Customer Reviews

Live in Leipzig

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When they weren't busy burning churches or killing each other these crazy kids from Norway found time to be a band. Not just any band, this is Mayhem, pioneers of black metal. Influenced by Venom, Bathory, Slayer, and the like, Mayhem set out to be harder and scarier than any band that came before. This CD, Live at Leipzig, serves as a snapshot of what they were at the time. It is aggressive and raw. It is also supposedly one of the only recordings that has Dead, Euronymous, and Count Grisnackh (Varg Vikerness) all playing on it.

Live at Leipzig is to black metal what the Stooges' Raw Power is to punk. It captures the unfiltered essence of the genre. The musicianship is loose. The guitars are in the red and the vocals are high wails and rough snarls. With songs like "Chainsaw Gutsf***", there is no easy listening here. In this live format the track "Pure F***ing Armageddon" lives up to it's name.

Is Live at Leipzig a good CD? Well... I can't dance to it. It scares the hell out of my girlfriend and my pets. Musically, lyrically, and in overall production it is creepy and appalling. However, black metal is supposed to be creepy and appalling. Black metal taps into anger, aggression, and violent fantasy. Here Mayhem succeed. They did exactly what they set out to do, they are harder and scarier than all of their influences. It must be difficult having a career where you constantly submerge yourself in anger and violence because, unfortunately, this line-up of Mayhem didn't survive very long past this recording. The handful of early Mayhem recordings laid the groundwork for all subsequent black metal bands. If you are interested in the genre and can stomach the violence and occult imagery than I recommend Live at Leipzig.

OK the sound quality is very low and the production is very poor, but hey this live show was recorded not to be an album is because of dead's death that the band decided to make a tribute CD to him and of all their live recordings they made, Live in Leipzig got the best sound of all so they decided to make this show an official live album.

Don't expect good sound of the musical instruments here. But dead's voice is very clear and loud. So I recommend this CD only to people that want to know how dead's voice was and how the band played some songs of de mysteriis with him.

If you are new with this band don't listen to this CD yet, get de mysteriis or deathcrush first and then if you like them and want to know about dead's voice then try this live CD

Let's face it, when it comes to Mayhem we all have our preferred vocalist. Mine is Dead, my boyfriend's is Maniac, and my friends is Attila.. either way we all agree that Live In Leipzig is a hellofa album! I heard people bitching about the sound quality.. but do those people really know anything about Black Metal history??? The members of this band were starving at times! Lets see you put out a high quality sound album in a dinky recording studio in Norway..! Back to the subject,.. if its great lyrics, loud music, tremendous musicians, and a memorable album your looking for.. then this one is for you! I personally think it's better than De Mysteriis.. but that is only my opinion.. I have been a Black Metal fan for well over 7 years and I still think this is the BEST album I own. You also might try picking up "Tribute To The Black Emperors" Mayhem/Morbid split if you fall in love with this album.. Don't let the people saying the sound quality is bad discourage you from buying this album.. the sound quality is NOT bad at all.. (Put it this way.. it does NOT sound like it was recorded in someone's bathroom with shotty mics.) Do yourself a favor and buy!!

The sound, the feel, the look of black metal; never has it been captured in a more perfect light than on Mayhem's 'Live in Leipzig' release. Though originally released in 1993, two years before the original black metal scene reached its pinnacle, its place as a classic album (live or otherwise) still stands to this very day, having been matched by few and topped by none. The production is raw and primitive (two words vastly over-used to describe subsequent black metal albums) allowing Dead's tortured vocals and Euronymous's thrashing and nihilistic riffs to flow from your speakers with such a jagged flair that only a live performance could give. Said production sound is necessary to fully get a feel for the album, simply to hear all of the little nuances in the performances (see Hellhammer's near perfect drum fills that permeate the whole of the album). The exact definition of the genre that Mayhem helped push to the forefront of the metal scene can be found on this album in the form of "Freezing Moon" (my personal pick for greatest black metal song ever recorded, ever). One listen to the lyrics, the riffs, and the chill inducing guitar solo and you will fully understand exactly what the genre is. 'Live in Leipzig' is easily the pinnacle of the early black metal scene and definitely a true metal masterpiece.

10 / 10

Just the way black metal is meant to be. The murder, suicide, arson, and rumored cannibalism, the things that almost exclusively attributed to Mayhem crawling its way through the recesses of the underground, and gaining relative infamy. But the one burning question ecapsulating Mayhem's material: Are the story and music proportional?

If you're reading this review, chances are you are aware this CD contains Mayhem's most reputed lineup: Euronymous, Varg, Hellhammer, and the aptly named "DEAD" on vocals. At this point, everyone is a bit sloppy. And the production... There is none. It sounds more like a cheap tape-recording. That isn't really as obtrusive as the naysayers would lead you to believe, but if you're an audiophile... "Abandon all hope ye who enter here."

The album initiates with a long silence, and a chattering audience. As soon as you get the idea of fast-forwarding, Dead emmits a possessed howl, and proceeds to shriek authoritively over "Deathcrush." The is recording is basically the quintessential Mayhem tracks, so no need to pull out a droning narrative about each song. Freezing Moon, Funeral Fog, some of the best black metal recordings ever.

What you need to take into consideration is your tolerance of Euoronymous' "necro," chugging guitar meanderings. This isn't technical stuff. Mayhem leans more on atmosphere, despite how many times you've heard that. The guitar sound? The solos sound like the band is battling power tools. The drums? The esteemed drum-God Hellhammer is rather mediocre on this recording, unfortunately. The bass is inaudible.

