Atavistic Black Disorder / Kommando - EP

Album review

EPs have always been as important as albums in Mayhem's career, if not more so. Recall the seminal Deathcrush (1987) or the excellent Wolf's Lair Abyss, released ten years later. Atavistic Black Disorder/Kommando isn't of the same stature as these other two EPs, but it is remarkable in more ways than one. In fact, the band's last album to date, Daemon (2019), suffered from catastrophic timing, coming out almost on the eve of the pandemic. That record, which was excellent, remained more or less a dead letter. ABD/K is keeping the flame alive until Mayhem (and everyone else) can finally get back on the road. This effective hybrid release gives us, on the one hand, three tracks standing in the purest Daemon tradition: Voces Ab Alta, a cataclysmic, unreleased track lasting almost six minutes, as well as Black Glass Communion and Everlasting Dying Flame, two tracks that were used as bonuses on the limited editions of the album. These three pieces showcase the band at its best, testifying to an increasingly thorough writing style. The band then takes a step in a different direction, with four short punk covers: In Defense of our Future (Discharge), Hellnation (Dead Kennedys), Only Death (Rudimentary Peni) and Commando (Ramones). Hearing Mayhem slip into the shoes of these bands is something to treasure: Hellhammer's drumming is a thousand times more technical than that of the original versions, but these four covers have nevertheless kept their original spirit, including Hellnation on which Maniac (the group's former singer who is invited back) takes charge of the vocals and treats us to a simply irresistible imitation of Jello Biafra. Incidentally, this is an excellent answer to those who still regard black metal as suspect because of its ideological connections. The undisputed leader of the Norwegian scene – the most highly-regarded scene in the genre – covering the Dead Kennedys, a brazenly left-wing band: now that's worth a thousand speeches or any other kinds of self-justification. This EP confirms what we already knew: that Mayhem will never do anything conventionally. © Charlélie Arnaud/Qobuz