Grand Declaration of War
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
Grand Declaration of War is the second full-length studio album by the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem, released by Season of Mist and Necropolis Records on 6 June 2000.[3]
The album's title and some of the lyrics are taken from the writings of the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, particularly his books Twilight of the Idols and The Antichrist.[citation needed] Nietzsche called Twilight of the Idols "a grand declaration of war" („eine grosse Kriegserklärung“).[4]
Musical style
In his book Mean Deviation: Four Decades of Progressive Heavy Metal, Jeff Wagner wrote that Grand Declaration of War features "a variety of vocal shadings to match the multi-layered music", between "A Time to Die", described by Wagner as "one minute and forty-eight seconds of black calculus", "A Bloodsword and a Colder Sun" offering "squishy electronic groove, so close to trip-hop that it instantly became the album's most controversial track" and the "mesmerizing ten-minute sprawling landscape of doom" "Completion in Science of Agony". The album's "sonic clarity" was "a complete 180-degree turn" from the band's early "scuzzy 'necro' approach".[1] Parts of the black metal scene had hoped Mayhem would not reform after the murder of the original guitarist Øystein "Euronymous" Aarseth as "that would not be right",[5] or at least were "rather sceptical when it was known that t [sic] MAYHEM should go on even without Dead or Euronymous".[6] Many longtime Mayhem fans despised Blasphemer because "he wasn't Aarseth".[1] Jeff Wagner calls Grand Declaration of War "Mayhem's own Into the Pandemonium, an album that had perverted and turned inside out the black metal genre as Celtic Frost's [Into the] Pandemonium had done to thrash metal".[1] Alex Henderson of Allmusic stated that the band "has outdone itself with the epic Grand Declaration of War, which could arguably be described as black metal's equivalent of Queensryche's Operation: Mindcrime".[2]
Critical reception
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [2] |
Allmusic critic Alex Henderson wrote: "Grand Declaration of War won't appeal to anyone with a short attention span, but for those who can sit down and really give this CD their undivided attention, the rewards are great."[2]
Track listing
All lyrics are written by Maniac; all music is composed by Blasphemer
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 0. | "Untitled" (hidden in pregap before track 1, only on original CD) | 2:11 |
| 1. | "A Grand Declaration of War" | 4:14 |
| 2. | "In the Lies Where upon You Lay" | 5:59 |
| 3. | "A Time to Die" | 1:48 |
| 4. | "View from Nihil (Part I of II)" | 3:04 |
| 5. | "View from Nihil (Part II of II)" | 1:16 |
| 6. | "A Bloodsword and a Colder Sun (Part I of II)" | 0:33 |
| 7. | "A Bloodsword and a Colder Sun (Part II of II)" | 4:27 |
| 8. | "Crystallized Pain in Deconstruction" | 4:09 |
| 9. | "Completion in Science of Agony (Part I of II)" | 9:44 |
| 10. | "To Daimonion (Part I of III)" | 3:25 |
| 11. | "To Daimonion (Part II of III)" | 4:52 |
| 12. | "To Daimonion (Part III of III)" | 0:07 |
| 13. | "Completion in Science of Agony (Part II of II)" | 2:14 |
| Total length: | 45:58 | |
Personnel
Mayhem
- Maniac - vocals
- Blasphemer - guitar
- Necrobutcher - bass guitar
- Hellhammer - drums
Session musicians
- Anders Odden - co-writing and programming of "A Bloodsword and a Colder Sun"
- Øyvind Hægeland - additional vocals on "Completion in Science of Agony"
- Tore Ylwizaker - samples and noise construction on "Completion in Science of Agony"
- Sebastian Ludvigsen - photography
- Mark Francombe Red - cover design
- Anne Cecilie Olavesen - makeup
References
- ^ a b c d Jeff Wagner, Steven Wilson: Mean Deviation: Four Decades of Progressive Heavy Metal. Brooklyn, NY: Bazillion Points Books 2010, p. 252.
- ^ a b c d Alex Henderson. "Grand Declaration of War - Mayhem : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
- ^ "Grand Declaration of War review". CMJ New Music Report. 62 (666): 24. 15 May 2000. ISSN 0890-0795.
- ^ Friedrich Nietzsche: Sämtliche Werke. Kritische Studienausgabe in 15 Bänden. Herausgegeben von Giorgio Colli und Mazzino Montinari. Volume 6: Der Fall Wagner u.a. Neuausgabe 1999, DTV, p. 58.
- ^ De Mysteriis Dom Euronymous. In: Jon Kristiansen: Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries. Brooklyn, NY: Bazillion Points Books 2011, p. 282.
- ^ Mayhem. In: Jon Kristiansen: Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries. Brooklyn, NY: Bazillion Points Books 2011, p. 477.