Mayhem Celebrating 25 Years of 'Grand Declaration of War'

No band embodies the spirit of black metal like Mayhem. In the wake of violence and scandal, the Norwegians set the standard for the genre with their canonical 1994 debut. Other influential acts were quick to follow in their footsteps, but these iconoclasts defied convention by making a truly bold statement on Grand Declaration of War.

"This record means a lot", its chief sonic architect Blasphemer told Outburn during a recent retrospective on the band's long since debated second album. "It built a foundation, not only for me personally, but it also built a new foundation for Mayhem".

Today, Season of Mist is celebrating the album's 25th anniversary with a special edition of Grand Declaration of War. Along with the original master, this sunburst colored gatefold LP includes new silver hot foil packaging, a double-sided poster and an embroidered leather patch.  

"For Season of Mist, there was a before and an after Grand Declaration of War", says the label's founder and manager Michael Berberian. "This is probably the first true classic album we ever released, the one that put us on the map. And what an album. Talk about unexpected. Talk about daring".  

The 25th Anniversary Edition of Grand Declaration of War comes out December 5th on Season of Mist.

Pre-order

https://shop.season-of-mist.com/mayhem-grand-declaration-of-war-lp-gatefold-coloured-red

On Grand Declaration of War, Mayhem continued to bow down for no one – even themselves.  The band were coldblooded as ever on merciless cuts like “A Time to Die”, but their arsenal of blast beats and tremolo picking was strengthened by an increase in command. Written in collaboration between newly appointed guitarist Blasphemer and vocalist Maniac, the album didn’t expand so much as it invaded territory that was then believed off-limits: spoken word (“View from Nihil”), trip-hop (“A Bloodsword and a Colder Sun”), soundscapes of doom (“Completion in Science of Agony”).

No matter how they choose to impose their will, after 25 years of Grand Declaration of War, there's still nowhere that Mayhem fear to tread.

The incredible rawness of the Deathcrush EP (1987) was followed by the still iconic and genre-defining De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (1994), which featured devilish drummer Jan Axel “Hellhammer” Blomberg, who had joined in 1988. The vocalist on this album was the Hungarian Attila Csihar of Tormentor fame, who returned later in 2004 to take over from his meantime heir, the enigmatic original singer Sven-Erik “Maniac” Kristiansen. The latter was featured on the Wolf’s Lair Abyss EP (1997), which was written mostly by highly talented guitarist Rune “Blasphemer” Eriksen, who scored a massive artistic success with the highly controversial Grand Declaration Of War (2000).

Recording lineup
Maniac - Vocals
Blasphemer - Guitars
Necrobutcher - Bass
Hellhammer - Drums

Guest musicians
Tore Ylwizaker - Noise on "Completion in Science of Agony (Part I of II)"
Øyvind Hægeland - Additional vocals on "Completion in Science of Agony (Part I of II)"

Production credits
Produced and engineered by Børge Finstad
Mastered by Morten Lund

Cover Art
Mark Francombe Red

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