The band’s taste in experimentation can be traced as far back as its 1987 EP, “Deathcrush,” which kicks off with the hypnotic, funereal “Silvester Anfang” by the Krautrock pioneer Conrad Schnitzler, a member of Tangerine Dream and Kluster who donated that instrumental after Euronymous tracked him down.
Mayhem has only released six proper full-length studio records — the latest, “Daemon,” came out in 2019 — but each has a distinct flair. The songs acquire extra dimensions live, when Csihar, one of rock’s most spectacular vocalists, unleashes ear-bending sounds closer to Diamanda Galás’s experimentations than to cookie-cutter growling.
The anniversary show explores this entire arc, the four-decade period held together by subject matter that always draws from the grim or occult, but also possesses a twisted kind of cathartic power.
“We’re not dealing with love songs or the countryside,” Necrobutcher said. “We are dealing with the dark, aggressive, bad. But there is tragedy and sadness as well, which is also beautiful. A lot of people have told me over the years that our music had helped them through some rough times. I know what they’re talking about because I also use music for therapy.”
Csihar, for his part, is happy that the band can now play the same extreme music without the costs exacted in the old days. “I remember in the early ’90s when all the stuff happened, the churches and murders — that was almost too much for me when the murder happened in the band,” he said, laughing. “It’s strange how we could go this long together. Maybe we do less crazy things, but the love for music and art is the same, or even more.”
Necrobutcher, genial behind his video chat screen, did not feel ready to let go, either.
“If I see a possibility for a 50th anniversary dangling in front of me,” he said, chuckling, “I’m going to go the extra yard to get there.”
