Following up the successful and acclaimed return to their De Mysteriis days on 2019's Daemon, Norway's one true Mayhem have gone even further back in inspiration here to combine leftover tracks from the Daemon sessions with a set of punk covers to give tribute to the earliest of inspirations that led to the blood and ashes of black metal. And with this particular set of musicians, it's no surprise that Atavistic Black Disorder / Kommando is accordingly a great deal of nihilistic fun, not least thanks to the band inviting back previous vocalists for the occasion. Sure, not every member of the band can return thanks to such minor considerations as being Dead, yet there's a real joy to the punk covers here that such thoughts are soon banished.

And of course, Daemon was solid enough that even the leftovers are worthy of ears, particularly opener here Voces ab Alta which opens with chilling riffs straight from 1997 and soon blasts into a sinister gallop, Attila Csihar's rasping snarl and deranged clean bellow more than capable of directing the satanic assault. The following Black Glass Communion and Everlasting Dying Flame aren't particularly divergent from the formula but are noticeably good enough to have been worthy of inclusion on Daemon - more than entertaining bursts of blackened bile that promise much from future releases. Both new-ish guitarists Teloch and Ghul more than adequately fill in for departed original Blasphemer on both originals and covers and suggest that future releases from the band are in solid hands.

With the future in good hands, what of the past? Well, the covers here never get far beyond the two minute mark, but if you're a fan of the punkish past (and you're reading a Mayhem EP review, so should be!) there's a lot of fun to be had here. Discharge's In Defence of Our Future leads the charge with Csihar's yelp atop a thrashy, riff-fuelled base. Maniac returns for a gloriously Biafra-esque performance on the Dead Kennedys' Hellnation, faster and looser with possibly the best argument for punk Mayhem on the EP - even coming from a convinced Csihar fanboy! Fortunately everyone's favourite Hungarian returns on Rudimentary Peni's Only Death with a slower, yowlier burst of vomiting that more than works and convinces that he should stick around forever, nearly dipping into goregrind territory with his disgusting performance. Then thank heavens, and hells, for Messiah coming back to round out the EP with Ramones' Commando with a gruff take on a punk rock classic - perhaps not the greatest bit of extreme metal you'll have ever heard, even with this band's Deathcrush past, but a more than solid tribute to past inspirations, and a whole lot of fun. Punk, black metal, whatever; the rebellious spirit and gleeful defiance continues regardless.