Monday, September 22, 2008

Milan Gets Taken

Back when I posted UFO's live epic Strangers In The Night ,it got folks talking about their favorite live albums, which led to me dusting off Mayhem's Mediolanum Capta Est. This is a recording of the band's 1998 performance in Milan, Italy. Mediolanum contains material from every Mayhem release before '98, but sadly , only contains two songs from their quintessential album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. Still it is a spirited performance with some quality between song banter, which is the hallmark of a memorable live recording. For instance when frontman Maniac, with all the snarkiness of a satanic observational comedian, says, "We have the fucking pope here in Italy. The next song I dedicate hereby to the pope, Chainsaw Gutsfuck!" I'm sure the pope was pleased. You will be too. Oh, and my copy is a super limited edition with an embossed and foil stamped jewel case.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember when this record landed I specifically bought the version without the silvery shit on it. In hindsight, I'm not entirely sure why that seemed like an obvious idea.

This is one of the very few records on which I can tolerate Hellhammer's obnoxious trigging, it makes some strange kinda sense even though he sounds like a choir of stenographers. All props also go to Blasphemer for an incredible rendition of the Freezing moon solo. Of all the recordings I've heard of this song (and that's a pretty sizeable batch) this one is the only one to come close to the "Live in Leipzig" version.

Aesop said...

I agree. From 1998 until now Mayhem has been about Blasphemer, the guy is genius.

zeke said...

Just stumbled across this blog, wow! what a blood feast...

Todd said...

Hey Aesop, I've spent the last few days downloading everything you've posted that I don't already have. It will probably take me a few months to work through my backlog of "music to listen to" until I get to all of this Hearse material, but I'm very, very excited. Thanks a lot man.

BASEMENT VIOLENCE said...

i can't seem to stomach Mayhem post Euronimous. The newest stuff is just god awful.

But that aside thanks for all you post. especially the LLN shit i didn't have. I have a lot you haven't posted yet, let me know if you need any LLN shit.

Θόρυβος Τώρα said...

in 1998 mayhem played in athens at a shitty place called woodstock.the show didnt start until 11pm, as it was rumored, they got stuck in amsterdam, pigs heads were there, nicely placed on mic stands that the crowd later used to play football with, maniac, already intoxicated, was drinking 1 beer for every song and was passing the mic to the ecstatic crowd who had little respect for the "no fun, no core, no mosh..." moto of deathlike silence. after a while necrobutcher was asking the stage security beefs to get off the stage and go have a beer or something cause, as he put it, they werent needed there. when all that came to an end, me and a friend of mine were talking to hellhammer who told us that he even listened to hip hop cause he liked the rhythms. blasphemer was the quieter of all and excellent with his guitar.
it was worth the 300+ mile trip
but dammit that stenographer choir is kinda of annoying

skullgrid said...

pretty decent sound for a live recording, even despite the trigger/machine drum sound ;)

nice one, thanks as usual

nano247 said...

http://rocketsciencerecords.blogspot.com/2008/06/slayer-speaks.html

now THERES some lame ass between song banter

as far as this goes i agree with
basement violence

Aesop said...

Yes, that Slayer thing rules. Listened to it last night. I love the part where Tom says "Moustache, Beeeearrrddds"

I like Mayhem in all forms with the exception of Grand Declaration of War and the newest one which was too muddy and riffless for me.

De Mysteriis=one of the best things on earth

Anonymous said...

Maniac's between song banter is one of the longest running inside jokes with me and my friends. "Attillaaaa... come the staaaage... From the Dark Paaaaast...!" Uh... You probably have to be there, but trust me, it's hilarious!
This album was cool... I haven't heard it in ages. Strangely, European Legions which came out like a year later I think, was one of the worst things I've ever had the displeasure of hearing.

Anonymous said...

ahhhh, sweetness to my ears. We use to play this cd at work. It was great seeing peoples reactions. Thanks for another great load. Love your blog!!!

nano247 said...

ok, just went back in time and listened to
De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas

your right Aesop,
that shit rips

perhaps i get a little too stuck in old thinking

Aesop said...

Well, Nano, DMDS is the Euronymous recording.

Now check out the Wolf's Lair Abyss EP, without Eury, still awesome.

Anonymous said...

DMDS has some things going for it, but no fuckin' way if I can be bothered to ever actually listen to it. The thing sounds waaay to dramatic for me. I can appreciate Attila, he's fantastic on Ordo ad chao, but I can't much handle him on that one.

Incidentally there's a pre-production variant of it sans vocals and (comparatively) glitzy production that's ten thousand times more listenable. If Aesop wants to put it up I can provide it.

Aesop said...

s, As much as I appreciate that, I can't imagine DMDS being any better than it is. The album is perfect to my ears.

Anonymous said...

I dig the new one a lot but to me its a textbook example of a headphones only relaxing in bed kinda album. Is that a knock against it? Possibly, I don't put it on too often but I do find it pretty enjoyable.

I thought Chimera fucking ripped, nothing fancy about it, just top shelf black metal. Great riffs, songs, drums...etc. Maniac in good form which is never a guarantee with him. I liked a lot of Grand Declaration but those spoken word vocals? That is a definite 'what the fuck'. He tried something different and it did NOT work in their favor. Some of the songs laid down the law despite his silly vocal shenanigans masquerading over them. A C+ album right there.

nano247 said...

ok, so i'm not as kvlt as i thought
but i can live with that
in fact i feel like a bit of a dumbass
and i can lve with that too

its certainly not gonna stop me from posting comments here

thnx

Jake Thee Pope said...

Maniac is so under appreciated as a vokillist--- for Beelzebub's Sake, he was on "Deathcrush"!! That said, this is the final testament for Mayhem--- in my Pantheon of Perversity at least. Sure, Euronymous dug kraut-rock and even thee more "Sprockets"-like latter day stuff like Kraftwerk's weaker material (include essentially anything after "Auto Ban"), but how many times do ya thinks he's spun in his damp (& O-So Grimm und Kold)grave since "Grand Declaration"? Makes me happy to be an atheist...

Itchy bum said...

Just discovered your blog - what a find! Love all the stuff you're putting up here and the commentary.
I was never a big Maybem fan with Maniac, but this album is definitely the exception - all the post DMDS songs make a lot more sense here. Hellhammer's drumming is actually the highlight for me though.
Anyways, looking forward to trawling thorough the ret of your blog.

Aesop said...

Thanks, Itchy, enjoy.

Aesop said...

Thanks, Itchy, enjoy.

Unknown said...

i wish i could hear this now. this was posted like, 2 years ago, but i'd love to hear live mayhem. if this gets read, maybe the file will be put back up!?

ps: i've probably lost 2 or 3 years of my life just trolling through this blog and listening. everything here is perfect.

Hot said...

+! please repost please