The legendary band from Norway, returns five years after “Esoteric Warfare”. Considering the twenty-five years of presence in the scene, the six-full length albums they have so far aren’t that much probably. But, if we put together the dozens of other releases (compilations, live albums, etc.) the catalogue seems much bigger.
I’ve never been a big fan of the band, as the only experience I have from their music is the classic “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas”. Not only for its music, but also from the whole history that accompanies it and the band’s first years. But, as they mention themselves, there have never been two same albums before because they have tried many different stuff in the past. In this one, they want to simplify things and at some point, I think they’ve done it.
“Daemon” shows its teeth from the beginning, as it starts really fast, although this doesn’t happen all the time here. There are many changes in rhythm with the beast that answer to the name Hellhammer giving a tremendous performance in every moment of the album. Teloch and Ghul on guitars are doing a great job and their riffs are creating a haunting atmosphere that reminded me of the classis sound of the band. As for Attila Csihar, he leaves one more time his mark with his exceptional vocals. Whether he uses harsh or clean, the Hungarian singer is one of the most rare and special voices in this music.
The album is very good and at some points I have to say that reminded me of the blackness that came out of “De Mysteriis…”. The production, mixing and mastering
took place in Necromorbus Studios and it’s amazing. Also, the album cover is by far the best one they’ve ever had. In the many different versions of “Daemon”, besides the basic one with ten tracks, there are five bonuses. Three of them are covers of Death (“Evil Dead”), Death Strike (“The Truth”) and Morbid (“Disgusting Semla”). Mayhem are making a great comeback and I believe that their fans will be excited by this release.
