Posts Tagged ‘Mayhem’

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Following on from the recent announcement by SKITLIV and former MAYHEM frontman Maniac that after thirty years he would be resurrecting Damage Inc,  the date of September the 1st has been set for the re-launch of what was one the original Fanzines.

Created and published by Maniac in 1985, Damage Inc. had to be put to one side after only two issues, due to the rapidly burgeoning Norwegian Black Metal scene, and the subsequent demands placed on the vocalist by his role in MAYHEM and the  various other musical projects he was working on at the time.   Recently, however, the iconic frontman has found the time to return to what has always been one of his primary interests – writing: and this has led him back to “Damage Inc.” a project that has always remained close to his heart.

Eschewing the idea that zines nowadays have to either be “online”, or appear as glossy publications that sacrifice content in order to appeal to advertisers, Maniac has remained resolute in his vision that Damage Inc.  will lose none of its “Old School” attributes, and will remain true to the rough and ready Fanzine concept of cut and paste and, according to him, will be much more rough than the first two issues,  and contain “just darkness and good music”.

The comeback issue of “Damage Inc.” will follow on from the first two issues and will effectively be issue three.  In keeping with his decision to ensure that the fanzine stays true to its original concept, it will only be available in selected shops in Oslo, Finland and Japan, or directly from Maniac himself from the 1st September  via email at godintheschizoidmind@gmail.com (pre-orders will not be taken).

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However, since the original issues of “Damage Inc.” have now become  much-sought after,  and virtually impossible-to-find,  collector’s items,  Maniac has teamed up with The Cult Never Dies, the UK-based publishing company,  to create the book  “Ultra Damaged: Damage Inc.  Zine Anthology 1985/2017”.   The 118 page Anthology will be printed in large format (A4) on high quality paper with a 350gsm card cover.  All copies will be signed by Maniac.

As well as containing the two original issues from 1986 and 1987, “Ultra Damaged…” will also contain the new 2017 comeback issue, which includes interviews with TEITANBLOOD, CLANDESTINE BLAZE, DÖRAID, BIRTH RITUAL and DARKTHRONE, amongst others, as well as a long and exclusive interview with Maniac himself.

The “Ultra Damaged: Damage Inc.  Zine Anthology 1985/2017” is now available to pre-order from https://cultneverdies.myshopify.com/collections/all/products/pre-order-1st-sep-2017-ultra-damaged-damage-inc-zine-1985-2017-anthology-book-signed-by-maniac

Maniac Mag PR

Musically too Maniac has not been entirely inactive, just more low key,  having collaborated both live and in the studio with artists like Niklas Kvarforth and SHINING,  and Andrew Liles (NURSE WITH WOUND),  as well as having taken up his former mantle of frontman for a couple of MAYHEM performances.  Most recently he has recorded guest vocals on the upcoming album from Norway’s WITCHFACE.

More information about SKILTIV can be found on the band’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/skitlivofficial/

Whilst going through his archives Maniac found what he calls a  “piece of X-ray adultery”,   which had been made at around the time of the release of SKITLIV’s “Skandinavisk Misantropi”,   and never made public.  Filmed by renowned sculptor and SUCHTHAUS bassist Spacebrain, the video for the title track from “Skandinavisk Misantropi” can now be seen on YouTube at https://youtu.be/fnrKGTazWQw


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“Skandinavisk Misantropi” can be heard below and on bandcamp at https://seasonofmistcatalogue.bandcamp.com/album/skandinavisk-misantropi 


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Additional Information
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/skitlivofficial
Bandcamp: https://seasonofmistcatalogue.bandcamp.com/album/skandinavisk-misantropi
Maniac Management & Booking patriciathomas@btinternet.com
The Cult Never Dies:  https://cultneverdies.myshopify.com

 

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On the surface, things might have seemed a little quiet on the SKITLIV front since the release of the  2009 album “Skandinavisk Misantropi” on Season of Mist.  And indeed, the band is in somewhat of a hiatus given the personal and work commitments of both the band’s founder and former MAYHEM vocalist Maniac, as well as Niklas Kvarforth’s full agenda with SHINING.  But a “new” video has recently surfaced which should go a little way towards assuaging the thirst that fans have for news of the band.

Whilst going through his archives the legendary frontman found the “piece of X-ray adultery”,   which had been filmed at around the time of the album release and never made public, in his vaults.  Filmed by renowned sculptor and SUCHTHAUS bassist Spacebrain, the video for the title track from “Skandinavisk Misantropi” can now be seen below and on YouTube at https://youtu.be/fnrKGTazWQw


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Having been around since the beginning  of Black Metal, Maniac was, for a time, involved in the production of “Damage Inc.” one of the early fanzines.  The zine quickly became a casualty of the demands of his music career, and it is only recently that Maniac has found the time to re-visit this particular, and most basic, of aspects  of the music scene,  that has always interested him.

