Single: Of Worms and Ruins
Artist: Mayhem
Genre: #Metal
Sub-Genres: #BlackMetal
Label: Century Media
Non-Airable Tracks: N/A
Description:
Mayhem, the Norwegian black metal band that is as interesting to read about as they are to listen to, are releasing a new album soon and have released two singles in promotion. This one, “Of Worms and Ruins”, has no surprises and is basically black metal by the numbers. All the usual suspects are present, the tremolo picking, blast beats and guttural vocals (all that is missing is lo-fi production). Each part is executed well and if you like the classic black metal sound of the 90s, this should be right up your alley. For me, this single sounding so similar to a randomly picked cut off of De Mysteriis Dom Santhanas calls into question why this new album is even being made. Hardcore fans would be better off listening to the real deal and worshipping a classic won’t bring any new fans. This leaves two cases; either their upcoming album Daemon will be rehashing traditional black metal ideas to garner interest around a band whose biggest fans praise their 1994 album the most and “Of Worms and Ruins” is representative of that, or “Of Worms and Ruins” is the most safe song on the album so it is being promoted by necessity while the rest of the songs are boundary pushing. I hope what we are seeing is the latter, but I worry the former is what is going on. Mayhem are playing it safe on this new single, everything here we have already heard been done before and been done better.
Sounds Like: Mayhem
Recommended Tracks: Of Worms and Ruins
Reviewer’s Name: Bryan
Date of Review: 10/9/19