To be honest this record has always been overshadowed by the events and circumstances that surrounded it,
Deads Suicide, the murder of Euronymous and the rise of the Black Metal Terrorists as they came to be
know. But im not going to go into all that, I recommend getting hold of the Lords of Chaos book for
more info on the scene which sporned this record. This record is for me the greatest BM record
of all time. Darkthrone, Burzum, Immortal, Emperor have had their moments but none of them have
managed to capture the damp, dense, chilling climate of De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. From the opening
barrage of Funeral fog it is full out uncompromising evil. The strange vocals are provided
by Attila of Tormentor and although they take a bit of getting use to they are great especially
on the classic Freezing Moon and the title track. The guitars rage and slice across the
eight tracks, creating a wonderfully dark atmosphere. It is this atmosphere that makes this
record stand out. The sound at times seems to swarm around you and penetrates deep into your being.
Obviously this isn’t for the uninitiated and even those use to listening to more synth based BM like
Cradle of Filth might struggle to take this in. There are no keyboards electronics or female
vocals, this is the quintessential old school BM record. Pagan Fears and From the Dark past are two
other blackened highlights, but really there isn’t a bad track on the thing. My advice is to let it
play right the way through, and allow this masterpiece to take over.
