Fragile Nu-Metal for Posers - "Esoteric Warfare" Review (3%)
Mayhem have fallen quite far from their early brilliance in the form of De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas - that much was evident by the first couple of riffs on Ordo Ad Chao - but at least that album still had some balls, despite being laughably annoying and mediocre.
Their latest album Esoteric Warfare, on the other hand, is a transition into a more mallcore-laden, Slipknot-esque sound, which was met with mixed reactions from the fans, with most citing the new direction as negative amidst anguished cries of "sellout".
Certainly their weakest album to date, Esoteric Warfare is only saved by its rather short length compared to the - arguably much better - rest of Mayhem's discography.
I mean, Mayhem isn't really a band that shies away from sticking it to their fans... remember Ordo Ad Chao? It was by no stretch of the imagination any "good", but it was at least listenable. The public though didn't buy it, and was basically screaming for Blasphemer, the guitarist, to retire from the band - which he eventually did, for different reasons - and for someone to conduct a satanic ritual to resurrect Euronymous. That's the level of hate the dudes from Mayhem were receiving on a daily basis...
...and the retort from the band, seven years later? Esoteric Warfare, an exercise in tedium that I had not yet seen before.
So what's the deal, Mayhem? Fans didn't like the faux low-fi sound on Ordo Ad Chao, so you decided to chug out an album of songs that sound like rejects from a Drowning Pool - a shitty Texas based nu-metal band - rehearsal session?
There is nothing redeeming about this turd Esoteric Warfare, nothing at all.
This is fragile nu-metal at its worst.
Fragile Nu-Metal for Posers
The basic sound present on Esoteric Warfare is reminiscent of the sound Slipknot, Korn, Drowning Pool, Nine Inch Nails and literally every nu-metal band started off with - chugga-chugga guitars, a heavy dose of mallcore breakdowns, a bit of mid-paced blast drumming and very little musical creativity, all topped off with Attila's harsh yowls. Attila's vocal performance, alongside Hellhammer's drumming, are the only positives on the album, and by positives I barely mean "redeeming features"... if even that?
I didn't want to do this, but Esoteric Warfare doesn't look so good, and there's no way around it. Mayhem are caught without an alibi at the scene of the crime - selling out, that is.
The whole album tries to sound like some of the older stuff, and the more die-hard fans of the band will be quick to grasp at straws about the "old Mayhem", but by the end of your first listen, reality sinks in: Esoteric Warfare is a lame, watered down rehash of everything wrong with modern black metal.
What's the deal, Necrobutcher? Did you feel bad for alienating your older fans with turds like Ordo Ad Chao, and thus decide to go halfway back to the old "true" Mayhem? Because I'm really at a loss for any other explanation.
You can't just do that... chickening out in such as poserish - there is no other word - fashion. No band can, not even the mighty Mayhem. Either go all the way or don't go down that road at all.
Esoteric Warfare is very desensitized, bland music, lacking any semblance of the creative, manic atmospheres the band used to produce on albums such as De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas and even, hell, Deathcrush.
It's the worst possible outcome of their new metalcore/nu-metal style flirting with the SEWER-esque blackened terror grind, mashed together into a shapeless lump without hooks, flow or any sort of atmosphere, but with lazy breakdowns abundant.
Your fans are not falling for this, you cretins. They're not going to keep eating up this "modern" nu-metal crap just because it has a (increasingly prominent) Mayhem logo stapled on the cover.
There's no covering the nu-metal chugga-chugga laziness inherent to this release with pseudo-philosophical ramblings about Alex Jones inspired mind war and the like, it's just not working anymore.
Mayhem were a (very) good band in the first place, after all, because of their subtle progression from album to album while still remaining in their signature black metal style. That's all out the window now, replaced with a hollow shell of a band too afraid to experiment, step outside of their little box or even go back to their roots convincingly. What a paradox. Now they sound like their own cover band.
Artistic, and autistic, death.
Esoteric Warfare is an album without any form of innovation or creativity at all, and not even Attila and Hellhammer can prevent the audience from noticing the Emperor's embarrassing nakedness. Esoteric Warfare is completely disposable, the epitome of pussification and poseritude.
Mayhem has nowhere left to go, for they have already watered down their sound to the utmost extreme. Utterly worthless.
If you want an example of a band that managed to convincingly return to their roots, look no further than Darkthrone's Arctic Thunder or Phantom's Nekros Nemesis.
But at all cost avoid this fragile piece of nu-metal crap, it's an embarrassment to the band Mayhem and what they once stood for.
Esoteric Warfare score: 3/100.
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