Interview с Mayhem : DARKSIDE.ru

You have just come from Holland where the whole band got arrested for trashing out the hotel. How would you comment on the incident?

Of course, this tour was kinda fucked up, we played very small venues. The promoters were very kind, but, you know, the overall enthusiasm was very low. And then on the last night we were very exhausted and the guys set out for a party. The hotel was really bad and cheap. I am not sure what was happening because I was sleeping. I woke up from noise and went to the room which was already messed up. It looked like everybody was having fun or they

were just releasing their stress. It was not a big deal. It was kinda anger and fun at the same time. Luckily I left very early in the morning so I didn’t get arrested. That would be a disaster for me – we had a show with Grave Temple in the UK. Of course hotel people called the police, so the band guys had to go to the police station and spend some time there. And naturally we had to pay the damage. But on the Internet this was blown up to the sky. There this accident was presented as another Armageddon or something like that. But it’s typical – the people dig on the shit especially when it comes for Mayhem.

If another band did that, probably no one would care, but in our case it is blown up to the sky. I wouldn’t comment much on this and wouldn’t tell it wasa big deal.

A year ago Mayhem long-time guitarist Blasphemer has parted his ways with the band. He told that among other things he wasn’t satisfied with his role in the band. How do you think, what made him feel like this?

It is a very complicated story that developed over a long period of time. He was always compared with other guitarists and with Euronymus in particular. He has had a lot of that shit over ye

ars actually: from press, from the fans. However he had one hundred percent respect in the band and in fact he had the main role in the band: he was the composer of many albums. He is a very good and talented guitarist. But some people didn’t treat him as a full-right Mayhem member, so of course it went on his nerves after a while. He was in the band for nearly ten years. You know, people change. He has different interests now. His girlfriend is from Portugal and he has his own things to do and of course we were scheduled pretty tightly with Mayhem. So Blasphemer didn’t want to be in a band any more. His decis

ion to leave was his choice , not ours.

Have you worked at the new material at least a bit already?

We have tried a few things of course. We are not in a rush. And Mayhem is not a kind of band that comes up with many albums. During last ten year we made just four full-length albums. So I think a new album will take some time. We won’t release it until we all one hundred percent satisfied by it. We have tried out one new song already. So yeah, there is some stuff going on.

Now after Varg Vikernes is out prison on parole, are you in

any kind of contact with him?

No, not after he got into prison… I just heard some time ago the rumors that he was out of the prison. And now when you say so, it is obviously a fact that he was. I was in a good relation with him back then in the 90’s. But of course I was very irritated by his acts and I disagree with what he did. However I think that he has done his sentence now. He deserved his freedom and should go on living his life. I heard he was going to make a new album – it is very interesting! I think he is a very talented guy, a very intelligent guy. Those are my memories about him

. He is very polite and kind too.

You were Varg’s friend. Now If you take a look back on his church arsons, what can you tell about them?

Well, he was 16 years younger back then. That was different scene, a different era. And then he was crazy enough to burn a church or two. On one hand it’s a very good way to show your resistance, but on the other hand maybe it’s not so smart- to destroy old building which are the part of country’s culture. I am a little bit confused about this. But then again I am not regretting or denying this thing

Gaal has mentioned that his bands are all about message his music renders not that much about the music itself. Is it valid for Mayhem too? Is Mayhem all about music or all about message you want to deliver?

It is both. It's about the music first and certainly there is a message there. The message is always around the same base, just seen from different aspects. In our latest album “Ordo Ad Chao” there is a strong concept of the information that lies behind the lines. One of our fans who became my good friend by now got so deep into the lyrics that he suddenly found all the connections

in the lines and between the songs. In all the lyrics we have subjects such as nature, religion, science, psychology, lots and lots of other things. The first part presents the world outside; the second part is about the world inside a human. It's also about the old civilizations and about the end of civilization. I was studying those things for a long time and working on lyrics for two years just to get them into shape.

Can you name any black metal bands of younger generation that would appeal to you?

