De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas

Mayhem | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 24, 1994)
• Original Release Date: May 23, 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Century Media
• ASIN: B000005HLV
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (125 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #25,988 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #28 in Music > World Music > Europe > Scandinavia > Norway
  • #88 in Music > Indie Music > Rock > Hard Rock & Metal

Editorial Reviews

Limited edition pressing. One of the earliest of the Norwegian black metal bands to form, Mayhem's 20 year history is littered with tragedy and controversy. Now Back On Black re-issues the bands' 4 studio albums on deluxe audiophile quality vinyl. All editions of these classic black metal albums are pressed on colored vinyl and come in gatefold packaging. 2006. --This text refers to the Vinyl edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Believe the hype. Deservedly a classic, April 16, 2006

By 

Vorthog (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (Audio CD)

OK, so it looks like people are severely divided over this album.

Some see it as a pile of mediocre [...] that has been outshone by many others before and since. These people usually come from a traditional Metal background and base their assessment -- as traditional Metal usually does -- on the technical merits of the album. ("Euronymous wasn't the best guitarist in the world", "Attila's vocals suck", etc., etc.) Or they may be into bands with more of a keyboard-oriented sound like Dimmu Borgir or Emperor.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum others who are more specifically into the guitar-based side of the Black Metal genre revere this album as a kind of unholy grail of Black Metal. These people usually look at the album more as a whole, and are able to appreciate it for its overall atmosphere rather than nit-picking apart its merits of musical virtuousity.

As for me, I belong to the ones who consider it one of the best Metal albums of all time. I grew up hating traditional mainstream Metal (except for Sabbath), so it came as kind of a shock to me when I heard this thing called "Black Metal" and discovered I loved it. No boring-as-hell squealy 20-minute Jimmy Page guitar solos here. The aesthetic here was much closer to the Punk that I grew up loving, but with a much, much heavier, harder Metal edge, and a heart of blackest darkness.

It is this darkness that I feel best defines this album, and it comes out in the overall sound of the band. If Darkthrone's sound can be described as a kind of drone, I would call Mayhem's sound more of a throb, kind of like the throb of a powerful engine. This guitar throb forms the basis of the music, with the solos naturally flowing in and out.

And what really sets this band apart from the pack for me is Hellhammer's brilliant drumming, so inventive and unlike the boring style popular with many bands these days that is so fast and repetetive that it sounds almost machine-generated (--Dark Funeral anyone?). He truly deserves the title of best drummer in all of Black Metal. Add to this Varg's bass which nimbly climbs in and out around the guitar and drums (check out "Freezing Moon" for a good example of this).

And over top of all of this is Attila Csihar's vocals. Now, I realize they're not for everyone and even I didn't appreciate them at first. But after listening a few times I found that on the initial track "Funeral Fog" his voice reminded me of a hissing, slimy little Peter Lorre/Gollum type of character. After that he breaks into more of a scream on the other songs, and with his Hungarian accent Attila's voice almost sounds like a freaked-out Bela Lugosi risen from the grave to haunt us with an evil message from beyond. -- Perfect for Black Metal!

This is one of the very few albums I own that I can listen to over and over and never get sick of. The songs just have this tremendous energy and power to them that create a flow through the entire album. That, for me, is the sign of a truly great album.

So this album is not for everyone. If you're a Metal traditionalist or if you like keyboards in your Black Metal, you probably won't be too impressed. But if you're into heavy, atmospheric, guitar-driven Black Metal and have the imagination necessary to cope with Attila's unconventional vocal style, you just might be able to understand why so many of us rate this album so highly.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I echo that sentiment, March 20, 2009

By 

M. Filbey (Harrisburg, PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (Audio CD)

Praise Jesus!!! This is the most inspiring music ever, best Christian rock album EVER! If you are Christian, buy this and enjoy!

78 of 105 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "Legendary" does not necessarily mean "great"..., September 28, 2002

By 

emperorcaligula (Glen Burnie, MD.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (Audio CD)

A confession: I'm an old guy (I'm 35) who's been into the underground metal scene since the early '80's, and to me "black metal" was Bathory, Celtic Frost, Hellhammer...that kinda thing. It's only in the last couple of years that I've really gotten into the northern European bands (although I've ALWAYS worshipped Bathory), and while I've generally been blown away by almost everything I've experienced so far (Emperor, early Burzum, Enslaved, Immortal, etc.), frankly, I just cannot bring myself to take Mayhem seriously.

Try as I might, I simply can't help but believe that this band's revered status is based solely on their notorious reputation and history, which to me often reads like a really bad movie script. Because when viewed objectively, 'De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas' offers nothing particularly special. While the music is brutally sick, fast, and heavy, it's nothing you haven't heard done much better by other bands to follow in their wake, and the absolutely silly vocals are so bad as to be borderline unlistenable...like a talentless drunk at the bar on karaoke night. Don't get me wrong, this isn't really a bad album per se, I just don't think it's a very good representation of what modern black metal has to offer.

I'm sure many black metal aficionados would argue that this disc demands inclusion in your collection for it's historical value alone...I would simply counter that by saying that I buy albums based on their merits and not their reputation. If you're a relative neophyte to this genre, I really would not recommend you starting off here.