Written by Karlabos on 28.05.2014 at 22:27

A little too ved buens endish for my tastes...

One can not get enough similar to VBEish
But seriously, it is more than just being similar to VBE.

Written by mz on 28.05.2014 at 23:02

Written by Karlabos on 28.05.2014 at 22:27

A little too ved buens endish for my tastes...

One can not get enough similar to VBEish
But seriously, it is more than just being similar to VBE.

Of course not, there's also Attila =)
But this time I feel like the only part where he got creepy was in Milab and then just in some other bits
I'd like to hear he as he was on De Mysteriis or in Plasma Pool

Written by mz on 28.05.2014 at 23:00
Could you recommend me some other bands playing similar to this album? This has some VBEism going but beside that, the only similar thing I can think of is their previous album.

Are people really making this out to be that unique? Aside from the production style (which in itself is very similar to OaC) and Attila's vocals this sounds like... black metal. Some moments bring to mind the likes of Inquisition, Funeral Mist, or Deathspell Omega while others make me think of pretty much any black metal band from the '90s that didn't use synths or female vocals.

Written by Troy Killjoy on 28.05.2014 at 23:07

Are people really making this out to be that unique? Aside from the production style (which in itself is very similar to OaC) and Attila's vocals this sounds like... black metal. Some moments bring to mind the likes of Inquisition, Funeral Mist, or Deathspell Omega while others make me think of pretty much any black metal band from the '90s that didn't use synths or female vocals.

I don't think that this is the most unique album around, but saying that it is similar to "pretty much any black metal band from the '90s that didn't use synths or female vocals" is rather extreme. To each their own I guess.

I do think Mayhem have established a pretty solid signature sound on their past couple of records. They can certainly be compared to other bands, but even if you took away Attila's vocals I think you could easily pick their music out of a crowd with no problem.

Enjoyable, a couple of songs aren't too good (first couple mostly). I prefer it to OaC, but it seems Mayhem made a very recognisable signature sound (instead of different as fuck albums each time). Mylab, Corpse of Care and Throne of Time are massive, my favs no doubt.

Oh yeah, here's the Budapest session bonus track which didn't appear on the stream. Not as good as the rest of the album but still worth hearing.

Looking like a bunch of goddamn villains (sounding like ones too ).

This will be extremely difficult to rate. I have no idea what to think of it.

Just listened to the whole record and the result... Mayhem with ES takes no.1 place (for now) in my list of great albums released this year! It takes time for these guys to come up with a new offering, but when they do, they surely do it well.

I like this album, and I think it'll get better the more I listen to it. Atilla is still insane. I can still tell its definitely Mayhem playing so I don't see identity issues. Other bands now may have some of the sound they have defined over the years but Mayhem don't give a shit with their veterans prowess.

They're fucking back on the track.

Diggin it!

Oh what a surprise... I love this album.... (that's not surprising). Seriously great stuff. Nearly on par with the previous album.

Nope, definitely not as good as the debut, but still great.

This album makes me want to crush brick walls with my bare hands

Written by Erik M. on 08.06.2014 at 22:12

Nope, definitely not as good as the debut, but still great.

Well the debut and this are vastly different in a stylistic sense. I'm curious what your opinion on Ordo Ad Chao is, as that album is much closer in style, and should probably be the standard we are comparing Esoteric Warfare to

Does anyone know how much the new guitarist Teloch factored in the bulk of the songwriting? My guess is not that much, at least compared to his predecessors...

Written by MelancholiaC on 10.06.2014 at 19:39

Does anyone know how much the new guitarist Teloch factored in the bulk of the songwriting? My guess is not that much, at least compared to his predecessors...

Seemingly, he was the main songwriter on this album.

Steamroller of an album.

The first 9 I gave this year. Shit.

Opening track is my favorite at the moment. Those vocals, dang.

Written by Alex F on 10.06.2014 at 18:59

Well the debut and this are vastly different in a stylistic sense. I'm curious what your opinion on Ordo Ad Chao is, as that album is much closer in style, and should probably be the standard we are comparing Esoteric Warfare to

True. I can't deny that I prefer the more simplistic style of the debut to this album and Ordo Ad Chao. Indeed these two albums are pretty similar in style. I like this one more than OAC so far, but both deserve more spins. Don't get me wrong, I like 'em both, but somehow the debut just totally pisses on these two albums, even though they are more original style-wise. Though I know myself all too well to know that my opinion in case of music can change a lot after subsequent spins, so who knows... For the record, I've spun this one 5 times so far and OAC only 2 times (and the debut probably 15-20 times already).

Don't know why, but I'm just not impressed by this.

To the people who liked/loved it: did it click instantly with you, or did you have to go through it multiple times in order to digest it properly?

Written by Slayer666 on 13.06.2014 at 23:43

did it click instantly with you, or did you have to go through it multiple times in order to digest it properly?

Half way through it I called it the album of year , but that's because I am really used to their OaC.

Written by mz on 14.06.2014 at 02:19

Half way through it I called it the album of year , but that's because I am really used to their OaC.

So am I....
Granted, the first time I heard OaC I was almost exclusively into "classic" 2nd wave black metal, so it took me well over a year to gain an appreciation for its unorthodox style.

But now that I'm much more interested in non-standard black, I figured I should be loving this, but I'm just not.

For me a slight improvement over the last album, which was pretty decent too. This album continues the new trademark Mayhem sound and seems to dabble with experimentation, making songs like the excellent "Milab" and "Posthuman" that bit more effective. It does get tiresome on soms songs with repetitive riffing but the instrumental performance here more than makes up for it, as well as the eerie atmosphere.

I really like seeing how all of the songs the released prior to the official release date work together in the completed album as well as the progression of the album as a whole. Gives me a new appreciation for the songs I had already heard.

Pretentious album title, pretentious band, decent music; lower to mid 7 area. I really like Mylab, though. I love the progressive touch.

Throne of time is like a nod to Virus (and in a friggin good way), I mean the Carheart album, and for me it is that good! Not sayin' that the OaC sounded not groundbreaking enough) Just that it makes me think of it