“In a way, it’s our most commercial record.” So says vocalist and lyricist Attila Csihar of Mayhem about the band’s first album in seven years. But don’t think for a second that the Norwegian black metal pioneers have gone soft. What Csihar means is that they’ve written an album about something everyone can relate to and will ultimately succumb to: death. “For all the songs to have the same theme is a bit special for Mayhem,” the Hungarian-born vocalist tells Apple Music. “And it’s maybe the most universal theme.” In fact, so much has been created in the name of death that Csihar immersed himself in deep research while writing the lyrics. “It was challenging,” he says. “There’s so much art, philosophy, literature, poetry, paintings, and architecture from the past with this theme. And of course, religions are dealing with it. It’s like everything is coming from the dead, and darkness is eternal. I feel like this is the underlying theme of black metal and dark art in general.” What also struck him is the widespread fear of death when compared with the supposed joy of birth. “If you’re lucky, death is painless,” Csihar points out. “Many people die in their sleep. But birth is always a long, long agony and tremendous pain.” Below, he details each song on the album. “Ephemeral Eternity” “Everything that exists is already changing, dissolving, and dying. Time, identity, and belief are temporary constructions of the human mind that collapse on their own end. Death is not hostile; it simply rules everything without exception. Any prayer does not change the final outcome: All forms return to nothingness. Eternity here is not life without end, but an eternal moment of a formless state where everything finally stops to exist.” “Despair” “Despair is the state where nothing holds anymore, where belief and divine promise collapses. No faith, no promise, no god remains. Death is not coming; it is already present and absolute as total dominion. Fear coils around the human mind. Rebirth or reincarnation is not a reward, offers no escape, only repetition of the same endless suffering in this prison of existence, created by the so-called ‘demiurge.’ Perfection is reached when one becomes dead while still alive, meaning complete readiness to pass away by entering into the higher, silent self beyond the mind.” “Weep for Nothing” “This song presents death as the purest and most truthful state of nature. Death is neither good nor evil; it simply ends all things. Pain and pleasure only exist while there is form and consciousness. There is no judgment day, no afterlife, no underworld, no Heaven or hell, no God or Satan, no continuation. What no longer exists cannot suffer anymore. Hence mourning is meaningless: Nothing has been lost and nothing gained. Only ancient eternal peace and stillness.” “Aeon’s End” “This is a vision of ritual destruction of a false world and the fake religions. Faith collapses, idols are shattered, sanctuaries bleed. The redeemer manifests as a blade cutting through time, destiny, and belief itself. It does not save; it erases. What was built on lies must be cut down by this sword of destruction. A cycle ends so another may begin cleansed and purified. ‘Aeon’s End’ declares that every civilization ends—and that we had many beforehand.” “Funeral of Existence” “This song describes the final state of existence, where all created forms decay and lose meaning. Time is not healing; it corrodes everything. Death is not a moment but an unavoidable procession that never stops. ‘Látjátok feleim szümtükkel mik vagymuk, isa por és hamu vagymuk’ comes from the earliest surviving Hungarian written text, emphasizing that the recognition of human mortality is ancient knowledge. The ‘Funeral of Existence’ becomes a collective burial ritual for humanity itself, not a personal loss.” “Realm of Endless Misery” “Suffering is not an accident; it is built into existence. Pain is constant, not temporary. Hope fades slowly as mind and soul collapse into fragments. Repetition in the lyrics evokes a sealed state of consciousness where time and space become traps. Forces do not attack from outside; they operate misery from within. ‘Realm of Endless Misery’ states that existence itself functions as a system of suffering. Resistance is useless; death’s command is final.” “Propitious Death” “This song approaches death not as tragedy but as initiation and fulfillment. Ending life is not punishment but release from repetition, from the enforced cycle of life. Promises of eternity collapse into nothing. This is the dignity of a chosen end. ‘Propitious Death’ means accepting the end, where pleasure and suffering are buried equally. The song becomes a ritual of noble closure, where one exits time as a victor over death.” “The Sentence of Absolution” “A radical realization that human life itself is the greatest deception. Death is a conscious decision, not an escape—an inner judgment passed upon oneself. No authority grants absolution; it is spoken inwardly. Wisdom appears as longing toward the end, opposing the forced prolongation of life. Absolution is not granted by any external authority but declared internally and finally. At the very end, the album closes by burying itself in voodoolike ritual eternal silence.”