"Having survived a suicide, a murder, imprisonment and whatnot the notorious Mayhem release one of the most important black metal releases ever, and certainly their best release ever (featuring the lyrics of Dead who had commited suicide, guitars by Euronymous who was murdered, and bass by Grishnack who was imprisoned for the murder of Euronymous).
While it can be difficult to differentiate between the tracks on this album, because of the emphasis on fast tremolo riffage and insane blastbeats, there are a lot of interesting things here. First off, there are a lot of subtleties in Hellhammer's blasting, such as wee details on the cymbals and hi-hats. Moreover, the tremolo riffage is accompanied by more defined riffs and slower sections, and you can hear the bass(!), which is quite unusual in the black metal universe. So, while it seems like a bunch of indistinguishable songs, there is actually a lot of variation going on if one listens carefully - and, at times, there are even some progressive inklings.
The vocals are, in my opinion, the weak point of this album, as they are moaned, or even mumbled, throughout the album, which ends up just being quite annoying to listen to.
But all in all, this is an important black metal release, and one which, while very extreme, could appeal not just to fans of black metal but to fans of extreme metal in general.
(review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"