With the publication of a new edition of “Damage Inc” on the horizon, fans should not expect to see the kind of glossy, commercially-driven magazines that are the norm today.  They can, instead, look forward to a return to the days when the music and the musicians were what mattered.

Maniac had this to say about the resurrection of the Fanzine : ” Work on Damage Inc. # 3 is in full progress.  Interviews with TEITANBLOOD, CLANDESTINE BLAZE, DÖRAID, BIRTH RITUAL, DARKTHRONE, and more. It’s been 30 years since the last issue so it is about time. Cut and paste magazine. Nothing glossy around.  Just darkness and good music”.

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Musically too Maniac has not been entirely inactive, just more low key,  having collaborated both live and in the studio with artists like Niklas Kvarforth and SHINING and Andrew Liles (NURSE WITH WOUND),  as well as having taken up his former mantle of frontman for a couple of MAYHEM performances.  Most recently he has recorded guest vocals on the upcoming album from Norway’s WITCHFACE.

More information about SKILTIV can be found on the band’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/skitlivofficial/

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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/skitlivofficial
Bandcamp: https://seasonofmistcatalogue.bandcamp.com/album/skandinavisk-misantropi
Maniac Management & Booking patriciathomas@btinternet.com

 

Norway’s SUCHTHAUS, the band that defies genre type casting and for whom visuals play as big a role as the music itself, has released a tribute to the iconic Black Metal band MAYHEM, in the form of a video cover of the track “Life Eternal” from what is probably MAYHEM’s most famous album, 1994’s “De Misteriis Dom Sathanas”.   The cover features SUCHTHAUS members Spacebrain on vocals, Ingvar the Last Viking on guitars, Fruen on the organ, and Hellhammer, who is of course himself one of the original members of MAYHEM, on drums.  The video can be seen below and at https://youtu.be/44AbpTyWWiU

Whilst it may not come as a surprise that a band has recorded a MAYHEM cover, it is, in this case, more appropriate than the usual run of the mill tribute, given that SUCHTHAUS founder SPACEBRAIN, is the man behind many of MAYHEM’s most recognisable stage sets.   A renowned sculptor, as well as a musician, SPACEBRAIN had this to say about the tribute:

“Mayhem has survived hell for 30 years, and I was fortunate to play  a part during a few of those years, touring through Europe with the art of SPACEBRAIN from 2000-2006. This is a period of my life I will never forget, neither the good nor the bad experiences,  and  therefore SUCHTHAUS decided to put in some hard work to try to recreate the soundtrack that got stuck in my head: “Life Eternal”.   It´s far from a straight cover, but our vision was a way of thanking the men who let me be a part of their life (in alphabetical order) Atilla, Blasphemer, Hellhammer, Maniac, Necrobutcher”.

SUCHTHAUS is currently working putting the finishing touches on the band’s sophomore album “Motorbrain”, which, once finished, will be released on SUCHTHAUS’ own label Rollabigone.   Guests on the album incude SHINING founder and frontman Niklas Kvarforth.

“Motorbrain” will be the follow up to SUCHTHAUS’ debut  album “The Dark Side and the Bright Side”, which included collaborations from musicians such as Maniac  (SKITLIV, ex-MAYHEM),   CURRENT 93’s David Tibet, Fredrik A. Juell  (BURNING RUBBER,  BERSERK BASTARDS) and singer Sibob Jawara, and showed clearly how difficult it is to squeeze the band into any particular genre.   Whilst “Motorbrain” promises to be a much more “metal” album, it will definitely not be a “straight up” metal album, and the band is at pains to point out that it does not reflect  any direction that they have any  intention of following in the future.

More information about SUCHTHAUS can be found on the band’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/suchthausofficial  or on the band’s website at http://www.suchthaus.no/

Five  tracks from SUCHTHAUS can be heard below and at http://soundcloud.com/suchthaus/sets/suchthaus-tracks

 

 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Website: http://www.suchthaus.no
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/suchthausofficial
SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/suchthaus/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/vonSUCHT
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/suchthaus
Spacebrain Website: http://www.spacebrain.no/index.html
Spacebrain on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpacebrainArtFromHell
Band Contact and Booking: trash@spacebrain.no
Press Contact: https://patriciathomasmanagement.com/
patriciathomas@btinternet.com