𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…
August 16, 1987 — Mayhem released their debut EP, Deathcrush on 12” vinyl via the Posercorpse record label. (Listen)
It was reissued via Deathlike Silence in 1993.
Pictured is the Deathlike Silence Productions reissue (Anti Mosh 003/Anti-Mosh 003) released in 1993.
This was the first pressing on CD.
The original release was limited to 1,000 copies. It was recorded at Creative Studios in Kolbotn, Norway during February-March 1987.
The original “Deathcrush” demo tape was released before the 12" LP version. The labels on the tape version were hand written.
The first edition on the 12” vinyl version had a pressing error that made the color of the sleeve come out pink, not red. The 1993 CD/LP were both properly printed red, however the 1998 bootleg picture disc LP is pink like the original 1987 LP.
There are many bootleg versions, in all thinkable fashions, the Posercorpse Picture Disc (above) from 1998 is a bootleg.
The LP & CD covers have a picture of cut-off hands on exhibition, Mauritania.
On some editions, (Weird) Manheim and Pure Fucking Armageddon are combined into one track.
The outro only appeared on the original demo tape, original LP and many bootlegs, it was unlisted on the cover. It could previously also be downloaded via the band's official website. The outro appears in a "supermix" on the LP - it runs faster than on the MC.
Background:
Though influential to Black Metal, its lyrics and sound were largely influenced by Thrash Metal bands. After vocalist Dead joined the group, the band adopted darker lyrical topics and guitarist Euronymous (Øystein Aarseth) started rejecting most other Metal bands as their lyrics turned towards "𝚜𝚘𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜" and "𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚕" topics instead of death worship; he "𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎".
(𝙴𝚞𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚜)
Dead stated that the lyrics "𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗‘𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚢".
(𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚍)
The opening track Silvester Anfang was provided to the band by German electronic music composer Conrad Schnitzler (Tangerine Dream), after Euronymous found Schnitzler's home address and sat outside his house until he was eventually invited in.
(𝙴𝚞𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚜)
Euronymous then asked Schnitzler to compose an intro for the album; rather than record a new composition Schnitzler gave Euronymous a random piece from his archives, which would later become known as Silvester Anfang.
(𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙴𝚞𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚜)
Drummer Kjetil Manheim later stated that the band's sound was "𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 (𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚘 𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚑𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚗) 𝚍𝚒𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍, 𝚜𝚘 𝚑𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚍".
(𝙴𝚞𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙺𝚓𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚖)
He also noted that there was "𝚗𝚘 𝚖𝚒𝚡, 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛" and "𝚗𝚘 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚍𝚞𝚋𝚜: 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚜, 𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚜, 𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚛 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛".
In 2008, Daniel Ekeroth wrote, "𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚘 𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚜 (𝙰𝚊𝚛𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙿𝚎𝚛 ‘𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚍’ 𝙾𝚑𝚕𝚒𝚗) 𝚙𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝟷𝟿𝟿𝟶 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚌 𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎. 𝙸𝚝‘𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚘𝚌𝚞𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 Ø𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙶𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚎".
(𝙳𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎𝚕 𝙴𝚔𝚎𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚑, 𝚊𝚞𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚛 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔, 𝚂𝚠𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑 𝙼𝚎𝚝𝚊𝚕)
According to Dead, most, but not all of the lyrics were written by bassist Necrobutcher.
(𝙹ø𝚛𝚗 “𝙽𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚞𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚛“ 𝚂𝚝𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚞𝚍)
Maniac performed vocals on all of the tracks except Pure Fucking Armageddon, which was sung by Messiah.
(𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚊𝚌)
The Venom cover Witching Hour was sung by Messiah and Maniac. Manheim played piano on (Weird) Manheim.
(𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚊𝚌 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙼𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚑 𝚍𝚞𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚜𝚑, 𝟷𝟿𝟾𝟽)
Critical Reception:
Despite its limited print run, the mini-album appeared in the top 20 on Kerrang! magazine's album charts.
"Chainsaw Gutsfuck" was voted "𝙼𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝙶𝚛𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝙻𝚢𝚛𝚒𝚌𝚜 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛" by Blender in 2006.
Notice: Any reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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IN REMEMBRANCE...
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