Preeminent black metallers Mayhem ready their newest live strike with Daemonic Rites for Century Media. The 16-track effort captures the frightful efficiency and utter lethality of the Norwegians as they close the chapter on their exalted sixth album, Daemon (2019). Throughout Daemonic Rites, Mayhem impressively nail newer tracks like “Falsified and Hated,” “Malum,” “Bad Blood,” and “Voces Ab Alta” to the proverbial cross, while offering pure fucking mastery of classics like “Freezing Moon,” “Buried by Time and Dust,” “Deathcrush,” and “Carnage.” The devilish quintet also add mid-career haunts like “To Daimonion,” “Symbols of Bloodswords,” and “My Death,” making Daemonic Rites a genuine career-spanning offering.

“We wanted to document how great the band and set sounds like after almost 40 years of playing live,” says founding member Necrobutcher. “As a treat to our fans, we decided to release this live recording.”

“We released the live version of De Mysteriis [aka De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas Alive] a few years ago,” Ghul adds. “That was received very well. We have been playing together for so long now with this lineup that we feel we have reached a point where we are a seriously well-oiled machine. It seemed like a natural step to try to capture this moment in the band’s history, with the same setlist we have been using for a while.”

Mayhem have nearly 1,000 shows to their name. Since their formation in Langhus, Norway in 1984, the band—now comprised of Necrobutcher (bass), Hellhammer (drums), Attila Csihar (vocals), Teloch (guitars), and Ghul (guitars)—have brought their brand of bellicose, preternatural black metal to over 60 countries. From the United States and Germany to Australia and Brazil, Mayhem have stunned, bewildered, and turned rabid a global legion, dedicated as much to the band’s infamous legacy as they are staunchly in support of Daemon. Much of that respect and devotion started in the early ‘90s, but persisted to the present day on the strength of official live albums Live in Leipzig (1993), Mediolanum Capta Est (1999), Live in Marseille 2000 (2001) and De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas Alive (2016). Mayhem continue their on-stage assault with Daemonic Rites.