Mayhem is a Norwegian black metal band which was originally formed in 1983. The band's initial line-up consisted of Manheim on drums and Necrobutcher on bass guitar. The name "Mayhem" was taken from the title of the Venom song "Mayhem With Mercy". Much controversy has surrounded the band regarding various murders, suicides, and other forms of violence. Mayhem have moved through a variety of black metal styles, even going so far as delving into the areas of dark avant-garde industrial and electronica. The group (at least in its earliest incarnation; 1983- 1993) are widely considered to be one of the cornerstone bands in the movement often labelled "the second wave" of black metal. In the years since, their influence has only grown; many consider Mayhem the greatest extreme metal band of all time.
The band was founded in 1983 by Necrobutcher and Manheim with the intent to create utterly violent and chaotic music. The two schoolmates were particularly inspired by the British band Venom, which touched on taboo themes like Satanism and evil. Necrobutcher and Manheim, however, took the violence and Satanic image much more seriously. In 1984, the two boys met Øystein Aarseth, then going by the name Destructor. Upon joining the band, Øystein changed his pseduonym to Euronymous, which he mistakenly claimed meant "Prince Of Death" in Greek. (It actually means "Well named.") In 1986 Mayhem recorded two demos, Voice Of A Tortured Skull and Pure Fucking Armageddon, both featuring a session vocalist called Messiah. Early Mayhem lyrics were violent and disgusting, and at times similar to those of death metal bands of the "gore and splatter" variety. The early demos were of extremely poor recording quality (an aspect common to early black metal releases). There have even been misconceptions as to whether the Pure Fucking Armageddon recording contains vocal tracks because the singing is so buried in the mix.
