Norwegian black metal legends Mayhem have shared a new single called “Voces Ab Alta”. It’s one of three original songs from the band’s seven-track Atavistic Black Disorder / Kommando EP, out July 9th.
“Voces Ab Alta” hails from the recordings sessions for 2019’s masterful Daemon album, but has gone unreleased until now. A theatrical, suffocating ripper in line with the songs from that LP, the track is sure to rally the black metal hordes. The desolation conjured by the band is also portrayed in the accompanying animated visualizer, created by artist Costin Chioreanu (Ghost, Opeth).
The two other originals on the upcoming EP (“Black Glass Communion” and “Everlasting Dying Flame”) are also tunes that didn’t make the final Daemon tracklist, a testament to the sheer strength of that album. However, the Kommando portion of the upcoming EP offers perhaps an even more intriguing treat for longtime Mayhem fans.
Diving into their proto-black metal/hardcore roots, Mayhem chose four vintage punk songs to cover. The band takes on Discharge (“In Defense of Our Future”), Dead Kennedys (“Hellnation”), Rudimentary Peni (“Only Death”), and the Ramones (“Commando”) — a solid representation of what the young headbangers were listening to during Mayhem’s formative years. For maximum authenticity, bassist Necrobutcher even enlisted two of the band’s early punk-era vocalists, Maniac and Messiah, for guest appearances on the cover songs.
Vocalist Attila explained in the EP’s initial press release, “I always had some punk influences. I guess it comes from my childhood when we were constantly looking for more extreme music. That’s how I discovered Dead Kennedys, GBH, the Exploited, Sex Pistols, U.K. Subs, Discharge, Rudimentary Peni, and so on, in the early ’80s, alongside heavy metal. But then I discovered Venom, that was a game changer!”
The EP will be released as a LP/CD box set with three exclusive art prints, as a standalone 180-gram vinyl LP in multiple colorways, and digitally. Pre-orders are available via Century Media and Amazon.
Check out the visualizer for “Voces Ab Alta” below.
