MAYHEM Requiem: Apple Music Live

[Charmi3 114]

Not to be a little hater because this is my critical non-hateful observation (and I care enough to write a thinkpiece). but for me her vocal choices throughout Requiem felt weirdly at odds with the style of the new arrangements and the overall aesthetics/presentation and I found it detractive

Idg the decision here to stay in this overly masky forward placement the majority of the show except for the beginning of Killah (she sounded incredible in this Alan Vega sort of turn) and like bits of DWAS, Disease and Zombieboy. her vowels often seem to flip between hypo- and hyper-nasal, and it sounds like her tongue is pulled back away from her soft palette to create more resonating space and she just drops her larynx through that positioning to darken every other word. am I wrong? this is not innately a bad sound though I don't think the approach works as well in this setting because the result is intensely showy and OTT. and Gaga is showy and OTT! so we love that and it worked great for MBT but Requiem feels much more funereal, abstract and tragic and I wish her singing felt more intentional in that way (side bar about the adlibbed melody changes also, poor VIY).

Gargamel is totally capable of an open, freer, cabaret type of expression (more new wave/post-punk lately) through her nasality that would have worked beautifully. she's from the house of Streisand in that way. her control and resonance too are obviously always out of this world. but for most of this performance her singing just took me all the way out of the brilliant sonics, visuals and cinematography. 2 be clear MAYHEM has some of her best singing ever and imo it is appropriate for the production of the album to help her voice cut through. The style of the verses of GodDrug for example even would have suited Requiem where she resonates powerfully through a very dark, woody timbre, almost gothic. but I think this was the perfect opportunity to go full Siouxsie Sioux/Michael Gira/Peter Murphy and I suppose I hold out hope therein for her next record

Would love other singers to chime in on this critically not with hateration because I am not hating thanks 

Edited 14 hours ago by Charmi3

[FameHookah 4,818]

1 minute ago, Charmi3 said:

Not to be a little hater because this is my critical non-hateful observation (and I care enough to write a thinkpiece). but for me her vocal choices throughout Requiem felt weirdly at odds with the style of the new arrangements and the overall aesthetics/presentation and I found it detractive

Idg the decision here to stay in this overly masky forward placement the majority of the show except for the beginning of Killah (she sounded incredible in this Alan Vega sort of turn) and like bits of DWAS, Disease and Zombieboy. her vowels often seem to flip between hypo- and hyper-nasal, and it sounds like her tongue is pulled back away from her soft palette to create more resonating space and she just drops her larynx through that positioning to darken every other word. am I wrong? this is not innately a bad sound though I don't think the approach works as well in this setting because the result is intensely showy and OTT. and Gaga is showy and OTT! so we love that and it worked great for MBT but Requiem feels much more funereal, abstract and tragic and I wish her singing felt more intentional in that way (side bar about the adlibbed melody changes also, poor VIY).

Gargamel is totally capable of an open, freer, cabaret type of expression (more new wave/post-punk lately) through her nasality that would have worked beautifully. she's from the house of Streisand in that way. her control and resonance too are obviously always out of this world. but for most of this performance her singing just took me all the way out of the brilliant sonics, visuals and cinematography. 2 be clear MAYHEM has some of her best singing ever and imo it is appropriate for the production of the album to help her voice cut through. The style of the verses of GodDrug for example even would have suited Requiem where she resonates powerfully through a very dark, woody timbre, almost gothic. but I think this was the perfect opportunity to go full Siouxsie Sioux/Michael Gira/Peter Murphy and I suppose I hold out hope therein for her next record

Would love other singers to chime in on this critically not with hateration because I am not hating thanks 

Yeah it was off, also her tempo and the fact that she avoided the best notes/parts/endings of the songs annoyed me so bad

 

idk but this was vocally the worst of this era, all of the other normal and acoustic performances she did were better

the instrumentals and aestethics slayed tho

[Charmi3 114]

48 minutes ago, FameHookah said:

Yeah it was off, also her tempo and the fact that she avoided the best notes/parts/endings of the songs annoyed me so bad

 

idk but this was vocally the worst of this era, all of the other normal and acoustic performances she did were better

the instrumentals and aestethics slayed tho

This basically yes 

[onionring 739]

1 hour ago, Charmi3 said:

Not to be a little hater because this is my critical non-hateful observation (and I care enough to write a thinkpiece). but for me her vocal choices throughout Requiem felt weirdly at odds with the style of the new arrangements and the overall aesthetics/presentation and I found it detractive

Idg the decision here to stay in this overly masky forward placement the majority of the show except for the beginning of Killah (she sounded incredible in this Alan Vega sort of turn) and like bits of DWAS, Disease and Zombieboy. her vowels often seem to flip between hypo- and hyper-nasal, and it sounds like her tongue is pulled back away from her soft palette to create more resonating space and she just drops her larynx through that positioning to darken every other word. am I wrong? this is not innately a bad sound though I don't think the approach works as well in this setting because the result is intensely showy and OTT. and Gaga is showy and OTT! so we love that and it worked great for MBT but Requiem feels much more funereal, abstract and tragic and I wish her singing felt more intentional in that way (side bar about the adlibbed melody changes also, poor VIY).

Gargamel is totally capable of an open, freer, cabaret type of expression (more new wave/post-punk lately) through her nasality that would have worked beautifully. she's from the house of Streisand in that way. her control and resonance too are obviously always out of this world. but for most of this performance her singing just took me all the way out of the brilliant sonics, visuals and cinematography. 2 be clear MAYHEM has some of her best singing ever and imo it is appropriate for the production of the album to help her voice cut through. The style of the verses of GodDrug for example even would have suited Requiem where she resonates powerfully through a very dark, woody timbre, almost gothic. but I think this was the perfect opportunity to go full Siouxsie Sioux/Michael Gira/Peter Murphy and I suppose I hold out hope therein for her next record

Would love other singers to chime in on this critically not with hateration because I am not hating thanks 

@Ladle Ghoulash,input? 

