'Completion in Science of Agony (Part I of II)' 'A Bloodsword and a Colder Sun (Part II of II)' 'A Bloodsword and a Colder Sun (Part I of II)' 'Untitled' (hidden in pregap before track 1 on original CD simply the final track reversed) Ī remastered version of the album was released in December 2018 the original 'cold', 'sterile' production was swapped out for a more raw sound with the bass and drums made more prominent in the mix.Īll lyrics are written by Maniac all music is composed by Blasphemer. 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'. 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 Pandemonium had done to thrash metal'. Many longtime Mayhem fans despised Blasphemer because 'he wasn't Aarseth'. 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', or at least were 'rather sceptical when it was known that MAYHEM should go on even without Dead or Euronymous'. The album's 'sonic clarity' was 'a complete 180-degree turn' from the band's early 'scuzzy 'necro' approach'. Pre production recorded at Caliban Studios in 3 days, mastered at Strype.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'. Live songs recorded on DAT during the Grand Declaration of War tour 2000. Recorded in Nov/Jan 1999/2000 at Fagerborg Studio and Top Room Studio. Tracks 2-1 to 2-7 are live recordings & 2-8 to 2-12 are pre-production mixes. Øyvind Hægeland courtesy of Spiral Architect. Track 1-11 is only used for the first 6 seconds. Sticker reads: 'Deluxe 2-CD reissue, with 'European Legions' as a bonus disc, made of seven live recordings of Mayhem classics, as well as five tracks from 'Grand Declaration of War' in pre-production versions.'Ī pre-gap audio track starts at -2:11 of track 1-1. A Bloodsword and a Colder Sun (Part I of II)Ī Bloodsword and a Colder Sun (Part II of II)Ĭompletion in Science of Agony (Part I of II)Ĭompletion in Science of Agony (Part II of II)Ĭrystalized Pain in Deconstruction (demo)

Mayhem grand declaration of war rar