Mayhem

Mayhem is a Norwegian black metal band. It was formed by guitarist Euronymous, bassist Necrobutcher, and drummer Manheim in 1984.

Early Days
Euronymous, Necrobutcher, and Manheim formed the band in 1984. They soon released the demo Pure Fucking Armageddon. Although Euronymous and Necrobutcher performed lead vocals together originally, they recruited session vocalist Messiah 1986. After Messiah left by the end of the year, Mayhem recruited another session vocalist, Maniac, in 1987. The band then recorded their first EP, Deathcrush, in 1987. It was released on Posercorpse Music, Euronymous's label. 1,000 copies of Deathcrush were produced, and they all quickly sold out. In 1988, Manheim and Maniac left the band.

Dead
Maniac and Manheim were replaced by Dead and Hellhammer in 1988, respectively. Dead was well known for his interesting stage performances, in which he made himself look like a corpse and cut himself on stage. A statement about Dead was made by Occultus, "He [Dead] didn't see himself as human; he saw himself as a creature from another world. He said he had many visions that his blood has frozen in his veins, that he was dead. That is the reason he took that name. He knew he would die." The band to moved a house in the forest near Oslo in 1990. During the writing process for the album that would become De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, Dead and Euronymous's relationship became increasingly tense. On April 9, 1991, Dead committed suicide in the band's house. He had slit his wrists and shot himself in the head with a shotgun. His body was found by Euronymous, who went to a nearby store and bought a disposable camera, using it to take pictures of Dead's corpse.

De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
Mayhem resumed work on their upcoming album after Dead's suicide. They briefly worked with Occultus, but it didn't last. In 1993, Varg Vierknes, Blackthorn, and Attila Cshiar were hired to handle bass guitar, rhythm guitar, and vocals, respectively. The majority of the album was recorded in Grieg Hall in Bergen. The album was completed and getting ready for release, but was set back again when Vierknes murdered Euronymous on August 10, 1993. Since Hellhammer was the only official Mayhem member left, the band essentially no longer existed. The album was set back one final time when Euronymous's parents filed complaints about the usage of Vierknes's bass tracks on the album. Although Hellhammer promised to re-record the bass tracks, he didn't. De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas was released on May 24, 1994.

Reunion
Mayhem was reformed by Hellhammer in 1995 with new guitarist Blasphemer and former members Maniac and Necrobutcher. The band released the EP Wolf's Lair Abyss in 1997. The band also did several performances, most notably one in Milan, Italy where the live album Mediolanum Capta Est was recorded.

Grand Declaration of War
Mayhem's second studio album, Grand Declaration of War, was released in 2000.

Chimera
Mayhem's third studio album, Chimera, was released in 2004.

Later that year, Maniac left the band. We was replaced by Attila Cshiar, who had performed vocals on De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas.

Ordo Ad Chao
Mayhem's fourth studio album, Ordo Ad Chao, was released in 2007.

Blasphemer left the band in 2008. The band has yet to find an official replacement, but Morfeus, Silmaeth, and Teloch have served with the band for touring purposes.

New Album
According to Necrobutcher, Mayhem is working on a new album. The album was completed sometime in 2013 and the mixing process began in November 2013. An early 2014 release is expected.