I'm not aware of the actual technical stuff but what you said resonates with me to an extent from what I've seen of the show.

I'd imagine it would be kind of difficult or inconvenient to sing the same songs 90 times and then switch it up all of sudden, muscle memory and all. I think lovedrug and dct would benefit the most as she kept playing with the melody and phrasing throughout the tour and dct was never performed live. 

Edited 13 hours ago by onionring

[Ladle Ghoulash 44,696]

4 hours ago, Charmi3 said:

Not to be a little hater because this is my critical non-hateful observation (and I care enough to write a thinkpiece). but for me her vocal choices throughout Requiem felt weirdly at odds with the style of the new arrangements and the overall aesthetics/presentation and I found it detractive

Idg the decision here to stay in this overly masky forward placement the majority of the show except for the beginning of Killah (she sounded incredible in this Alan Vega sort of turn) and like bits of DWAS, Disease and Zombieboy. her vowels often seem to flip between hypo- and hyper-nasal, and it sounds like her tongue is pulled back away from her soft palette to create more resonating space and she just drops her larynx through that positioning to darken every other word. am I wrong? this is not innately a bad sound though I don't think the approach works as well in this setting because the result is intensely showy and OTT. and Gaga is showy and OTT! so we love that and it worked great for MBT but Requiem feels much more funereal, abstract and tragic and I wish her singing felt more intentional in that way (side bar about the adlibbed melody changes also, poor VIY).

Gargamel is totally capable of an open, freer, cabaret type of expression (more new wave/post-punk lately) through her nasality that would have worked beautifully. she's from the house of Streisand in that way. her control and resonance too are obviously always out of this world. but for most of this performance her singing just took me all the way out of the brilliant sonics, visuals and cinematography. 2 be clear MAYHEM has some of her best singing ever and imo it is appropriate for the production of the album to help her voice cut through. The style of the verses of GodDrug for example even would have suited Requiem where she resonates powerfully through a very dark, woody timbre, almost gothic. but I think this was the perfect opportunity to go full Siouxsie Sioux/Michael Gira/Peter Murphy and I suppose I hold out hope therein for her next record

Would love other singers to chime in on this critically not with hateration because I am not hating thanks 

Idk I think the decision to mix a forward nasal sound and a darkened quasi classical voicing worked in songs like Disease, Abra, PC, VIY in particular. I feel like that style is almost like splitting the difference between classical and rock, which is what the aesthetic approach of the show alludes to overall (fits the character of this necromancer almost Satanic nun conducting a black mass fairly well tbh). I also think the fact that it wasn’t full send traditional “goth” was an interesting choice because it allows for the stylistic voicing to feel singular. I definitely see where you’re coming from because I think some warmth could’ve been nice, but I also think the rough, powerful, abrasive vocals, the worn and understated vocals, and the contrast between them (splitting the difference between Disease/Abra vs BOG for example) captures the mood and setting of the show (eerie post-apocalyptic rock operatic industrial fever dream) and a more conventional approach to the songs wouldn’t have reinforced the austerity of the tone and setting as well.

Edited 9 hours ago by Ladle Ghoulash

[Mother of Puppies 36,587]

is there any way to watch it without having to get apple music? (Askin for a friend of course)

Dm me  

[Mother of Puppies 36,587]

20 hours ago, ThisGuyTony said:

The way LoveDrug continues to be a SKIP 

This shit brought me to tears! I fucking LOVE lovedrug as it is and the requiem version was fucking amazing.. @PartySick help me out here

[Mother of Puppies 36,587]

On 5/15/2026 at 8:28 AM, Juanlittlem said:

Found some links to download but I cant get them to work on my phone, can someone try to get these on a computer before it gets deleted?

can u share sister?

[PartySick 171,142]

13 minutes ago, Mother of Puppies said:

This **** brought me to tears! I ****ing LOVE lovedrug as it is and the requiem version was ****ing amazing.. @PartySick help me out here

I still haven't actually properly heard it  

Just Killah and DWAS

[Ladle Ghoulash 44,696]

57 minutes ago, Mother of Puppies said:

This **** brought me to tears! I ****ing LOVE lovedrug as it is and the requiem version was ****ing amazing.. @PartySick help me out here

Ngl I was lukewarm on LD when it came out, but came to love and appreciate it over time. I love how laid back and delicate the REQUIEM version is and love the use of the vocoder sm. Reminded me a bit of this gem 

 

Edited 9 hours ago by Ladle Ghoulash

[MDevacelli 2,135]

She put crack on the Killah to LoveDrug run and on DWAS of course 

Edited 8 hours ago by MDevacelli

[sour candy MV soon 257]

THIS VERSION OF PERFECT CELEBRITY

JESUS ****ING CHRIST

[sour candy MV soon 257]

Oh wow I thought the first few notes of VIY was LoveDrug. I love this!

[sour candy MV soon 257]

Oh my GOD at Vanish Into You. OH HOLY **** TAKE ME TO HEAVEN.

[gagacabana 5,171]

5 hours ago, FameHookah said:

Yeah it was off, also her tempo and the fact that she avoided the best notes/parts/endings of the songs annoyed me so bad

 

idk but this was vocally the worst of this era, all of the other normal and acoustic performances she did were better

the instrumentals and aestethics slayed tho

5 hours ago, Charmi3 said:

This basically yes