siLLy puPPy Just like their debut album, LIVE IN LEIPZIG captures the true dark spirit of MAYHEM as it exudes the hooliganism vibe of this era . It is one of the rare official releases to hear a still living Dead on vocals. The album was actually recorded on 26 November 1990 at the Eiskeller Club in Leipzig, Germany. It was released the year before the debut and kind of makes up for the gap between “Deathcrush” and “De Mysteriis...” The music on here is in fact from the demo “Pure Fucking Armageddon,” “Deathcrush” and “De Mysteriis..”

The production on here is as you would expect for a lo-fi black metal release but it is actually quite good for what it is being of much better quality than previous releases. The guitars and bass are really loud and highly distorted creating the famous wall of noise. Dead delivers the insanity of Maniac on this release and is perfect for the part.

I'm actually sad that this isn't available as a video because the band was famous for their extreme props such as impaled pig heads and tossing rotting meat into the audience. An interesting perspective into the band's darkest years is presented right here and although it really doesn't create anything new in their sound, it certainly emphasizes with gusto that which they had already accomplished. A very confident and brash MAYHEM was rockin' the town on this night and black metal was their game. Great stuff.

Warthur This is an intriguing live album which is one of the few sources to document the Mayhem sound as it existed at the time when the legendary Dead was performing with them. The progress over the Deathcrush demo is impressive and much more reminiscent of the classic Norwegian black metal sound; the production values are basic, but a very great step above the rather shoddy Dawn of the Black Hearts bootleg which is one of the only other widely-available recordings of a show from this era.

In its stronger moments, the production values help rather than hindering matters; the main issue with the production is that the bass and guitars all tend to blend together, but this ultimately becomes a great reproduction of the wall of noise this band was legendary for producing in a live setting. Dead's vocals are absolutely bestial, the band show a mastery of both fast playing and slower, doomier numbers (there's even a weird Sabbath vibe which creeps in during Chainsaw Gutsfuck), and Dead's performance is deeply impressive - whilst many black metal frontmen have cultivated a similarly morbid image, Dead is one of the only ones who show absolutely no signs of faking it.

And, alas, this is the only really substantial material we have from the Dead era of Mayhem, with the result that this has rather been overhyped as a result. It's good, and you can see a glimpse of why Dead was so compelling, but it's not one I can say I feel anxious to spin that often.