{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2014}} {{Infobox album | italic_title = yes | name = Esoteric Warfare | type = Studio | artist = Mayhem | cover = Mayhemesotericwarfare2014.jpg | alt = | released = 6 June 2014 (Europe and Asia)<br />10 June 2014 (North America) | recorded = September–October 2013 | venue = | studio = Mølla Studio, Gjerstad<br />SleikBallaMi, Oslo | genre = Black metal | length = {{Duration|m=47|s=25}} | label = Season of Mist | producer = * Teloch * Attila | prev_title = Ordo Ad Chao | prev_year = 2007 | next_title = Daemon | next_year = 2019 | misc = {{Singles | name = Esoteric Warfare | type = studio | single1 = Psywar | single1date = April 25, 2014 }} }}
'''''Esoteric Warfare''''' is the fifth studio album by Norwegian black metal band Mayhem. It was released by Season of Mist on 6 June 2014 in Europe and Asia, and on 10 June 2014 in North America. It is the band's first album with Teloch on guitar since Blasphemer's departure from the band in 2008.
==Background== The album was initially announced in a 2012 interview with the bass guitarist Necrobutcher with Blabbermouth.net.<ref>{{cite web | title = Norway's Mayhem working on new material | publisher = Blabbermouth.net | date = 16 August 2012 | url = http://www.blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=178232 | access-date = 16 August 2012}}</ref> On 2 August 2013, the drummer Hellhammer announced on Mayhem's official Facebook page that he was then recording his drum parts for the album. Mayhem announced in November 2013 that the album had entered the mixing process and that they expected to release it in early 2014. On 18 February 2014, it was announced that a teaser 7" single containing the track "Psywar" would be released on 25 April 2014.<ref>{{cite web | title = Mayhem to release "Psywar" single in April; full-length album to follow in May | publisher = Blabbermouth.net | date = 18 February 2014 | url = https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/mayhem-to-release-psywar-single-in-april-full-length-album-to-follow-in-may | access-date = 23 March 2014}}</ref> On 19 February 2014, Mayhem's record label, Season of Mist, announced that the new album's title would be ''Esoteric Warfare'' and its release date was to be 6 June 2014.<ref>[https://www.season-of-mist.com/news/mayhem-2014-02-19 Mayhem News]</ref> On 19 March 2014, Blabbermouth.net unveiled the album's official track listing along with other details.<ref>{{cite web | title = Mayhem: ''Esoteric Warfare'' album details unveiled | publisher = Blabbermouth.net | date = 19 March 2014 | url = https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/mayhem-esoteric-warfare-album-details-revealed/ | access-date = 23 March 2014}}</ref>
== Writing and recording == The album was recorded and mixed between September and October in 2013. While the drums were recorded in Mølla Studio, the rest of the album was recorded in SleikBallaMi in Oslo. After recording was finished, the band returned to Mølla Studio where mixing was handled by Knut Møllarn from Arcturus. The album was mastered by Maor Applebaum in the US.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.metalunderground.com/interviews/details.cfm?newsid=104226|title=Mayhem Guitarist Discusses 'Esoteric Warfare'|newspaper=Metalunderground.com|access-date=2016-11-16}}</ref> The album's music was written by new guitarist Teloch, while the lyrics were handled by Christian "CERN" Fleck.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Andrew |first=J. |date=2015-02-02 |title=MAYHEM's Teloch: "We are Always Looking Forward Instead of Backwards" |url=https://metalinjection.net/black-metal-chronicles/black-metal-history-month/mayhems-teloch-we-are-always-looking-forward-instead-of-backwards |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=Metal Injection |language=en-US}}</ref> In an interview with Revolver magazine, Teloch stated that "my problem with this album was to write an album that would be fitting to release after 'Ordo ad Chao.' First, I wrote almost a whole album, but it was too much back to the roots, and try to top 'Ordo' for me as a songwriter was not a option either--that would be suicide for me as songwriter for them."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chichester |first=Sammi |date=24 July 2014 |title=Artist Interview |url=https://www.revolvermag.com/artist/artist-interview |access-date=2023-11-01 |website=Revolver |language=en}}</ref> The band had recorded many of the aforementioned songs, but they were scrapped as Teloch was ultimately not satisfied with them, and the band started over.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://www.revolvermag.com/news/interview-mayhems-teloch-talks-new-album-true-black-metal-and-the-bands-notorious-past.html|title=Interview: Mayhem's Teloch Talks New Album, "True" Black Metal, and Overcoming the Band's Bloody Past|date=2014-07-24|newspaper=Revolvermag|access-date=2016-11-16}}</ref>
According to Attila, the band wanted to make an album that "sounded like Mayhem." He said that "After the ''Ordo'' album, which was a little bit progressive—maybe a little bit too much—almost like a fusion album where riffs were not repeated and the rhythm was always out or different or kind of twisted, we wanted to go back from there instead of going forward in that direction. Every Mayhem album has a kind of unique aspect, but we wanted to go back to a little bit more traditional extreme metal. Of course, there’s all these elements that Mayhem has built up for itself as a band, but we still wanted to go back to something that was straightforward musically and a little more brutal and more like extreme metal."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/mayhem-esoteric-warfare-attila-csihar-interview/|title=What Is Extremity? A Conversation with Mayhem's Attila Csihar - Noisey|website=Noisey|language=en-us|access-date=2016-11-16}}</ref>
