian black metal legends Emperor. He has released many albums throughout his career with his latest one being Spirit of Rebellion in 2020. He came out on stage with his drummer Jon Siren. The first song performed was “Født til å herske, Part I” (Born to Rule) from his 1994 debut album of the same name. The synth music was impressive to listen to and made for an amazing experience and atmosphere. Other songs performed were “Født til å herske, Part II”, “Visjoner av en Eldgammel Fremtid”, and “Visions of an Ancient Future pt. 1”. Mortiis would also provide vocals on the songs, which sounded haunting. The set ended with “Visions of an Ancient Future pt. VII”. Mortiis and Siren thanked the audience for coming out then left the stage. It was now time for the headlining band to come out and fans were more than ready for them.
Mayhem is a black metal band from Norway. Without a doubt, they are the most infamous metal band of all time. Their long history starts in 1991 when their vocalist Pelle Yngve Ohlin (“Dead”) committed suicide, to which founding member Øystein Aarseth (“Euronymous”) took a photo of Dead’s corpse and used it as the album cover for their bootleg live album, “The Dawn of the Blackhearts”. Their history continues in 1993 when Euronymous and bassist Varg Vikernes went on a spree of burning churches. What is perhaps their most infamous incident is when Vikernes murdered Euronymous after a confrontation. From the original lineup, only bassist Jørn Stubberud ("Necrobutcher") remains. Although vocalist Attila Csihar and drummer Jan Axel Blomberg ("Hellhammer") who both appear on the debut album are still with Mayhem. This tour was celebrating 40 years of Mayhem’s existence and their setlist would include songs from all their albums, starting from the newest album going backwards into their debut EP. The lights went out once again and the now almost fully packed venue cheered with excitement as the show was about to begin. The screen in the back lit up and showed pictures and videos of Mayhem during their early days featuring their old members. After a couple of minutes, the members came out and started their show with “Malum”, a song from their latest album Daemon from 2019. The audience wasted no time in moshing to some black metal. The next song was “Bad Blood”, also from the same album. Csihar sported corpse paint with blood to give himself a really evil look. Mayhem played more tracks from their later albums which included “My Death”, “Psywar”, and “Crystalized Pain in Deconstruction”. The stage went dark as the screen lit up again as more old footage and photos of Mayhem were shown with an interview with Euronymous. It was an experience hearing his voice speaking in Norwegian talking about his beliefs and about Mayhem. The band then came back out bathed in blue lights, sporting robes and started to play their most famous song, “Freezing Moon” off their 1994 debut album, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. The crowd cheered and continued to mosh and crowd surf for the black metal legends. More songs from the debut album were played which were “Life Eternal” and “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas”. A very special treat was next played for the audience. Mayhem next played “Funeral Fog”, but without Csihar on vocals. Instead, Mayhem used a live recording of Dead on vocals as if the spirit of Dead himself was on stage singing with the band. Nearing the end of the show, only one release was left, and it was their 1987 EP, Deathcrush. The stage went full red with lights to match the EP’s color. The first track performed was the opening and title track from the EP, “Deathcrush”. A very brutal beginning. The next song performed was “Chainsaw Gutsfuck” which was voted in 2006 to have the “most gruesome lyrics ever”. The grand finale was the EP ending song, “Pure Fucking Armageddon”. It was two hours of the rawest black metal and a trip through trve Norwegian black metal brutality. The show came to an end, Mayhem said their goodbyes and then left the stage. It was a historic night and anyone who calls themself a metalhead has to see Mayhem at least once and see one of metal’s most influential bands.
