SPECIAL FRIDAY THE 13TH REVIEW- - De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas (1994) by Mayhem

Before I was even a thought in my mother's mind, this quintessential black metal band released one of their most well known records. A must know for any black metal fan, Mayhem's 1994 release is probably one of the better recorded black metal records from the time, I'm thinking of Burzum and Darkthrone in this sense, as the record itself is very clear and instrumentally pleasing. Vocally however, this record sounds, as one youtube viewer put "Sounds like Dave Mustaine being strangled". Now, why am I reviewing this on Friday the 13th? Well, it's a spooky day filled with the idea of bad luck, and the band's members have had some serious lineup changes for nasty reasons, mainly their first vocalist, Dead, and his suicide, and another member, Euronomyous's dead at the hands of other member of the band, everyone's favorite Neo Nazi church burner, Varg.
 On to the record itself though, this 1994 release from Mayhem classifies as a classic black metal record, however I myself can't like it beyond the instrumentals. Maybe because it's not as atmospheric as I like? Well whatever it is, the instrumentals are all solid, my favorite parts of the sound being the drum fills and the seriously gnarly riffs. The basstone is nice, and both guitars and drums and bass all flow nicely through the songs on this record wholeheartedly.
 Where this record loses points for me though, are the vocals, which again, sound like Dave Mustaine being strangled. I suppose it could stem from me not being so used to it, as I listen to alot more contemporary black metal these days. But really, that's where my complaints stop, because beyond that this record is absolutely a great one to listen to.

Overall, this one earns a solid 6.5/10, and here's why, regardless of the sound, and that I said it was a great one to listen to, I still found the vocals to be unlistenable, and overall I was bored with the tracks, the riffs were great, but on the same hand, I found them to be far too repetitive. So sue me if you want, I just couldn't totally get behind this record.