PREMIERE: Mayhem Release New Video Psywar

Heathens! Behold the return of Mayhem!

Seven long years after they dropped their malevolent and murky masterpiece, Ordo Ad Chao, black metal’s most notorious band and the true originals of Norwegian desecration, Mayhem, are back with a new, as-yet-untitled album due out at the end of May.

Thanks to the hardy folk at Season Of Mist Records, we can exclusively reveal the warning shot that is the band’s new single, Psywar, taken from the forthcoming missive, and comes complete with a bleak but visionary new lyric video courtesy of revered artist Costin Chioreanu (Spiritual Beggars, Oranssi Pazuzu, Vulture Industries and a host of Roadburn posters all showcasing his unique woodcut-on-LSD style) that recasts the notion of ‘industrial wasteland’ in brain-warping new forms.

Less overtly avant garde than Ordo Ad Chao, Psywar is still saturated with the kind of Stygian atmosphere and radioactive filth that Mayhem have made their own. Epic, defiling and utterly affecting it finds Attila Csihar, Necrobutcher, Hellhammer and new member Teloch primed to reopen black metal’s oldest and most putrid wounds and still drag the genre into its unruly slipstream. All hail, and unveil!

Mayhem - Psywar

Pre-order Psywar [here!]

Merlin moved into his role as Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has previously written for the likes of Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.