Mayhem’s live release Live In Marseille 2000 is getting a special 25th-anniversary reissue on June 26. The performance will be issued as a 2×12″ red-and-black splatter vinyl set, accompanied by a full-color poster and an embroidered patch. Pre-orders are currently available via Season of Mist.
Then guitarist Blasphemer recently commented on the performance:
“Live in Marseille was filmed and recorded during the final performance of our European tour in support of Grand Declaration of War in 2000. It marked out first extensive tour since ‘the return…’, and it proved to be an intense yet highly successful journey.”
“At that time, we were moving toward something distinctly different – what I consider a truly groundbreaking direction, reflective of the shifting landscape of the early 2000s. Whether embraced or challenged, this evolution represented a necessary expansion of our sound, not only for the band but for the genre as a whole.”
“As a raw, vile, and chaotic as this recording may be, it stands as a crucial and defining chapter in the band’s history and enduring legacy”.
Maniac, who served as the band’s vocalist at the time, also shared his thoughts:
“Live in Marseille was recorded at the end of a long tour. It was a band of worn out rebels hitting the stage in Marseille that evening. Somehow, maybe the loneliness of the long distance runners fused that night into a raging fire and pulled out whatever hidden strength and hatred was left in the combined machinery of Mayhem. We pulled off a great gig, the last stand of a long tour manifested in the rage of a hour-headed beast!”
Mayhem‘s latest album, Liturgy Of Death was released on February 6, 2026, through Century Media.
Liturgy of Death explores the philosophy of mortality with stark, uncompromising clarity. The album presents death not as an ending, but as a universal law that touches all life and exposes the fragility of human existence. This impermanence becomes a call to live with full intensity, for every gain and loss ultimately falls back into the same silence. Echoing ancient philosophies, the album portrays life as a transitional state and death as a gateway to a higher form of being, while the solemn, dark beauty of death permeates the entire work.
With Necrobutcher, Hellhammer, Attila, Morten Bergeton Iversen, and Ghul locked into a unit tighter than ever, Liturgy of Death celebrates Mayhem‘s own legacy, a continuation of the raw and uncompromising sound that defined their beginnings. The result is a merciless record — dark, fast, and unrelenting — that captures the band in their most dangerous and vital form. 41 years since their formation in Langhus, Mayhem remain a defining force in Norwegian black metal, continuing to shape the sound they helped create.
Liturgy Of Death Track Listing:
- “Ephemeral Eternity“
- “Despair“
- “Weep For Nothing“
- “Aeon’s End“
- “Funeral Of Existence“
- “Realm Of Endless Misery“
- “Propitious Death“
- “The Sentence Of Absolution“
- “Life Is A Corpse You Drag” (Bonus Track)
- “Sancta Mendacia” (Bonus Track)