I am not that closely following the scene. At this point m

ost of the bands to me already belong to a younger generation. I like when they have their own unique concepts, like for example Carpathian Forest - they went to absolutely sick direction and I totally like it. Some periods of Shining were interesting. I like some industrial metal bands. But in any case, music has to have the meaning, present a challenge, both for the listener and for the musician.

You came to Norwegian black metal scene from Hungary. Did you feel any major difference between music scenes in those countries?

We started a band called Tormentor

in 1985 and we grew famous in Hungary pretty soon. We first recorded a demo and then a full-length. And I must say we were pretty much ahead of our time. The things we were doing influenced Norwegian metal scene. That was the connection and that's how I got invited to Mayhem. Many black metal guys from Norway openly told that Tormentor influenced them. The black metal scene in general was quite small then, there were very few bands and Tormentor influenced a lot of them

Do you have any plans of coming back to play in Russia?

I hope so. The guys who brought us there last time and booked our show, SPIKA - they are just fantastic people. It was really cool organization. The way they treated us was of the best in my career. So I'd like to say Hi! to them here. If they would book us there once again – I would just love to go.

Interview by Victoria Maksimovich
Photo by Jannika Lenn
© Russian DarkSide E-Zine
20 янв 2010 the End


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GRIMNIR 20 янв 2010, 20:48	Mayhem, команда то культовая, альбомы хорошие вроде бы насочиняли (надеюсь и в будущем будут альбомы хорошие), но то как они ведут себя мне не понятно, конечно разгромить отель дело то хорошие, но говорить что им сейчас стало жаль те церкви которые они пожжигали у себя на родине мне ни понятно, да и про Варга спрашивать у них смысла не вижу, понятно что они его больше не уважают, и ещё раз повторюсь команда культовая, так держать \m/ Mayhem \m/
victoriam 21 янв 2010, 03:59	Пять копеек от аффтара, коли позволите:Атилла категорически не поддерживает имеенно тогo, что Варг уничтожил культурное наследие - так же он бы осуждал поджог музея или любого другого исторического помятника. И не совсем корректоно говорить что церкви поджигали "они" - никто из тепершнего состава группы с поджогами ничего общего не имел. Ну а про Варга я спросила отчасти из -за странных слухов, что его видели на последних концертах Мэйхем. В любом случае +1 к " так держать \m/ Mayhem \m/"
Glop 21 янв 2010, 21:05	Это интервью я ждал, еще когда оно лежало на премодерации. Тогда же и прочитал, не дождался :)
MAX DE SADE 21 янв 2010, 22:39	Хочу... Декларацию войны хочу)
Antireligios 22 янв 2010, 13:32	Виктория, спасибо за интересное интервью с легендой. Короткое, но крайне содержательное. Полностью поддерживаю Атиллу в его взглядах на окружающий мир. Очень рассудительный и правильно мыслящий человек. Поскорее бы они снова приехали в Россию с концертами. Очень хочется увидеть MAYHEM живьём в обновлённом составе.
victoriam 22 янв 2010, 22:38	Спасибо! Наверное, если брать в общем, то это было лучший мой собеседник за весь прошлый год.
coa-cuki 23 янв 2010, 00:11	что-то читаю и не понимаю, что в этом человеке интересного. Ответы нейтральные дальше некуда, от всего открещиваются, ничем не интересуются, позитифф во все стороны, серость какая-то, такое же интервью может дать абсолютно дефолтный человек из толпы.
Hirnfuhler 25 янв 2010, 02:47	А откуда слухи про Варга?
Forseti 25 янв 2010, 15:26	Вот разжирели!:))) Площадки им для выступлений маленькие - так они отели громят! Странная злость какая-то...
Pied Piper 6 фев 2010, 21:37	Смотрел интервью с Атиллой на ютубе, около получаса - тип реально крут. Спокойный, вежливый, интеллигентный, с яркой жестикуляцией) Много умных вещей он там говорил.
BladeRunner 20 сен 2011, 16:56	Атилла красавчик, что еще говорить
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Mayhem

Mayhem - chaos in healthy limits

GRIMNIR

victoriam

Glop

MAX DE SADE

Antireligios

victoriam

coa-cuki

Hirnfuhler

Forseti

Pied Piper

BladeRunner