of the Catholic Church. The album cover is a monochrome photo of the east side of Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, Norway. Reception The album is widely considered one of the most influential black metal albums ever. According to a long feature by Metal Hammer, "Two decades after it was recorded, it continues to top 'best album' lists by longtime fans of the genre, while at the same time providing primary inspiration for new bands whose members were not even born when it was recorded. There are many who would say it is the single most important album in black metal's broad and ever-growing catalogue, and very few who would argue that it is not, at the very least, a strong contender for that accolade." Metal Injection described it as "one of the most essential black metal albums of all time", writing that "In one record, the listener is exposed to all the power, glory and contradictions inherent in Norwegian black metal, thus making it a fascinating artifact from the dark past, and an essential piece of black metal listening." De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas was included on IGN's list of "10 Great Black Metal Albums". Metal Hammer named it one of the 20 best black metal albums of the '90s. Loudwire named it the 8th best extreme metal album of all time, writing that "The riffs are unforgettable and the atmosphere is caustic and suffocating with Attila Csihar's twisted, throaty cries sending it all to hell. They also argued that the album has a "stranglehold" on "black metal's legacy". Treble Magazine named it one of the 10 essential black metal albums. In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas as 40th on their list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.' While Mayhem's previous vocalist, Dead had been Swedish, Csihar was from Hungary. His style was somewhat atypical for Nordic black metal then, and provoked a mixed reception from fans; for example, Metalreviews.com gave him the nickname "Attila 'Fingernails' Csihar" (although a subsequent review by the website praised his later Ordo Ad Chao-era performances). The song "Freezing Moon" was included on Kerrang! 25 Extreme Metal Anthems and various songs from this album have been covered live and in studio by such bands as Dissection (Jon Nödtveidt and Ole Öhman also performed the song with Euronymous in 1991), Immortal, Dark Funeral, Carpathian Forest, Gorgoroth, Behemoth, Vader, Enslaved, Cradle of