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Mütiilation > Destroy Your Life for Satan > Reviews
Mütiilation - Destroy Your Life for Satan

A compelling motivational work - 85%

Absinthe1979, February 22nd, 2020
Written based on this version: 2011, CD, Dark Adversary Productions (Limited edition, Reissue)

When a band outlasts its contemporaries, particularly in a small scene like the French black metal cabal that was Les Legions Noires, it is not difficult to sense the hunger and enthusiasm that runs through the veins of the creator, whose urge to express dark emotions cannot be satiated. Meyhna’ch indeed has poisonous hunger in his black imperial blood.

Despite ‘Vampires of Black Imperial Blood’ being a phenomenal work of dark genius, I thought it pertinent to instead review a Mutiilation release that has received less attention. The EP that I’ve always found fascinating, dangerous and important is ‘Destroy Your Life For Satan’, which functions not just as a heartfelt work of hate between albums proper, but a war-cry and motto for those who have turned their backs on the current trends of self-improvement, mindfulness and healthy living.

The EP is made up of five tracks. The first is a re-recording of the almighty ‘Transylvania’ from the aforementioned ‘Vampires…’ album. While the original was darker and presented an atmosphere of decaying castles and tombs, the version here has a more modern fizz to the guitars, as if the thematic thrust of the song has been pulled out of the middle ages and placed into a dystopian present. The track changes pace throughout but never yields its sense of viciousness. This guitar tone is present across all tracks and lends a sense of cohesion to the disparate songs.

The title track is the highlight and is the real reason for owning the release. It’s a maniacal, almost catatonic quick-step of a song, with riffs reduced to downward strumming in time with the drums for much of the track. The climax, with the repeated “destroy your life for satan” mantra causing chills, is a masterly moment of destructive expression. Its hypnotic pulsation feels dangerously motivating.

‘Black Millenium’ can be found on the album of the same name, while ‘The Ugliness Inside’ begins frantically but boils itself down to a hauntingly slow passage that highlights the sickness at the heart of Meyhna’ch’s art, as he gargles and spews his vocals over a discordant passage of guitar picking. The release concludes with a cover of the Venom track 'Possessed' that suits the EP well due to the consistent guitar tone that sucks the track into the same modern hell as the rest of the songs.

My CD version is apparently limited to 1000 copies, and is a nice little package. The fold out inlay card contains the lyrics to the songs and some decorative drugs, guns and razorblades. As an EP release this is good value to the collector.

Overall, this isn’t the greatest Mutiilation release, and weaklings who cannot handle lo-fi black metal expression are advised to avoid it. However, with the strength of the title track anchoring these songs to a sense of unity and meaningfulness, the work is a masterclass of visceral self-destruction in the modern world that all Mutiilation acolytes should track down and embrace.

Meyhna'ch still has it. - 83%

LordBelketraya, December 19th, 2006

With Mutiilation there are two types of "eras". The 90's material which consisted of raw, "hallway", rehearsal-like sound which is their best work. Also Meyhna'ch had band members during this time. Then there is the stuff from 2000 to now which is better production but maybe less essential depending on which sound you like better. Personally the whole 90's material outshines anything after it by a good margin save perhaps 'Black Millenium (Grimly Reborn)' in 2001.

'Destroy Your Life For Satan' is the second Mutiilation release after 2000's 'New False Prophet' EP. It's also become a motto for Meyhna'ch and maybe something he'll have on his tombstone when he's no longer with us. The demo consists of a re-recording of the classic song 'Transylvania' from the landmark album 'Vampires Of Black Imperial Blood'. While it's almost always pointless to redo a classic song this version actually sounds pretty good, but it's still inferior to the raw, sick original from 1995. If anything, it's interesting to hear Meyhna'ch do that song again for curiosity's sake.

The next song 'Destroy Your Life For Satan' is a blunt statement that offers no subtle message whatsoever and is basically the same version that you would hear on 'Majestas Leprosus' two years later. Black Millenium is the same as the one on the album 'Black Millenium (Grimly Reborn)' that would come out later in the same year of this demo. I have both versions and they sound identical to me. If they are different it's barely noticeable (maybe the mix is louder on BM LP version) and maybe they are different outtakes at best. But they're essentially the same song and not re-recorded.

'The Ugliness Inside' is also another song that is later added to 'Majestas Leprosus' and is exactly the same. The last song 'Possessed' which is a Venom cover is the only other song that you haven't heard before from this demo along with the reworked version of Transylvania. The Venom cover is done very well and Meyhna'ch does a great Cronos imitation along with that Mutiilation sick feel to it. All in all, the demo is very hard to find being limited to 100 copies and three of the songs are basically the same ones included later on in 'Black Millenium (Grimly Reborn)' and 'Majestas Leprosus'.

The demo at the time of release may have been worth getting since none of the songs were heard before but now it's only worth getting due to Transylvania and Possessed. But if you're going to get it just for these two songs you're better off downloading it instead of paying probably 50 dollars for a cassette on ebay. The rest of the material can be found easier and cheaper from the two albums I previously mentioned. Five years on the demo is still a good listen and a hint of what was to come.

DYLFS, you pitiful worm!! - 98%

Vic, August 2nd, 2002

Hot on the heels of the release of the Black Millenium album Meyhna'ch recorded this five-song cassette-only EP strictly limited to 100 copies. It's a shame it's so limited because it's fucking amazing. Presented here are two new songs (the title track and "The Ugliness Inside"), two re-recordings of older songs ("Transylvania" from the Vampires... album and "Black Millenium" - which is DEFINITELY re-recorded and not just pulled from the album), and a cover of Venom's "Possessed". The sound is similar to that on the Black Millenium album, but there is a bit more rough of a guitar sound and the bass is a lot higher up in the mix and also has a bit of an overdriven sound to it. The two older songs improve very well with this rawer-but-still-cleaner approach; the conversion of "Transylvania" is especially notable as it shows how little change was made in the general approach of Mutiilation by changing from a band to a single-person project (something that initially threw me off about Black Millenium). The two new song are also great - "Ugliness..." is standard(Great!) fare for the band these days, and wouldn't be out of place on the album, but it's the title track of this tape that is destined to be a classic. It is similar to the song "New False Prophet" in approach, in starting with a muted but DEMENTED guitar riff that just builds into totally chaotic insanity, culminating in some FAST strum-riffing and more of those double-tracked and processed vocals that sound like the very voice of dementia. Chilling, to say the least. Rounding it out, of course, is a cover of the title track of Venom's fourth LP, and it's strange how well that song fits into what Mutiilation is doing now. Even more strange is that, when Meyhna'ch tones down the scream in his voice just a bit he sounds VERY much like a demented Cronos. It's a fucking great cover that does both bands proud. Like I said at the beginning of this review, it's a shame this is so limited, because it's a fucking great EP. Track down a dub any way you can, and DESTROY YOUR LIFE FOR SATAN while you're at it...

"I'm still not buried....FUCK YOU!!!" - Meyhna'ch, 2001

(Originally published at LARM (c) 2001)