Book Review: The Death Archives: Mayhem 1984-94, Jorn 'Necrobutcher' Stubberud

True, the lead singer killing himself and the guitarist being murdered shortly afterwards by a member of a rival group isn’t your typical rock ‘n’ roll career trajectory, but like so many bands before them, Norwegian death metallers Mayhem started making music as an andetote to their boring commuter town existances.

What’s striking, looking through this photo essay by their bassist, is just how faux the supposed ‘evil’ seems with blurry photos of the quartet sat on Ikea sofas.

How it went from Halloween-style fancy dress to a mounting body count, self-harm, crucified mice (no, really!) and church burnings is a grimly compelling story, intelligently told by a man who’s now a merch millionaire, thanks to all the Mayhem t-shirts that have been sold. The afterword is supplied by Thurston Moore, a somewhat unlikely fan whose Ecstatic Peace imprint are the publishers.