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Mysticum are a Norwegian industrial black metal band.
Biography
Mysticum were formed in 1991[1] or 1992[2][3] as Sabazios.[2][3] After the first demo, Wintermass, recorded in December 1992[3] and released in 1993, the name was changed to Mysticum.[2] Euronymous of Mayhem signed Mysticum on his Deathlike Silence Productions (DSP) label,[1][2][4] but was murdered before the band could release any records on DSP; the band consider his death to be "[t]he most tragic day in the history of Black Metal",[2] and Mysticum's bassist Robin Malmberg stated that without Euronymous, "Mysticum would never be what it is today".[4]
Mayhem's drummer Hellhammer joined Mysticum in autumn 1993,[3] but "it didn't work out, simply because Mysticum is nothing without their industrial drumming from a computer - and with a human drummer, the music gets more alive and more human (which destroyed valued art)".[2] On June 14, 1994, Necromantic Gallery Productions released the Ulver/Mysticum 7" split EP, limited to 1000 copies.[3] In 1995, the band recorded the songs "Kingdom Comes" and "In Your Grave" for the Nordic Metal – A Tribute to Euronymous compilation album in 1995 and signed to Full Moon Productions who released Mysticum's debut album In the Streams of Inferno in autumn 1996, followed by a tour with Marduk and Gehenna; a new song introduced during that tour, "Eriaminell" ("Here I am in Hell"), was released on A Tribute to Hell – Satanic Rites in 1998.[3]
In 2003, the song "Black Magic Mushrooms" was released on the split 7" single with Audiopain released on Worship Him Records. In 2004, the band released Lost Masters of the Universe, a compilation consisting of non-album tracks (without the contributions to Nordic Metal – A Tribute to Euronymous).
Mysticum signed to Peaceville Records for the announced second album Planet Satan and re-mastered re-releases of In the Streams of Inferno and Lost Masters of the Universe.[3][5] Planet Satan was released on the October 27th 2014.
Musical style and legacy
Unlike other bands from the early Norwegian black metal scene, Mysticum use a drum computer to create a "cold and aggressive sound",[2] described by Peaceville Records as "a completely unique brand of psychedelic discordant black metal with insane drum machine patterns & synths".[5] Decibel author Jeff Treppel writes, "[w]hile Immortal were traipsing through the woods and Emperor were playing with orchestral keyboards, Mysticum went right for the industrial apocalypse awaiting us all"; Treppel featured In the Streams of Inferno in Decibel's The Lazarus Pit section for "should-be classic metal records that don't get nearly enough love",[6] claiming that the band "pretty much single-handedly invented industrial black metal", influencing DHG, The Kovenant and Nachtmystium.[6] French band Arkhon Infaustus referred to Mysticum among other influences.[7] The album was also featured on the German Rock Hard magazine's list 250 Black-Metal-Alben, die man kennen sollte.[8] The lyrics "are dark and depressive and come straight from the depressive hearts of the crew (often gaining suicide among the living)".[2]
Line up
- Robin "Mean" Malmberg (aka Dr. Best[1]) - Bass, programming
- Cerastes (aka Der General[1]) - Guitars, vocals
- Prime Evil (aka Ravn,[3] SvArTrAvN[1] and Necrocum[1]) - Guitars - also of Amok and Aborym
Former members
- Hellhammer (Jan Axel Blomberg) - Drums (1993-1994)[3]
Discography
- Medusa's Tears (demo, 1993)
- Wintermass (demo, 1993)
- Mysticum/Ulver (split, 1994)
- Piss Off (demo, 1995)
- "Kingdom Comes" and "In Your Grave" on Nordic Metal – A Tribute to Euronymous (compilation, Necropolis Records 1995)
- In the Streams of Inferno (full-length, Full Moon Productions 1996)
- "Eriaminell" on A Tribute to Hell – Satanic Rites (compilation, Full Moon Productions 1998)
- Audiopain/Mysticum (split, 2003)
- Lost Masters of the Universe (best of/compilation, 2004)
- Planet Satan (full-length, Peaceville Records, 2014)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Official.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Biography.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Mysticum.
- ^ a b Various Artists: Nordic Metal - A Tribute to Euronymous, Necropolis Records 1995.
- ^ a b The coming of 'Planet Satan'. Mysticum signs with Peaceville Records.
- ^ a b Jeff Treppel: The Lazarus Pit: Mysticum's In the Streams of Inferno.
- ^ news.
- ^ 250 Black-Metal-Alben, die man kennen sollte. In: Rock Hard, no. 269, October 2009, p. 75.
External links