Notorious Norwegian black-metal outfit Mayhem were formed in 1984 and have been active since, other than the one year following the headline-making murder of the group’s founder Euronymous by Burzum mastermind Varg Vikernes, who was playing bass in the band at the time. Remarkably, in that time, the group has never issued an official music video — until today, November 7th. Ahead of the physical release of their acclaimed new album Daemon, Mayhem have offered up a dark, twisted visual for standout cut “Falsified and Hated.” The clip was directed by Johan Bååth (Watain, Lucifer, etc.).
“This is the first official music video we have released, so indeed some thought went into this,” Mayhem guitarist Teloch commented. “Instead of having us filmed at some dodgy location with instruments not even plugged in, we did something different, in the true tradition of the band. We hired Johan Bååth to direct the video, and we also were lucky enough to get the infamous Swedish graffiti artist Ziggy Jonas Rasmusson to do his ritualistic paintings for the video.”
“When I was asked to do the very first Mayhem music video, I thought I really had to do something more than just a plain black-metal video, I wanted to take it one step further and do something different but stay true to the genre and of course Mayhem’s iconic legacy as a band,” Bååth added. “I thought of the artist Ziggy Jonas Rasmusson and his ritualistic paintings and I asked him if he wanted to participate. Together we came up with this idea of a ritualistic painted pentagon-shaped room, completely surrounded by five painted walls, facing a centered pentagram-painting with Ziggy’s ”hex-text” signs and symbols all over, each of the five point corners symbolizing human expiration.”
Watch the video — and see Mayhem’s upcoming European tour dates — below.
Mayhem tour dates:
11/07 – Lyon, France @ CCD
11/08 – Toulouse, France @ Le Metronum
11/09 – Barcelona, Spain @ Salamandra
11/10 – Madrid, Spain @ Mon Madrid
11/12 – Milan, Italy @ Magazzini Generali
11/13 – Geneva, Switzerland @ PTR
11/14 – Vienna, Austria @ Szene
11/15 – Prague, Czech Republic @ Meet Factory
11/16 – Berlin, Germany @ Astra
11/17 – Lille, France @ Tyrant Fest
11/19 – Kassel, Germany @ Musik Theater 130BPM
11/20 – Wetzikon, Switzerland @ Hall of Fame
11/21 – Mannheim, Germany @ MS Connexion Complex
11/22 – Oberhausen, Germany @ Turbinehalle
11/23 – Vossellar, Belgium @ Biebob
11/24 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Pumpehuset
11/26 – Tampere, Finland @ Pakkahuone
11/27 – Helsinki, Finland @ Tavastia
11/29 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Fryshuset Klubben
11/30 – Gothenburg, Sweden @ Pustervi
