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The Mayhem of the intermediate period, with Dead on vocals and Euronymous on guitar, have, for various reasons, become somewhat legendary; however, much of the aura of malevolence surrounding the band was contrived by the guitarist, an incompetent record label owner but an excellent self-manager.
Several interviews given to Metallion, author of the zine "Slayer," during the '90-'93 period emphasize the central role of Mayhem as founders of the Norwegian extreme scene: the legends surrounding the band during this period were, in fact, fake, such as the existence of the Inner Circle, the militant character of black metal, the crusade against posers. History will rehabilitate too late the image of a man considered by contemporary musicians as a clown, but praised by the following generation of fans. Much of the Black Metal of the second half of the nineties will indeed live off the myth of Euronymous and a musical style increasingly aligning with that of Mayhem; this bootleg is proof of that.
Produced by Warhammer Records 666 Hell 666, an imprint likely registered for the occasion, "Dawn Of The Black Hearts" features two different performances, rightly regarded among the most important for the group. First, the concert recorded in Sarpsborg back in 1990 by the classic lineup, the same as the Live in Leipzig; the setlist is identical, dividing between the thrash repertoire pieces and the new ones, recently written. The occasion was particularly important since Mayhem was performing for the first time as a group after Dead's arrival.
The second contribution, instead, captures an event held in the distant 1986 in Lillehammer, when the band still had no original material and delighted in covering the songs of their idols: it includes two covers by Venom ("Welcome to Hell" and "Black Metal") and two by Celtic Frost ("Dance Macabre" and "Procreation of the Wicked").
Despite the quality of the material presented, the Mayhem old-style celebratory record (these are the two oldest recordings we have) sinks into the mediocrity of the many clones that will fill the recording sea. The pieces from the first concert are played well but do not hold up to the official Live in Leipzig, whether due to poor recording or the emotion with which a newly added Dead (not particularly loquacious himself) faces the audience. In comparison with the previous, therefore, the live at Sarpsborg worsens the flaws without adding anything new.
The live at Lillehammer then is chilling: not only do you start to doubt they are Mayhem playing, but it even takes unshakable faith to believe that someone is really playing and not - I don’t know - screaming in their house, vomiting at the bar, and so on. The recording is poor in the sense that you can only hear (or rather "perceive") Maniac's screams; the other instruments get lost in the void, almost a bare and low-volume version of Sunn O))).
If that weren’t enough, besides being useless, this record manages to be stupid and offensive. The cover, which became famously iconic, depicts Dead’s corpse photographed by Euronymous just after the suicide: besides the pity aroused by seeing a twenty-one-year-old dead by suicide, there's a certain disgust from the awareness that the suicide scene was probably altered and "beautified" by Euronymous before taking his propagandistic picture. Karma will punish the Norwegian guitarist by humiliating him in turn when his body’s photo sprawled on the ground will prominently feature at the Vikernes trial. The booklet then includes an interview snippet given by Arseth a few days after his friend's death, where he states that Dead killed himself because of the posers present in the scene. An Anti-Vikernes logo and the phrase "Kill Burzum now" complete the refined work.
Perhaps the worst album in all of Black Metal history.
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