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| Buy this album |
Mayhem hits extremely hard with "Chimera", and it's definitely somewhat of a surprise after their previous album "Grand Declaration Of War", which experimented with dark-electronic influences, spoken word passages, and unconventional song structures. For Mayhem, a band of legendary status, "Chimera" represents a return to an older, more savage and destructive style, but it also shows deep progression: the band has adopted a more technical subtlety to enhance their extreme style, and the lo-fi aesthetics of old have been entirely abandoned for a venomously crisp production. This allows drummer Hellhammer's outstanding technical work as well as bassist Necrobutcher's pounding, almost grooving, distorted riffs to shine through. There is also more diversity present in the band's songwriting. Even the fairly well-produced and more recent "Wolf's Lair Abyss" was relatively unvaried. It certainly didn't lack aggression and power, but stylistically it was a fairly straightforward album. "Chimera" defies this all-too-familiar black metal trend and mixes variation in with its extremity. Songs like "Dark Night Of The Soul" and "Impious Devious Leper Lord" exhibit strong and unusual influences – possibly from outside the black metal scene – which make them unique and powerful.
"Chimera" is an extremely attractive and charismatic album. Mayhem showcase many of there heretofore unseen quirks and musical ideas with this album, and this fact makes it all the more interesting and worthwhile. Blasphemer's guitarwork is deadly as usual, being technically well executed, ferocious with black metal flavor, and highly creative at once. As mentioned previously, Hellhammer's drumming and Necrobutcher's basswork are both very prominent and interesting. Maniac's vocals are very interesting on this album as well. Since his re-joining of the band for the "Wolf's Lair Abyss" album, he has developed a unique vocal style unimitated throughout the entire black metal scene. Rather than shrieks or screams, Maniac has mastered a repulsive, dry, throaty snarl that is perfected on "Chimera". This alone makes the album stand out from all of the countless other modern black metal CDs.
Of course, Mayhem's legendary status contributes to the strength of the album, but this disc could quite easily stand on its own without the big name. "Chimera" shows that there is still true inspiration and power in black metal, and that as a genre it has potential to push onward into the future and expand and evolve. Anyone looking for new, inspiring black metal that is unashamed and unafraid to experiment without losing its deadly black edge should definitely look into "Chimera". This album is unlike anything else on the black metal scene today.
| Tracklist |
| 1. Whore |
| 2. Dark Night Of The Soul |
| 3. Rape Humanity With Pride |
| 4. My Death |
| 5. You Must Fall |
| 6. Slaughter Of Dreams |
| 7. Impious Devious Leper Lord |
| 8. Chimera |
: 44.31
| Buy other Mayhem albums |