Whatever the case, this is vile, frost-bitten black metal at its finest. Per Ohlin, A.K.A. Dead, screams his vocal chords raw, reciting misanthropic and gory "poetry." Almost every black metal vocalist since his days in Morbid have been roughly mimicking his tortured screams. And knowing atonality kills simple music, Euronymous makes sure to incorporate a dark, hypnotic sense of melody into his compositions. Try not to get the sickly anthematic "Chainsaw gutsf**k" stuck in your head.
- Thus says the Pellington

The first BM track I ever heard was the "Funeral Fog" recording from this album and it blew me away. This was raw and real black metal with zero gimmicks. It's underproduced, the band isn't on top of their game but this is black metal and it's black metal with it's most famous line up, this excuses the trashy sound in my view. Funeral Fog, The Freezing Moon and Deathcrush are all classics and I guess I never liked Mayhem beyond this. There is something sinister and evil in this production and Dead's growling that makes this one of the defining moments in black metal recording history. If you're an old schooler like me this is a no brainer but if you're just getting into black metal step outside the new Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir keyboard goth pop and step back in time with some of the true purveyors of black metal. Back before the black metal scene exploded and the scene got turned into something on the fringe of the mainstream there was this, and this is as good as it gets.

It shouldn't work. It really shouldn't. Terrible sound quality, sloppy playing and loud simple music. When compared with more sophisticated black metal such as Ulver or Burzum, Live In Liepzig is ridiculously cheap, crude and muddy. Euronymous' solos sound more like a pneumatic drill than a guitar. Dead has next to no range whatsoever. Even Hellhammer is hardly on top form. So yeah, it shouldn't work. But somehow, I don't know how, it does.

For those who don't know (though if you're reading this, I find that hard to believe), Mayhem were one of the most important bands in Black Metal. Certainly not the best, but one of the most important nonetheless. De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, a studio release containing most of the songs found here, is seen as a legendary benchmark for black metal. Seeing as, if you're reading this you're probably new to Mayhem and are deciding which album to start with, I'm mostly going to compare this De Mysteriis, which I've already written a review for.

First off, De Mysteriis is definately the better produced. Better sound, better playing and generally more accessible (if such a word could be used about Mayhem). On the other hand, it has Atillia's vocals which are the worst black metal vocals I've ever heard. He really does sound that bad, and I can't believe Mayhem thought he was worthy of recording with them. In fact, I can't believe any black metal band would consider him worthy of picking up a microphone. Also, this album is brimming with energy. De Mysteriis is perhaps more atmospheric, but if you want atmospheric black metal then Mayhem aren't really the band for you, so I'd go for the energy. I've never heard a live recording sound more violent and hate-filled.

In reality, if you're prepared to spend the money and you like black metal (i.e. you already have some black metal albums, seeing as anyone really into black metal would have bought these years ago), I'd recommend you buy both, if only for the comparison. But if you can only buy one, then, for all its short-comings, I think I'd recommend this first.

Its also worth noting that there some mp3s from both albums available on the bands official website, so they may aid you in your decision.

You can read that the black metal masterpiece is de misteriis dom sathanas, by these same artists. And we can put that jewel in the second place, but the real place in that throne belongs to live in leipzig.
It could sounds weird to give that honors to a live album, but you must consider that this is the only Mayhem album with its true formation: Hellhammer (best drummer ever in metal), great Necrobutcher in the bass, Dead, a demon singing (perfect raw voice for raw music) and well, Euronymous does not need any presentation; HAIL EURONYMOUS!!! see you in hell my master!
This is a sound extremely dark, cold and strong; here we found some of the greatest masterpieces in black metal, as funeral fog, freezing moon or pagan fears, but every song should have its own article.
You can also read the lyrics and found the darker poetry ever made!!!! this albums is a perfect black art, Just hear it loud, in a dark room and you will fall in trance.
I you are one of those kids who think you are a bad, evilfull metaller because you hear bands so "wicked" as korn or slipknot, jejeje dont hear this one; you will run claiming for mercy with your ears bleeding and dying of terror.
as said once the grat Euronymous: "true metal for true followers"

Generally, Black Metal live records and/or bootlegs leave much to be desired.

Considering the history of Mayhem, and especially what is known of this particular lineup, I think this is a fitting release and should sit alongside of the other official Mayhem releases as a full-length LP.

This stands out as a "Live" record simply for the fact that "Dead" is the vocalist on it. Considering his grim, necro outlook, I don't think a studio would have been a fitting place for him to lay down his vocals to begin with. That's not to say I wouldn't have liked to hear it anyway. With Mayhem, you sort of take what they give you and try not to ask questions...

The live setting captures his voice in a good way, and it's not a bad recording for live black metal show at all.

Pick this one up if you are a Mayhem fan.

Yup its live all right, warts and all: Hellhammer drops his sticks during Pagan Fears and is fairly sloppy throughout (he got MUCH better in subsequent years) The guitar is poorly recorded and mixed, etc.. It's a shame Dead blew his stupid brains out and didn't do any more work with Mayhem 'cause he's the best vocalist they ever had. He made precious few recordings and his story is now just another cautionary tale about depressed children playing with guns, ah well.

The show has a very good (cold, dark and frightening) atmosphere about it and thats why its worth getting. But the sound quality is atrocious and only hints at the power of Mayhem in front of an audience, so "Leipzig" only gets 3 stars. The band in no way shape or form sounded like this live (I'd love to have been at this show). All we're left with is this extremely flawed document thats of more interest from an historical perspective than as an album: you get to hear Dead in a live setting near the beginning of Mayhems' career. But as another reviewer has said I'm afraid that had he not killed himself (and had Varg not killed Euronymous), very few people would pay attention to this badly recorded (its so necro its decomposed), sloppy show.