From an interview with Necrobutcher made for The Quietus:
"How did Conrad Schnitzler end up composing the intro track on Deathcrush, 'Silvester Anfang'?
NB: Well, that is an interesting story. In the Summer of '86 we were travelling round Europe on InterRail tickets. We were out there doing a promotional tour of the Pure Fucking Armageddon demo and went out to Germany to meet Kreator and all those bands and then on to London to hang out with Napalm Death. Basically the band and Metalion were going round Europe together. Euronymous wanted to go to Berlin to look for rare records by Tangerine Dream, Conrad Schnitlzer, Klaus Schulze and that type of experimental, avant garde music. He had Conrad Schnitzler's address so he went out there to see him. He rang the doorbell but Conrad Schnitzler's wife had told him that there was a weird looking kid hanging round outside the house, who looked like he wanted to come in. Conrad didn't dare open the door and said to his wife, 'Don't worry he will probably go away soon.' But he didn't, he just stood outside the door. So eventually Conrad came out and invited him in for tea. And then they talked.
Euronymous communicated that he was a fan and Conrad gave him a lot of rare albums that he had and afterwards they started to correspond. So the idea was born to ask him if he could make an intro for the album. So we sent him Deathcrush and he came up with this 'Silvester Anfang' - which means New Year's Eve. I guess that's when he made it: on New Year's Eve. Of course it was very surprising and different. But at the same time it felt like he was inspired by listening to the tape and our music. Of course we used it. I heard when the story about what happened came out in the early 90s came out, he was very shocked but apparently when things calmed down he started to become proud that his intro was played all over the world by us. We kept it as our signature intro music. Everyone knows what is going on when they hear that intro playing. "
Silvester Anfang
Mayhem Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴
As the song is purely instrumental, there are no lyrics to analyze. However, the lack of lyrics in this piece allows the focus to shift onto the haunting and ominous atmosphere created by Mayhem’s use of dissonant guitar riffs and eerie sound effects. Silvester Anfang translates to “New Year's Eve Beginning” in German, which adds to the dark and foreboding tone of the music. This song is often considered the opening track of Mayhem’s album “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas” and serves as an introduction to the black metal masterpiece.
Silvester Anfang is a crucial piece of music in the history of black metal, as it is one of the earliest examples of the genre’s signature sound. The track was composed by band member Euronymous, who was a key figure in the Norwegian black metal scene of the 1990s. Mayhem's use of dissonant chord progressions and unconventional melodies influenced a generation of black metal bands. Interestingly, the song’s title references the opening track of the Beatles’ album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”, which features a track called “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)” that is sometimes known as “A Day in the Life (Take 1)”.
Contributed by Peyton O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Emeto
This sounds like the perfect opening song to a war film.
punkiller666
yeah, much like the intro to 'Johnny got his gun'
Jamie S
This is terrifying, absolutely amazing
𝕷𝖔𝖗𝖉 𝕭𝖆𝖈𝖐𝖚𝖗𝖔
Sounds like a old ps1 horror game soundtrack
Like the first Silent Hill.
Quinn
I feel like I’m about to get thrown into a volcano in the middle of the jungle as a sacrifice
Little lamb
Hi jotaro
AA
this is the best description for this song...
qksF1
LMAO U ARE SO RIGHT😂
•Angelina•
same -.-
Jamie Davis 93
Those drums were literally soooooo good and brilliant. 👍