8 Bit Mayhem
Encyclopedia
8 Bit Mayhem is a chiptune
/bitpop
artist from Great Britain that parodies both the music and specific cultural aspects of black metal music. 8 Bit Mayhem's music consists entirely of cover versions from famous and prominent black metal bands, including Cradle of Filth
, Darkthrone
, Mayhem
and Burzum
.
to promote their music. The satirical nature of the music, along with the perceived serious nature of the target bands being parodied, led to 8 Bit Mayhem becoming a popular craze amongst some online communities.
Following a similar style, the band has called their music NESBM. This parodies the style of black metal known as National Socialist Black Metal
(or NSBM). The NES
was a Nintendo computer from the 1980s. This conflict between the seemingly offensive or taboo source material with the childish and retro presentation is the source of much of the band's humour.
. The changed title references the popular Super Nintendo
console, which was known as the Super NES amongst its user base, while the cover artwork is a still from Castlevania on the Nintendo NES
, used under the creative commons licensing available to satirists and spoofers. In a popular move, the band opted to make all of their music free via an unlimited download; the link or the music itself was shared via several social networking sites, web forums, communities, and p2p
networks.
The album covered 9 black metal bands in total: Nargaroth; Mayhem
; Burzum
; Cradle of Filth
; Emperor
; Ulver
; Von
; Darkthrone
, and Enslaved
.
in its design, specifically the album Filosofem
. This time, the band merged the title with the Japanese name for the Nintendo NES, which is known as the Famicom (or "family computer"). The two tracks on this release were by Burzum
and Nokturnal Mortum
.
Chiptune
A chiptune, also known as chip music, is synthesized electronic music often produced with the sound chips of vintage computers and video game consoles, as well as with other methods such as emulation. In the early 1980s, personal computers became cheaper and more accessible than they had previously...
/bitpop
Bitpop
Bitpop is a type of electronic music and also subgenre of Chiptune, where at least part of the music is made using old 8-bit computers and video game consoles. Among systems used are Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari 8-bit Home Computer, Game Boy, Atari 2600 and Nintendo Entertainment System...
artist from Great Britain that parodies both the music and specific cultural aspects of black metal music. 8 Bit Mayhem's music consists entirely of cover versions from famous and prominent black metal bands, including Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band, formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic black metal, and other extreme metal styles, while their lyrical themes and imagery are heavily...
, Darkthrone
Darkthrone
Darkthrone is a Norwegian black metal band. They formed in 1987 as a death metal band, but after embracing the black metal style in 1991, they became a driving force in the Norwegian black metal scene. For most of this period Darkthrone has consisted of just two musicians, Nocturno Culto and...
, Mayhem
Mayhem (band)
Mayhem is a Norwegian black metal band formed in 1984 in Oslo, Norway and regarded as one of the pioneers of the influential Norwegian black metal scene...
and Burzum
Burzum
Burzum is a musical project by Varg Vikernes . It began during 1991 in Bergen, Norway and quickly became prominent within the early Norwegian black metal scene...
.
History
8 Bit Mayhem was formed in 2007 and recorded and released their first record, entitled De Mysteriis Dom Supernes in the same year. The band used online viral marketing and social networking sites including MyspaceMyspace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
to promote their music. The satirical nature of the music, along with the perceived serious nature of the target bands being parodied, led to 8 Bit Mayhem becoming a popular craze amongst some online communities.
Parodies and "NESBM"
Much of the 8 Bit Mayhem content is designed to subvert various aspects of black metal culture seen as ludicrous or pompous. The band uses low resolution graphics for their album artwork, usually with an image that deliberately resembles some specific real black metal album. The titles, logo and even the band name itself are spoofs of existing bands' identities.Following a similar style, the band has called their music NESBM. This parodies the style of black metal known as National Socialist Black Metal
National Socialist black metal
National Socialist black metal is black metal that promotes National Socialist beliefs through their lyrics and imagery. These beliefs often include: white supremacy, racial separatism, antisemitism, heterosexism, and Nazi interpretations of paganism or Satanism...
