With Just A Hint Of Mayhem

Music reviews, gig reviews, fun trivia and extra added random stuff!

Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas 2025 – Day 8 – Bring Me The Horizon December 20, 2025

Filed under: Christmas — justwilliam1959 @ 3:03 pm
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It is now time for day 8 of Mayhem’s 12 Days of Christmas series for 2025. The seven posts so far have featured the Apocalypse Disco, Radiohead, Black Box Recorder, Shrub, the Postal Service, Tom Waits and Johnny Cash. Regular readers will know by now that this years theme is not very festive and is almost certainly our darkest theme so far. But with all the crap in the world at the moment much of it driven by the Fanta Fuhrer in the partly demolished White House I thought I would celebrate Chrimbo this year with songs about the end of the world. These are twelve fabulous tracks despite the rather savage theme. Music has, and will always accompany me wherever I go, even if that is into the heart of the forthcoming (???) Armageddon! Maybe I need to make them into a playlist, what do you think? Some of you have contacted me with a resounding yes to the playlist. It will appear when we post the final installment a.k.a. day 12. There may be a surprise extra track on the day 12 posting too, keep checking in!

Today’s track is “Parasite Eve” by Bring Me The Horizon from their 2020 album ‘Post Human: Survival Horror’. The song samples “Erghen Diado” written by Petar Lyondev and performed by the Bulgarian Female Vocal Choir; Lyondev is credited as a co-writer alongside the whole band. The song was written during the Covid quarantine and while it might not be strictly end of the world stuff, I think it was written in that kind of mindset. Back then we didn’t really know exactly how bad Covid was going to be. The song made it to number one on the UK Rock & Metal chart but scraped to a disappointing 28 on the UK singles chart. In my opinion it should have been a bigger hit.

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A Christmas Message From Molly Rymer

Filed under: Christmas,Christmas Message — justwilliam1959 @ 2:19 pm
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This is the third in our series of Christmas messages from bands and artists that we have featured on With Just A Hint Of Mayhem this year. This one comes from the supremely talented Leeds based singer songwriter Molly Rymer. Not only does she possess great musical talent she is also a delightful human being. I haven’t seen her play live yet, but I certainly hope to remedy that in 2026! Massive apologies for not posting this before Molly’s final gig of 2025! News years resolution for me? Be more timely when posting!

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Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas 2025 – Day 7 – Johnny Cash December 19, 2025

Filed under: Christmas,Uncategorized — justwilliam1959 @ 10:34 pm
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Mayhem’s 12 Days of Christmas posts are now at day 7. The six posts so far have featured the Apocalypse Disco, Radiohead, Black Box Recorder, Shrub, the Postal Service and Tom Waits. This years theme is not very festive and is perhaps our darkest theme so far. But with all the crap in the world at the moment much of it driven by Putin’s Pedo Pet in the partly demolished White House I thought I would celebrate Chrimbo this year with songs about the end of the world. These are twelve fabulous tracks despite the rather savage theme. Music has, and will always accompany me wherever I go, even if that is into the heart of the forthcoming (???) Armageddon! Maybe I need to make them into a playlist, what do you think? Some of you have contacted me with a resounding yes to the playlist. It will appear when we post the final installment a.k.a. day 12.

Today’s track is from Johnny Cash and the song is “The Man Comes Around”. The song gives itself to the title of the album it was featured on, ‘American IV: The Man Comes Around’. This was the fourth Johnny Cash album produced by Rick Rubin. It was the first in the American Recordings series to make the UK chart, it peaked at number 40 after its release in 2002. The song was released as a single in 2002 but failed to make the charts. The series produced six albums and lasted from 1994 until 2010. The lyrics reference the biblical book of revelations and were written by Cash years before this recording and they were updated for this record. The titular ‘man’ is most likely Jesus Christ. In my opinion this is a worthy part of our end of the world series!

