Mayhem, Immolation, Black Anvil
Ross Dolan of death metal mainstays Immolation, 30 next year, recalls his initiation to ground zero black metallers Mayhem.
“I remember hearing their demo recordings back in the late Eighties,” chuckles the frontman by phone. “I had a lot of tape-trading buddies who would send us music from all different bands in the scene. That’s where I first heard Mayhem. This tour’s cool for us, because it’s the first time we’ll get to share a stage with them.”
Oslo’s lords of chaos, whose first incarnation collapsed after the suicide of singer “Dead” Ohlin and murder of guitarist “Euronymous” by former band member Varg Vikernes (aka Burzum), here performs its initially posthumous debut De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas as led by founding bassist Jørn “Necrobutcher” Stubberud and Dead’s only true replacement, Attila Csihar.
“I saw the band at Maryland Deathfest two years ago, and then we met them more recently at a festival in Europe,” says Dolan. “Awesome guys. We played with them in Costa Rica and got to spend some time with Necrobutcher. Super cool guy. So yeah, O.G. black metal and we’re old-school, plus Black Anvil from New York. Great show.”
Immolation’s no legacy act as demonstrated by this year’s 10th LP Atonement, one of the New Yorkers’ and Dolan’s absolute finest hours.
“The first time we played Austin was on our second go ’round,” he summons. “On the first record, we played Houston and San Antonio. That was in ’92. We didn’t play Austin until ’96, when we came through with Cannibal Corpse and Brutal Truth. We played a place called Voodoo Lounge. It was our first time there and it was amazing. We had such a great response we keep coming back.”
– Raoul Hernandez