(or NSBM). The NES
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
was a Nintendo computer from the 1980s. This conflict between the seemingly offensive or taboo source material with the childish and retro presentation is the source of much of the band's humour.
De Mysteriis Dom Supernes
In 2007, 8 Bit Mayhem recorded their first album De Mysteriis Dom Supernes. Both the title and the front cover artwork are direct spoofs of the Norwegian black metal band Mayhem's own debut album from 1993 De Mysteriis Dom SathanasDe Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is an album by Norwegian black metal band Mayhem. Songwriting began as early as 1987, but due to the suicide of vocalist Dead and murder of guitarist Euronymous , the album's release was delayed until May 1994...
. The changed title references the popular Super Nintendo
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
console, which was known as the Super NES amongst its user base, while the cover artwork is a still from Castlevania on the Nintendo NES
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
, used under the creative commons licensing available to satirists and spoofers. In a popular move, the band opted to make all of their music free via an unlimited download; the link or the music itself was shared via several social networking sites, web forums, communities, and p2p
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
networks.
The album covered 9 black metal bands in total: Nargaroth; Mayhem
Mayhem (band)
Mayhem is a Norwegian black metal band formed in 1984 in Oslo, Norway and regarded as one of the pioneers of the influential Norwegian black metal scene...
; Burzum
Burzum
Burzum is a musical project by Varg Vikernes . It began during 1991 in Bergen, Norway and quickly became prominent within the early Norwegian black metal scene...
; Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band, formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic black metal, and other extreme metal styles, while their lyrical themes and imagery are heavily...
; Emperor
Emperor (band)
Emperor was a Norwegian black metal band formed in 1991. They dissolved in 2001, but reunited in 2006 and again in 2007 for a few festival dates and brief US tours. The group was founded by Samoth and Ihsahn .-Biography:...
; Ulver
Ulver
Ulver is a musical group from Norway. Since their first, folklore-influenced black metal release entitled Bergtatt – Et eeventyr i 5 capitler , Ulver’s musical style has been fluid and increasingly eclectic, blending genres such as rock, electronica, symphonic and chamber traditions, noise and...
; Von
Von (band)
Von was a First Wave black metal band from San Francisco, California, USA. They are thought to be the first American black metal band, and have strongly influenced the second wave of black metal.-Biography:...
; Darkthrone
Darkthrone
Darkthrone is a Norwegian black metal band. They formed in 1987 as a death metal band, but after embracing the black metal style in 1991, they became a driving force in the Norwegian black metal scene. For most of this period Darkthrone has consisted of just two musicians, Nocturno Culto and...
, and Enslaved
Enslaved (band)
Enslaved is a progressive black metal band formed in June 1991 in Sveio, Norway, and currently based out of Bergen, Norway.-History:Enslaved was formed in June 1991 by Ivar Bjørnson and Grutle Kjellson when they were 13 and 17 years old, respectively. The band name was inspired by an Immortal demo...
.
Follow up work
The band followed up the album with a two track release the following year. Following a similar pattern in style and presentation of the previous release, 2008's Filosofamicom parodied BurzumBurzum
Burzum is a musical project by Varg Vikernes . It began during 1991 in Bergen, Norway and quickly became prominent within the early Norwegian black metal scene...
in its design, specifically the album Filosofem
Filosofem
Filosofem is the fifth release by the Norwegian black metal artist Burzum. It was recorded in March 1993 and was the last recording before Varg Vikernes' imprisonment. However, the album was not released until January 1996....
. This time, the band merged the title with the Japanese name for the Nintendo NES, which is known as the Famicom (or "family computer"). The two tracks on this release were by Burzum
Burzum
Burzum is a musical project by Varg Vikernes . It began during 1991 in Bergen, Norway and quickly became prominent within the early Norwegian black metal scene...
and Nokturnal Mortum
Nokturnal Mortum
Nokturnal Mortum is a Ukrainian black metal band from Kharkiv.-History:Nokturnal Mortum started as death metal band Suppuration in 1991, then turned to black metal and changed name to Crystalline Darkness but "had to change the name back in 1993/94 to Nocturnal Mortum because there already existed...
.