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Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas 2025 – Day 6 – Tom Waits December 18, 2025

Filed under: Christmas — justwilliam1959 @ 10:14 pm
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Mayhem’s 12 Days of Christmas posts have reached the half way point, day 6. The five posts so far have featured the Apocalypse Disco, Radiohead, Black Box Recorder, Shrub and the Postal Service. This years theme is deeply dark and not very festive. But with all the crap in the world at the moment much of it driven by Captain Bonespurs in the partly demolished White House I thought I would celebrate Chrimbo this year with songs about the end of the world. Yeah, kind of depressing of course, but these are twelve fabulous tracks and whatever happens. Music has, and will always accompany me wherever I go, even if that is into the heart of the forthcoming (???) Armageddon! Maybe I need to make them into a playlist, what do you think?

Today’s song comes from the legendary songwriter and troubadour Tom Waits. The track is “Earth Died Screaming” the opening track on his 1992 album ‘Bone Machine’ which reached number 26 on the UK album chart. In my opinion this is perhaps the scariest song in the series driven by the sparseness of the production and the even more gravelly than usual vocal performance from Mr. Waits.

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Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas 2025 – Day 5 – The Postal Service December 17, 2025

Filed under: Christmas — justwilliam1959 @ 8:14 pm
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Mayhem’s 12 Days of Christmas posts have reached day 5. The four posts so far have featured the Apocalypse Disco, Radiohead, Black Box Recorder and Shrub. This years theme is very dark and not very festive. But with all the crap in the world at the moment much of it driven by Diaper Donnie in the partly demolished White House I thought I would celebrate Chrimbo this year with songs about the end of the world. Yeah, kind of depressing of course, but these are twelve fabulous tracks and whatever happens music will always accompany me wherever I go, even if that is into the heart of the forthcoming (???) Armageddon! Maybe I need to make them into a playlist, what do you think?

Today’s song comes from Seattle’s The Postal Service. It is “We Will Become Silhouettes” from their 2003 album ‘Give Up’. This is their only studio album to date, can we have another one please? The song was the band’s fourth single and peaked at number three in the Canadian chart. It was written by band members Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Tamborello. Is the song about the period after a nuclear war or catastrophe? Possibly, but for me it is a great fit for a series of end of the world songs!

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The WJAHOM Interview Podcast – Pick The Flowers December 16, 2025

Filed under: Interview,Podcast — justwilliam1959 @ 9:34 pm
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Join us for an interview with one of Yorkshire’s finest musical artists, Chloe Munt a.k.a Pick The Flowers. Just a few weeks ago Pick The Flowers won the Fulford Arms Battle of the Bands. Take a listen to hear all about where Pick The Flowers goes next. Click here to take a listen.

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Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas 2025 – Day 4 – Shrub

Filed under: Christmas — justwilliam1959 @ 8:14 pm
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Mayhem’s 12 Days of Christmas posts have reached day 4. In case you missed the first three posts that featured the Apocalypse Disco, Radiohead and Black Box Recorder this years theme is very dark and not very festive. But with all the crap in the world at the moment much of it driven by Dementia Don in the White House I thought I would celebrate Chrimbo this year with songs about the end of the world. Yeah, kind of depressing of course, but these are twelve fabulous tracks and whatever happens music will always accompany me wherever I go, even if that is into the heart of the forthcoming (???) Armageddon!

Today’s song is the wonderfully titled “Dying Like Some Dinosaurs” by Shrub from their 2013 album, ‘Highceratops.’ The band are from Columbus, Ohio they formed in 2010 when founding member software developer Jay “Shrub” Shawberry who was a student at Bowling Green State University, with his love for reggae and hip-hop, started rapping and producing music in his own basement the year before and wanted to go further in the music industry under his “Shrub Project”. The band name is derived from a nickname Shawberry’s older brother got in college because their last name sounds like “shrubbery” when you’re feeling tipsy, so it’s not from marijuana like many fans think. But make sure you roll yourself a big doobie to take you through the end of the world!

