Not since Metallica's "black album" has there been such a divisive and ultimately dangerous release in the annals of metal recordings. Since the album's release just two weeks ago, Mayhem has managed to split opinion with samurai precision. They are being hailed by some as visionary geniuses and rock star impostors by just as many others. The damnably confounding thing about Grand Declaration of War is that love it or hate it, it is impossible not to talk about it. It's also about as insidious as heroin- I hated it with all my heart the first couple of times I heard it, but before long I realized that underneath all the pretension and histrionics (most laughably some of Maniac's spoken word) there is actually a complex and often compelling methodology to it all. Hellhammer's drumming is explosive and superbly technical, Maniac's vocals are varied strongly and effectively for the most part and the production itself is razor sharp. For those of you who haven't been following the media blitz accompanied by the album's release, this is a spastic concept piece that begins with a technical barrage of five short vignettes representing the companion piece of Wolf's Lair Abyss. It effectively sounds like a more militarized version of that EP, complete with marching snare, but the songs are also laden with violent stops and starts, abrupt bursts of speed, and tangental riffs that pull the songs in unexpected directions. To try and describe it further would be pointless. This is one of those albums you must hear for yourself at least a few times even to properly hate it. The next five tracks are varied and dissident, some of which are slow drones, hypnotic electronics, and even more blinding dashes of trademark Mayhem. I can't say definitively that this is a good album only because it is such an incredibly subjective work. I also can't say it is really Mayhem (or black metal for that matter) in that it is so far removed from the band's previous work. Then again, it is also very much like Mayhem in the respect that once again it is a recording that shocks, challenges, and ultimately sets a standard like "De Mysteriis...", albeit in a different way.Will more albums like this appear? I doubt it. Grand Declaration of War is a cathartic, gauntlet throwing affair that even Mayhem will not produce again. It was created in chaos to create chaos and judging by the reaction for journalists and metal mavens the world over it has accomplished that, for better or for worse. The one question that lingers is now that Mayhem has declared war on black metal, who will stand up and fight?

© 2000 w.s. diabolus