Mayhem is a Norwegian Black metal band. Formed in 1983, the original band members were Euronymous (Øystein Aarseth) at lead guitar, Manheim (Kjetil Manheim) played the drums, Messiah (Eirik Nordheim) vocals, and Necrobutcher (Jørn Stubberud) played the bass. Messiah left the band during the recording of their first demo Pure Fucking Armageddon and was replaced by Maniac (Sven-Erik Kristiansen) on vocals.
In 1987 their second demo Deathcrush was recorded with the same lineup, initially released in 1,000 copies and reprinted in 1993 for DSP (the label founded by Euronymous). Manheim and Maniac left Mayhem shortly afterward and were replaced by Dead (Per Yngve Ohlin) on vocals and Hellhammer (Jan Axel Blomberg) on drums in the summer of 1988. After some live gigs in Norway and Germany (where Live in Leipzig was recorded) Mayhem started working on their first full length De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas.
Dead committed suicide in April 1991, and was replaced by Attila Csihar on vocals, to complete the recording of De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas while Necrobutcher decided to leave the band after Dead's suicide. Count Grishnackh (Varg Vikernes) from the band Burzum entered as bass player to complete the new lineup.
In 1992 Live in Leipzing was released as a band's tribute to Dead followed by the famous bootleg Dawn Of The Black Hearts With a photo of the Dead after the suicide (taken by euronymous) as cover artwork. Finally in 1993 Mayhem gone to studio to record the new album but Euronymous was killed by Count Grishnackh by stabbing the 10th Agust of the same year. After the murder the band splitted and De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas was finally released in 1994 as a tribute to Euronymous.
In late 1995 Hellhammer decided to reform the band with the help of a new guitarist, Blasphemer (Rune Erickson) and two former mayhem's member: Maniac and Necrobutcher. The first release of this new lineup was a MCD Wolf's Lair Abyss in 1997 followed by a some live show in the next year. In 2000 the new full length CD was released Grand Declaration Of War with the same lineup followed by two official live album European Legion and Marseille. At the present time Mayhem are working on the new album Chimera scheduled to be released on 29 March 2004.