Zack Olander - Mayhem at the Oceanfront
On November 29th, my life basically changed. I had the privilege on seeing the infamous Mayhem, all the way from Norway, in concert in a tiny personal venue known as Shaka's at the VB oceanfront.
They were supported by Black Anvil and Immolation. Let's get into it.
First up were the guys from Black Anvil from New York. They were... interesting, to say the least. Their sound was a mixture of black metal with rock and roll. I'm still not sure how I feel about it. They started off with some cool, evil-sounding guitar riffs but they quickly went into clean singing and basic rock and roll beats. I'm not trying to disrespect rock and roll; I like rock quite a bit. But they, in my not so humble opinion, did not blend the two styles well.
Next up was Immolation. These guys have been pumping out quality death metal albums since the early nineties, and they are fan favorites. They came onto the tiny stage, started playing, and immediately the stage started to shake due to the wailing guitars and crushing bass. It felt as if the whole venue was about to be leveled by an earthquake. The sound interacted with the rest of my body (not just my ears) on a physical level; the vibration was palpable. They killed it, to say the least.
Finally, after seeing such a legendary death metal band, Mayhem took the stage. This time around on tour, they were playing their landmark album, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, in its entirety. If the reader does not listen to black metal, it's hard to communicate just how influential this album was when it was released in 1994. Prior to this performance, they had been filling the small room with fog from their fog machines until it was hard to even walk around. Then a single chord was played on a guitar. Instantly the lights on the stage flew on a partly illuminated the band so that they were the only thing that anybody could see in the room. It was fitting, since the first song on the Mysteriis album is titled "Funeral Fog." It's hard to put into words how powerful their set was. I felt emotions that I can't put into words, that I didn't even know I had, even though I knew the album front to back. I will never look at live music the same again, after seeing Mayhem.
I firmly believe that everyone should go to a metal show like this one at least once before they die. It's an experience like no other.
They were supported by Black Anvil and Immolation. Let's get into it.
First up were the guys from Black Anvil from New York. They were... interesting, to say the least. Their sound was a mixture of black metal with rock and roll. I'm still not sure how I feel about it. They started off with some cool, evil-sounding guitar riffs but they quickly went into clean singing and basic rock and roll beats. I'm not trying to disrespect rock and roll; I like rock quite a bit. But they, in my not so humble opinion, did not blend the two styles well.
Next up was Immolation. These guys have been pumping out quality death metal albums since the early nineties, and they are fan favorites. They came onto the tiny stage, started playing, and immediately the stage started to shake due to the wailing guitars and crushing bass. It felt as if the whole venue was about to be leveled by an earthquake. The sound interacted with the rest of my body (not just my ears) on a physical level; the vibration was palpable. They killed it, to say the least.
Finally, after seeing such a legendary death metal band, Mayhem took the stage. This time around on tour, they were playing their landmark album, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, in its entirety. If the reader does not listen to black metal, it's hard to communicate just how influential this album was when it was released in 1994. Prior to this performance, they had been filling the small room with fog from their fog machines until it was hard to even walk around. Then a single chord was played on a guitar. Instantly the lights on the stage flew on a partly illuminated the band so that they were the only thing that anybody could see in the room. It was fitting, since the first song on the Mysteriis album is titled "Funeral Fog." It's hard to put into words how powerful their set was. I felt emotions that I can't put into words, that I didn't even know I had, even though I knew the album front to back. I will never look at live music the same again, after seeing Mayhem.
I firmly believe that everyone should go to a metal show like this one at least once before they die. It's an experience like no other.
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