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Mayhem’s Top 50 Albums Of 2025 (Part 4) December 15, 2025

Filed under: Album Of The Year — justwilliam1959 @ 8:56 pm
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The revelation of Mayhem’s Top 50 Albums Of 2025 is now nearing the top. In past years it has only ever been a top 20, but it was hard to whittle the original list of 60 down to 20, so we kept 50 of them! So far we have given you parts 1, 2 and 3 which cover positions 21 through to 50. Now we reveal the numbers from 11 to 20 in part 3.

Have your favourite albums made the Mayhem cut? Check out the list below and check out parts 1, 2 and 3. (Just click on the numbers). Part 5 which will reveal the top 10 will arrive very, very soon! Are you looking forward to the countdown? There will be a 50 song play list when Part 5 arrives! Here comes numbers 11 to 20.

11 Cut & Rewind – Say She She – “Classy old school R&B driven into the 21st century with soul, funk, style, perfect vocals and confidence”
12 West End Girl – Lily Allen – “Low key, break up, personal themes document the return of Lily Allen”
13 Parasites & Butterflies – Nova Twins – “A fearless, thundering collection of songs from perhaps the finest band of their generation. The Nova Twins are heading for super nova status!”
14 Bin Juice – The Lovely Eggs – “This lot can turn the every day mundaneness into fiery, exciting punk songs”
15 The Clearing – Wolf Alice – “This mighty fourth album sees a good band metamorphosing into a great band. Ellie Rowsell’s vocals are superb”
16 Lotus – Little Simz – “This is her sixth album and she gets even better each time. On this she bares her soul through anger, fragility and she begins to translate the ciphers that hide real life”
17 MAD! – Sparks – “Formed in L.A. more than 50 years ago the brothers Mael continue to produce fabulous music, this is perhaps their best of the 21st century”
18 Euro-Country – CMAT – “A dark pop classic from CMAT with some brutally honest lyrics”
19 Pillow Talk – Party Nails – “The perfect blend of synth filled electro pop from the delightful Party Nails”
20 Antidepressants – Suede – “The best new material since they reformed? Probably”

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Mayhem’s 12 Days Of Christmas 2025 – Day 3 – Black Box Recorder

Filed under: Christmas — justwilliam1959 @ 8:10 pm
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Mayhem’s 12 Days of Christmas posts is onto day 3. In case you missed the first two posts that featured the Apocalypse Disco and Radiohead this years theme is quite dark and not very festive. With all the crap in the world at the moment much of it driven by the Mango Mussolini I thought I would celebrate Chrimbo this year with songs about the end of the world. Yeah, kind of depressing of course, but these are twelve fabulous tracks and whatever happens music will always accompany me wherever I go, even if that is into the heart of Armageddon!

Today’s choice cut comes from Black Box Recorder, an iconic British band who began their journey in the late 90s. The band consists of Sarah Nixey, Luke Haines (of The Auteurs), and John Moore (formerly of The Jesus and Mary Chain). The song is “It’s Only the End of the World” taken from their 1998 debut album ‘England Made Me’. There is a delightful 60s feel to the song and I would be happy to hear this as the world falls apart.

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“Christmas Is The Deadline” – Party Nails December 14, 2025

Filed under: Christmas,Review,Single — justwilliam1959 @ 10:09 pm
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We are big fans of Party Nails here at Mayhem Towers, she has featured on these pages a few time in 2025. So when we saw that she had released a Christmas song we, of course, had to give it a spin. It is called “Christmas Is The Deadline” and it is the kind of song that will not only be played this Christmas, but many future Christmases too. It is quite a jolly kind of lo-fi electronica song and the hooks are excellent. I think it tells the tale of how, for many people, Christmas is a huge deadline; getting food in, sending invites to family, buying presents, wrapping presents and so much more. If you get to Christmas day and you find that maybe you have forgotten one vital ingredient for Christmas dinner, just play this song, it will make you feel better, I promise you! Will Party Nails feature on these pages again before 2026? Keep reading, I know she will feature on at least one more post this year! Will it be as a part of Mayhem’s top 50 albums of the year? Maybe! 😉

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