Norwegian black metal legends MAYHEM are streaming “VI.Sec,” a song from their forthcoming new album, Esoteric Warfare, which is due on May 23 via Season Of Mist. The effort, in its various formats, including a limited vinyl collector’s box, will be made available for pre-order on the Season Of Mist e-shop next week. The stunning cover was created by Polish artist and architect Zbigniew M. Bielak and can be seen below.
MAYHEM’s follow-up to 2007′s Ordo Ad Chao was mixed at Mølla Studio in Gjerstad, Norway.
Esoteric Warfare track listing:
1. Watcher
2. Psywar
3. Trinity
4. Pandaemon
5. Mylab
6. Six Seconds
7. Throne Of Time
8. Corpse Of Care
9. Posthuman
10. Aion Suntalia
MAYHEM had always witnessed many lineup changes due to various circumstances. Therefore even the loss of guitarist Blasphemer, who decided to focus on his other band AVA INFERI in 2008, did not stop the band. Activities mainly revolved around live shows, until the right balance was found again with the recruitment of Morten “Teloch” Iversen. The guitarist had already made a name for himself with NIDINGR, which is highly regarded amongst black metal enthusiasts yet remained mostly an underground phenomenon.
Now his first compositional work with MAYHEM is unveiled and demonstrates how perfectly Teloch has captured the essence and spirit of the Norwegian legend by clearly linking the band back to its roots, while at the same time taking a step forward into the spearhead position of the genre instead of dwelling in nostalgia.