A man of Mayhem

Attila Csihar of Norway’s black metal veterans Mayhem comes to Bengaluru

At a pub in south Bengaluru, Attila Csihar orders an “Ayurvedic beer,” which he drinks with a bemused expression as he talks about finally being in India after spending a lot of his youth reading about mythology from the country. “This is just my first day in India and it reminds me of Egypt in some ways,” he says.

The 52-year-old had India on his mind when he read the Bhagvad Gita and Ramayana about 30 years ago. “Even during the lockdown, I watched the Mahabharata and that was 250 episodes long,” Csihar says. Less than 24 hours prior to our interview, the artist was on stage at Bangalore Open Air, as vocalist of legendary black metal band Mayhem.

As a group that had a tumultuous history that arguably changed music in Norway and particularly extreme music in the world, Mayhem’s early period was marred by murder and suicide. Csihar, during that time, was a relatively new entrant to Mayhem, brought in from Hungary and known for his work with the band Tormentor. “I was not there all the time when it happened,” he says.

Mayhem’s debut album, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas, came out in 1994 and by 1995, the band was putting a lot in the rearview mirror. Csihar only returned in 2004, performing on albums such as Ordo ad Chao, Esoteric Warfare and most recently, Daemon. “We don’t just rely on our past. All the records have some story and Mayhem doesn’t have that many records for a 30- to 40-year history,” the vocalist says. His personal belief is that Black Metal cannot be commercial. “It should always be challenging. For the listener, it should be extreme.”

At Bangalore Open Air, Mayhem ran through a career-spanning set, playing out in multiple acts with costume changes and the entire stage backdrop artwork changing as well. Photos show Csihar in multiple avatars, from a hooded and masked figure to grotesque face paint and more. The vocalist says about being on stage, “To me, it’s a performance but it’s also a spiritual act. Every night, I feel a little bit of magic as if I’m channeling something.” He feeds off the attention, gesturing wildly and dangerously, sometimes also standing around his band members.

A part of several other projects across genres, Csihar performs black metal with Tormentor, has his own project Void ov Voices and has been vocalist with drone band Sun O))). Influenced by experimental, electronic music the artist reveals he has a new project coming up with Canadian musician Rhys Fulber, who is best known for his work in industrial act, Front Line Assembly. It all helps Csihar find different ways to express his understanding and thoughts of the dark aspect of nature. “It’s esoteric and spiritual, always.”

Thematically, then, the artist always has specific concerns when he gets down to writing lyrics. “It’s hard for me to imagine singing about politics or social problems. I’m always about the other world. I think we all have one thing in common — death. We’re all going to die, so life has no meaning in a way, unless you find a spiritual and transcendental meaning. Like how we all came from one cell,” he says at one point.