Mayhem / Electric Brixton / London

Feb 14

Feb 14 Mayhem / Electric Brixton / London

It’s not every day you get the chance to go see one of the most inspirational, and controversial bands of their genre, so there was no way I was missing a trip to the Electric Brixton to catch the “Death Over Europe” tour…..

Early doors and the place is packed, and there is a sense of anticipation in the air tonight. First up on stage are New York natives Immolation. Consisting of Robert Vigna (guitar), Ross Dolan (bass), Steve Shalaty (drums) and Alex Bouks (guitar) they are considered one of the leaders of the NY death metal scene along with the likes of Incantation, Mortician and Suffocation.

They released their debut album “Dawn of Possession” in 1991 and released their eleventh and most recent “Acts of God” in 2022. A new album “Descent” is scheduled for release in April 2026.

Stepping out, Immolation deliver a crushing mix of savage drums, complex and precise riffs and some towering, raw vocals in the opener An Act of God. This is brutal death metal from first note to last. Their guitars sound immense as they took us through a tracklist selected from right across their discography.

The atmosphere is ‘electric (pardon the pun). Immolation are not flashy with effects and props, but just allow the raw energy of their music do the talking. The set includes new track Adversary a taste of whats to come on “Descent”.

A slick, tight and beautifully delivered introduction to the night….. and things are only gonna get more intense from here !

Setlist

An Act of God

Swarm of Terror

Majesty and Decay

Adversary

Dawn of Possession

Blooded

Higher Coward

Rise the Heretics

Nailed to Gold

The Age of No Light

Next up are Swedish black metal band Marduk, formed in Norrköping in 1990. I saw Marduk a couple of years back on a small stage at The Fleece in Bristol and they blew the place down and got a huge reception from the Bristolian crowd. Consisting of Morgan Steinmeyer Håkansson (guitar), Mortuus (Daniel Rostén) (vocals), Bloodhammer (Simon Schilling) (drums) and Simon Wizén (bass), Marduk released their debut album “Dark Endless” in 1992. They’ve produced fifteen albums to date, the latest being 2023’s outstanding offering “Memento Mori”.

As with Immolation, and with such a great back catalogue to choose from, the setlist is a selection of the bets from right across the years.

The stage is filled with smoke, and I mean filled. We can’t see each other in the pit, let alone see Mortuus above us on stage lol. They dive into Frontschwein from the 2015 album of the same name, and the brutal intensity, and the thunderous bass/drum tones seems to help clear the fog ! Bloodhammer on drums delivers an impressive performance with the unrelenting rhythms blasted out at us. His wet hair drenching the photographers at the front, Mortuus delivers a sublime mix of gutteral menace and piercing tones which hold the crowd gripped throughout.

For 50 minutes they delivered a ear crushing set of raw, brutal and intense black metal to the crowds utter delight, with tracks like Sulphur Souls, Infernal Eternal and Panzer Division Marduk crushing all before them.

Setlist

Frontschwein

Wolves

Throne of Rats

Shovel Beats Sceptre

Cloven Hoof

Sulphur Souls

On Darkened Wings

Infernal Eternal

The Black...

Panzer Division Marduk

The Blond Beast

A slightly longer break to re-set the stage, now taking in its full size, as the set is prepared for tonight’s headliners. Drumkit on a riser central at the rear, with steps to raised platforms either side for the guitars. Setlists are placed out and the lights dim…..

Mayhem were formed in Oslo in 1984, and are one of the original pioneers of Norwegian black metal scene, and their music has had a profound influence on shaping the black metal genre more widely.

A band whose early years were marked by controversy, from their notorious live performances, the 1991 suicide of vocalist Per Yngve Ohlin ("Dead"), and the 1993 murder of guitarist Øystein Aarseth ("Euronymous") by former bassist Varg Vikernes ("Count Grishnackh") before the release of their debut album “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas”.

Following Aarseth’s death, they disbanded, but reformed in 1995. The current line up consists of founding member Necrobutcher (bass), Hellhammer (drums), Attila Csihar (vocals), Teloch (guitar) and Ghul (guitar).

Their debut album “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas” (1994) is seen by many as a classic of the black metal genre. This was followed by “Grand Declaration of War” (2000), “Chimera” (2004), “Ordo ad Chao” (2007), “Esoteric Warfare” (2014), “Daemon” (2019) and “Liturgy of Death” released just prior to this show.

As you would expect, the setlist was packed with tracks from their classic debut and from their new album “Liturgy of Death”, but the rest of their albums are not neglected either, giving the 20 song set a wide appeal to all the fans. There is no room to move now, the Electric is packed to the rafters and is as hot as hell as they launch into opening track Realm of Endless Misery from the new album. The new material is a huge hit with the London faithful and slots in seamlessly to their set.

Hellhammer is a demon on the drumkit kicking out a wall of sound from the toms and cymbals on top of the double bass drum kicks (and boy what a drum kit it is – you can hardly see him behind the gigantic rig !). Necrobutcher prowls the stage menacingly on bass adding that gritty dark rumble so typical of Mayhem’s sound.

Attila steps out dressed as a demonic cleric and sets about delivering some stunning deep dark growling vocals, snarling at us and howling like a wolf.

As the set drew to a close we went back even further than their iconic debut “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas” and to the 1993 EP that started it all “Deathcrush” with the title track Deathcrush and the insane carnage that is Chainsaw Gutsfuck. We’re taken right back to the start of it all, and boy did it sound good !

The atmosphere was, as you would expect intense throughout, Necrobutcher staring out into the crowd menacingly totally wrapped in the music. The crowd went wild when the opening notes of iconic Freezing Moon blasted out at us and we hear Dead’s vocals playback in the first part of the song. Incredible ! The set closes with the apt Pure Fucking Armageddon, from 1999’s “Mediolanum Capta Est” The Electric is going crazy and the heat is almost intolerable like Dante’s Inferno.

We stream out into the wet, cold London air exhausted, but thankful for being part of something very special indeed. Immolation, Marduk and Mayhem complimented each other perfectly, a better line up three bands I don’t see being matched for a very long time. Finally I had seen the mighty Mayhem live…… and they didn’t disappoint !

Setlist

Realm of Endless Misery

Buried by Time and Dust

Bad Blood

Life Is a Corpse You Drag

The Vortex Void of Inhumanity

Ancient Skin

Psywar

To Daimonion

View From Nihil

Whore

Freezing Moon