As with the previous album, the lyrics focus less on the classically Satanic themes of the band's early work, instead referring to occult and conspiracy theory concepts such as psychic powers, mind control and alien tampering with human evolution. (For instance, the song "Corpse of Care" appears to be a direct allusion to Bohemian Grove and the Cremation of Care ceremony performed there.)<ref name=":0" />
"Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds." by J. Robert Oppenheimer serves as the intro for the song ''Trinity'' which is also the code name assigned by Oppenheimer for the first detonation of a nuclear weapon.<ref>''Trinity Nuclear Test''</ref>{{Circular reference|date=October 2020}}
==Critical reception==
{{Album ratings | MC = 69/100<ref name="mc">{{cite web |url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/esoteric-warfare/mayhem/critic-reviews |title=Critic Reviews for Esoteric Warfare |access-date=12 June 2014 |work=Metacritic |publisher=CBS Interactive}}</ref> | rev1 = ''The Line of Best Fit'' | Rev1Score = 8/10<ref>{{Cite web |last=Horton |first=Ross |date=5 June 2014 |title=Mayhem - Esoteric Warfare |url=https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/reviews/albums/mayhem-esoteric-warfare |access-date=22 February 2024 |website=The Line of Best Fit}}</ref> | rev2 = ''Pitchfork'' | Rev2Score = 7.6/10<ref name="p4k-review">{{cite web|last1=Haver Currin|first1=Grayson|title=Mayhem - Esoteric Warfare|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19380-mayhem-esoteric-warfare/|website=Pitchfork|access-date=10 June 2014}}</ref> | rev3 = ''PopMatters'' | Rev3Score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}<ref name="popmatters-review">{{cite web|last1=Franquelli|first1=Alex|title=Mayhem: Esoteric Warfare|url=http://www.popmatters.com/review/182118-mayhem-esoteric-warfare/|website=PopMatters|access-date=10 June 2014}}</ref> | rev4 = ''Sputnikmusic'' | Rev4Score = {{Rating|3.5|5|score=3.7/5 stars}}<ref name="sputnikmusic">{{cite web|author=Voivod|title=Mayhem Esoteric Warfare|url=https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/62591/Mayhem-Esoteric-Warfare/|website=Sputnikmusic|access-date=10 June 2014}}</ref> | rev5 = Le Mot du Melomaniaque | Rev5Score = 8.6/10<ref name="Le Mot du Melomaniaque">{{cite web|author=Parent, Michaël|title=Mayhem Esoteric Warfare|url=http://lemotdumelomaniaque.blogspot.com/2016/04/throwback-reviews-mayhem-esoteric.html|website=Le Mot du Melomaniaque|access-date=26 May 2016}}</ref> }}
Upon its release, ''Esoteric Warfare'' received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 69, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 4 reviews.<ref name="mc"/> Pitchfork wrote: "After 30 years, ''Esoteric Warfare'' is a Mayhem album worth talking about more for its sounds than its associated baggage."<ref name="p4k-review"/> ''Sputnikmusic'' staff writer Voivod thought: "Despite being derivative, ''Esoteric Warfare'' is worthy of praise, because it keeps alive a sound practised by merely a handful of outfits, some of them sadly disbanded."<ref name="sputnikmusic"/> Nevertheless, Alex Franquelli of PopMatters was more mixed in his assessment of the album, stating: "Mayhem are clearly trying to push the envelope of their metal, but their efforts are rendered vain by the lack of derring-do which has sealed the fate of other fellow second-wave black metallers."<ref name="popmatters-review"/>
==Track listing== {{Track listing | all_lyrics = Attila and CERN | all_music = Teloch | total_length = 47:21 | title1 = Watchers | length1 = 6:19 | title2 = Psywar | length2 = 3:25 | title3 = Trinity | length3 = 3:57 | title4 = Pandaemon | length4 = 2:53 | title5 = MILAB | length5 = 6:03 | title6 = VI.Sec. | length6 = 4:14 | title7 = Throne of Time | length7 = 4:06 | title8 = Corpse of Care | length8 = 4:06 | title9 = Posthuman | length9 = 6:55 | title10 = Aion Suntelia | length10 = 5:22 }}
===LP and CD Collector's Box bonus track=== {{Track listing | total_length = 51:01 | title11 = Into the Lifeless | length11 = 3:39 }}
===Japanese Edition bonus track=== {{Track listing | total_length = 51:54 | title11 = From Beyond the Event Horizon | length11 = 4:33 }}
==Personnel== ;Mayhem * Attila – vocals, producer * Teloch – guitars, music, producer, recording engineer * Hellhammer – drums * Necrobutcher – bass * Ghul – guitar
;Additional personnel * Christian Fleck (aka CERN) – lyrics * Zbigniew Bielak – cover art * Maor Appelbaum – mastering Engineer * Mollarn – recording engineer, mixing * Ester Segarra – photography
==Charts== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" !scope="col"|Chart (2014) !scope="col"|Peak<br/>position |- {{album chart|Finland|32|artist=Mayhem|rowheader=true|album=Esoteric Warware}} |- {{album chart|BillboardHeatseekers|14|artist=Mayhem|rowheader=true|access-date=2 December 2020}} |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Mayhem}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esoteric Warfare}} Category:2014 albums Category:Mayhem (band) albums Category:Season of Mist albums