MAYHEM / Wolf's Lair Abyss E.P. (1997)

The first Mayhem release without Euronymous, who died at the hands of a paranoid and stabby Varg. Maniac is back on vocals and he does well; there's nothing yet as bad as what the following album would spit at us. Against the odds, considering the damage to the band structure, it's damn good.
It's a lot more technical than what came before, the bass is louder, the guitars are crisper and Hellhammer pounds the living shit out of his kit.
The production is on a whole other level. It's the last of the essential Mayhem.

Songs of Note: I am Thy Labyrinth; Fall of Seraphs

4 Nietzschean screeches out of 5