''The Dawn of the Black Hearts'' (subtitled Live in Sarpsborg, Norway 28/2, 1990) is a
bootleg
Bootleg or bootlegging most often refers to:
* Bootleg recording, an audio or video recording released unofficially
* Rum-running, the illegal business of transporting and trading in alcoholic beverages, hence:
** Moonshine, or illicitly made ...
live album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...
by the Norwegian
black metal
Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...
band
Mayhem. The title originates from a line of lyrics
Fenriz
Gylve Fenris Nagell (born Leif Nagell; 28 November 1971), known professionally as Fenriz, is a Norwegian musician, part-time music journalist and online radio host (with the show "Radio Fenriz") of
Darkthrone
Darkthrone is a Norwegian extreme metal band from Kolbotn, Akershus. Formed in 1986 as a death metal band named Black Death, in 1991 Darkthrone embraced a black metal style influenced by Bathory and Celtic Frost and became one of the leadin ...
wrote for the band.
Despite being a bootleg, the album is sometimes listed as one of the band's main albums, mainly due to the notoriety regarding the cover art, which is an image of the late Mayhem vocalist
Per "Dead" Ohlin shortly after he committed
suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
.
Background
The bootleg is a recording of a live show that took place on 28 February 1990 in
Sarpsborg
Sarpsborg ( or ), historically Borg, is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sarpsborg.
Sarpsborg is part of the fifth largest urban area in Norway when paired with neigh ...
, Norway. Metalion, an early figure in
the scene who helped to organise this show, claimed that there were around 300 people in attendance and the members of
Darkthrone
Darkthrone is a Norwegian extreme metal band from Kolbotn, Akershus. Formed in 1986 as a death metal band named Black Death, in 1991 Darkthrone embraced a black metal style influenced by Bathory and Celtic Frost and became one of the leadin ...
and
Immortal
Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life.
Immortal or Immortality may also refer to:
Film
* ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film
* ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film '' The Wisdom of ...
were present as well.
Cover
The album is infamous and controversial for bearing a photograph of vocalist
Dead
Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...
(Per Yngve Ohlin), shortly after his suicide on 8 April 1991.
The photograph was taken by guitarist
Euronymous
Øystein Aarseth (; 22 March 1968 – 10 August 1993), better known by his stage name Euronymous, was a Norwegian musician and a founder of and central figure in the early Norwegian black metal scene. He was a co-founder and guitarist of the N ...
(Øystein Aarseth), shortly after he entered the house the band shared and discovered the body.
Bullmetal, a penpal of Euronymous and owner of Warmaster Records, was sent a copy of one of the photos Euronymous had taken of Dead's body. Euronymous had taken additional pictures of Dead's body in different positions (one of them with Dead "sitting half up, with the shotgun on his knee"), but these photos were later found and destroyed by Euronymous' father after he was killed in 1993, two years before the album bootleg was released.
Release
According to Metalion, the bootleg was made and released by an individual from South America.
This individual has been identified as Mauricio “Bull Metal” Montoya from the Colombian metal scene, who was apparently a pen-pal of Euronymous. The latter is said to have given Bull Metal the photographs, which were used for the first printings of the bootleg in South America. However, some of these details are considered more mythical than substantiated.
Dayal Patterson
Dayal Patterson is a British author.
Patterson has written several non-fiction books about heavy metal music and has contributed to a number of metal magazines, such as ''Decibel'', ''Terrorizer'' and ''Metal Hammer''. His trilogy of books on b ...
, a historian of metal, has referred to the live record as "perhaps the most bootlegged black metal release of all time." The bootleg was the gateway to discovering Dead-era Mayhem for a number of later black metal musicians, such as Black Emperor of Spain's Supremacía Satánica, D of Indonesia's , and Semjaza of Greece's Thy Darkened Shade.
''The Dawn of the Black Hearts'' was officially reissued in 2017 on vinyl under the name ''Live in Sarpsborg'', using a photo of Necrobutcher as a new cover. This 2017 release uses improved audio from a master source.
Track listing
The original track listing (recorded in 1990 with Dead as vocalist and Hellhammer as drummer):
Extra songs included on many reissues (recorded in 1985 with Messiah as vocalist and Manheim as drummer):
Personnel
Lineup on original release:
* Dead (
Per Yngve Ohlin
Per Yngve "Pelle" Ohlin (16 January 1969 – 8 April 1991), better known by his stage name Dead, was a Swedish metal musician who was best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem from 1988 until his death ...
) – vocals
* Euronymous (
Øystein Aarseth
Øystein Aarseth (; 22 March 1968 – 10 August 1993), better known by his stage name Euronymous, was a Norwegian musician and a founder of and central figure in the early Norwegian black metal scene. He was a co-founder and guitarist of the N ...
) – guitar
* Necrobutcher (
Jørn Stubberud
Jørn Stubberud (born 13 April 1968) is a Norwegian musician best known as the bassist in the black metal band Mayhem under the stage name Necrobutcher. He is one of Mayhem's founding members, along with Euronymous and Manheim. He is the band' ...
) – bass
* Hellhammer (
Jan Axel Blomberg
Jan Axel Blomberg (born 2 August 1969) is a Norwegian heavy metal drummer known professionally as Hellhammer. He is best known as the drummer of Mayhem, which he joined in 1988. In 1987 Blomberg formed the avant-garde black metal band Arcturu ...
) – drums
Re-release bonus tracks lineup:
* Messiah (
Eirik Nordheim) – vocals
* Euronymous (
Øystein Aarseth
Øystein Aarseth (; 22 March 1968 – 10 August 1993), better known by his stage name Euronymous, was a Norwegian musician and a founder of and central figure in the early Norwegian black metal scene. He was a co-founder and guitarist of the N ...
) – guitar
* Necrobutcher (
Jørn Stubberud
Jørn Stubberud (born 13 April 1968) is a Norwegian musician best known as the bassist in the black metal band Mayhem under the stage name Necrobutcher. He is one of Mayhem's founding members, along with Euronymous and Manheim. He is the band' ...
) – bass
* Manheim (
Kjetil Manheim) – drums
See also
*
Mayhem discography
References
Notes
Citations
External links
''The Dawn of the Black Hearts'' on discogs.comon the official Mayhem website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawn of the Black Hearts
Mayhem (band) albums
Bootleg recordings
1995 live albums
Obscenity controversies in music