With this pandemic-induced follow-up to their 2019 album, Daemon, Norwegian black-metal progenitors Mayhem return with a collection of originals and punk covers tracked during the same recording sessions. “We finished the Daemon album way faster than expected, so we had some extra studio time,” Hungarian-born vocalist Attila Csihar tells Apple Music. “The guys had a few drinks and decided to record these punk covers. They didn’t even tell me. But at least they picked songs from bands that I also love.” Titled with the vinyl release in mind, the Atavistic Black Disorder side is comprised of three originals, while the Kommando side features covers of punk favorites by Discharge, Dead Kennedys, Rudimentary Peni, and the Ramones. “This record is like a Frankenstein album,” Csihar says. “It was not supposed to be—it’s like a COVID escape to give to people. But it’s cool because it shows our roots, and I think people might be surprised that we have this punk and hardcore connection.” Below, he comments on each track. “Voces Ab Alta” “This is a song that was supposed to be part of the album, but we felt it didn’t quite fit the framework. Otherwise, it’s a great song. It’s not easy to make these decisions—we just don’t want to release an 80-minute record. But the only thing I can tell you about this song is that it’s poetry. It doesn’t have a concrete meaning apart from the voices in your head, which is the Latin translation. The lyrics were mostly written by [guitarist] Teloch. It has a cool groove, a bit of an old-school black metal touch.” “Black Glass Communion” “This is a song written by [guitarist] Ghul, and it’s a little bit different. It’s more aggressive and brutal. This is another one that could have been on the album, and it was a difficult choice to not include it.” “Everlasting Dying Flame” “This is another great song that Teloch composed. There’s a little bit of an acoustic part at the end, a little bit of these psychedelic things. I just like the groove and atmosphere.” “In Defense of Our Future” (Discharge cover) “My favorite song from Discharge would probably be ‘The Nightmare Continues’ from Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing, but this is a f**king cool song and it was fun to sing. Discharge meant a lot to me in the early days. When my first band, Tormentor, toured in the ’80s, the punk scene was still there and we had this crossover in Hungary, even though extreme metal was kind of on the periphery. Even the drummer of Tormentor, who joined in ’87, came from the hardcore punk scene.” “Hellnation” (Dead Kennedys cover) “This is a cool f**king track. Maniac did the vocals and did a really good job. Also, it shows that he is a punk. You can hear it in the way he sings. I couldn’t do any better. My first punk record was a Dead Kennedys album, and I was super into it. I met Jello [Biafra] when he came to the first show in San Francisco that I played with Mayhem, and we immediately became friends. I was super amazed that he showed up, but we had some drinks and we keep in touch. I actually just mentioned to him that we did this cover, and he was happy to hear about it.” “Only Death” (Rudimentary Peni cover) “This is a band that not many might know. I don’t know how big they are or how big they became, actually. I was surprised the guys picked this one, but it’s pretty cool because I used to love this band. I was super into the album Death Church when it came out. We had less access to music in Hungary, so I was very happy to hear this record. I didn’t have the vinyl, but my friend did. I listened to it for hours. The artwork is amazing and the music is so crazy and dark. It sounded very black metal to me.” “Commando” (Ramones cover) “This is from the Ramones, of course. We used to play it sometimes live, just for fun. But this time, it’s really cool that Messiah, the first vocalist of Mayhem, sings it. And he’s doing a f**king cool job. I love the way sings it—very punk. It shows that even when we didn’t know each other, we all loved punk. We all came from the same thing.”