With four decades of darkness behind them, these Black Metal groundbreakers return with their seventh offering, as obscure and ominous as a Norwegian forest.

With four decades of darkness behind them, Oslo, Norway’s own Black Metal groundbreakers Mayhem are celebrating an illustrious and undeniable career with their seventh studio offering, entitled Liturgy of Death. Displaying a sinister artwork by Daniel Valeriani, the follow-up to their 2019 opus Daemon sees the band formed of Attila Csihar on vocals, Teloch and Ghul on the guitars, Necrobutcher on bass, and Hellhammer on drums sounding as dark and ominous as a Norwegian forest. They’ve never been deadlier, offering their trademark hair-raising caterwauling and spectral snarls, twin guitar terrors, seventh-hell low end tunes, and ruthless drums, resulting in the band’s final and musically strongest form.

The gates to the underworld will open once again, allowing Mayhem to arise from the dead to the sound of Ephemeral Eternity, with the strident guitars by Teloch and Ghul transpiring Black Metal magic, whereas one of the singles released, titled Despair, continues the band’s Stygian path to absolute doom, with Attila’s grim vociferations matching perfectly with the band’s visceral sounds. Weep for Nothing is a lecture in classic Norwegian Black Metal, offering our putrid ears seven minutes of sonic blasphemy and hatred where Hellhammer’s massive beats are boosted by another blast of piercing riffs by Teloch and Ghul, followed by Aeon’s End, another in-your-face display of Black Metal savagery by the quintet where the demonic kitchen by Necrobutcher and Hellhammer sounds utterly thunderous.

And they keep delivering sheer hatred, despair and obscurity through their instruments in Funeral of Existence, a more cadenced but just as heavy and sulfurous tune where Hellhammer  dictates the pace with his classic drumming. Realm of Endless Misery carries a poetic name for an overdose of Black Metal fury, with Attila barking and growling rabidly for our absolute delight, sounding very detailed, multi-layered, and doomed; and Mayhem show no mercy for our souls in the second to last black mass of the album, named Propitious Death, with their razor-edged riffage once again cutting our skin and making us bleed. Last but not least, get ready for one final ride to apocalypse entitled The Sentence of Absolution, starting in an obscure manner before becoming their trademark sonority, ending in a darkly tribal celebration.

Mayhem are a band dedicated to pushing the bounds of extremity itself, and Liturgy of Death is living (or maybe I should say dead) proof of that. “There’s been absolutely zero compromise,” sums up Ghul. “We really have never compromised and I never see that happening simply to try and sell records. The music is extreme. The people are extreme. Pleasing others has never been on the agenda and that’s quite apparent when you listen to our stuff or see us live. There is something there for people to grab onto and experience, but it’s not supposed to be a pleasant experience or an easy experience. It’s Mayhem.” If you also consider yourself a servant of the dark arts, you can find Mayhem and their undisputed Black Metal magic on Facebook and on Instagram, stream their music on Spotify, and of course grab a copy of their sulfurous new album from the Century Media Records’ BandCamp or webstore, or by clicking HERE or HERE. Mayhem are Black Metal, Black Metal is Mayhem, and Liturgy of Death is among us to keep that combined fire burning for centuries to come.

Best moments of the album: Despair, Weep for Nothing, Realm of Endless Misery and Propitious Death.

Worst moments of the album: None.

Released in 2026 Century Media Records

Track listing
1. Ephemeral Eternity 6:47
2. Despair 6:41
3. Weep for Nothing 7:04
4. Aeon’s End 4:56
5. Funeral of Existence 5:56
6. Realm of Endless Misery 4:57
7. Propitious Death 5:05
8. The Sentence of Absolution 7:28

Deluxe Box Limited Edition bonus tracks
9. Life Is a Corpse You Drag 5:22
10. Sancta Mendacia

Band members
Attila Csihar – vocals
Teloch – guitars
Ghul – guitars
Necrobutcher – bass
Hellhammer – drums

Guest musician
Garm – vocals on “Ephemeral Eternity”