Bathory

What can I say? This obscure Swedish black-metal outfit has quickly become one of my all-time favorites. Actually, they're not a "band" per se, since nearly all the music and vocals are performed by one dude, who goes by the name of Quorthon. Also they have NEVER performed live, which I think is a travesty! Hey Quorthon, if you're reading this web site, how 'bout coming out to the States for once in your freaking life??

"Bathory"

  1. "Storm of Damnation"--instrumental (3:07)
  2. "Hades" (2:45)
  3. "Reaper" (2:44)
  4. "Necromansy" (3:40)
  5. "Sacrifice" (3:16)
  6. "In Conspiracy with Satan" (2:29)
  7. "Armageddon" (2:32)
  8. "Raise the Dead" (3:40)
  9. "War" (2:15)
  10. (some spooky unlisted track) (0:23)

The ULTIMATE Black Metal album. Best played late at night with the shades drawn and in total darkness. The 3-minute howling-wind/church-bell-gonging intro perfectly gets you into the black mood until you can feel Satan infusing himself into your soul. It was a ritual I performed so often I wore my crappy vinyl copy down to the nub! Thus began the quest to find the first 3 Bathory albums on CD, and let me tell you, these were (at the time) the most difficult CD's to order anywhere!

"Sacrifice" has been covered by Bewitched.

"The Return...."

  1. "Revelation of Doom"--instrumental (3:27)
  2. "Total Destruction" (3:50)
  3. "Born for Burning" (5:13)
  4. "The Wind of Mayhem" (3:13)
  5. "Bestial Lust (Bitch)" (2:41)
  6. "Possessed" (2:42)
  7. "The Rite of Darkness" (2:05)
  8. "Reap of Evil" (3:28)
  9. "Son of the Damned" (2:48)
  10. "Sadist (Tormentor)" (3:00)
  11. "The Return of Darkness and Evil" (3:49)
  12. (some spooky unlisted track) (0:25)

This album isn't my favorite -- the production is terrible, and the drums seem to go out of sync in every damn song...kinda the epitomie of black metal, isn't it?

I got this CD from "Heathen", webmaster of Twilight: The Unofficial Bathory page -- he offered a straight trade between my crappy vinyl and this CD, and I was so delighted that I even threw in the first album for free!! Hey, I guess vinyl is actually valuable in Europe...of course...little did I know *how* valuable, checked the eBay listings and YIKES!! Who the hell would have known!!! Oh well, it really is a moot point, since he helped me fill my collection (and I simply COULD NOT GET this damn CD anywhere at the time!!!) and I helped him fill his. So you vinyl-worshippers can snicker all you want, okay?? :-P

"Under the Sign of the Black Mark"

  1. "Nocturnal Obeisance"--instrumental (1:28)
  2. "Massacre" (2:38)
  3. "Woman of Dark Desires" (4:06)
  4. "Call from the Grave" (4:53)
  5. "Equimanthorn" (3:41)
  6. "Enter the Eternal Fire" (6:57)
  7. "Chariots of Fire" (2:46)
  8. "13 Candles" (5:17)
  9. "Of Doom" (3:44)
  10. (some spooky unlisted track) (0:25)

Bathory's 3rd album, and another which I searched high and low for and finally was able to order through the Internet. The sound is as intense & furious as ever, my favorite track here being "Woman of Dark Desires" which is about the evil mean wicked bad and nasty Countess Bathory herself. Another thing...maybe I'm sick here, but listening to the song "Massacre" I always envision that guy who walked into a school playground in Stockton, Calif. and shot up a bunch of little kiddies. Geez, couldn't be an evil influence of the music, now could it? Could it??

"Blood Fire Death"

  1. "Odens Ride over Nordland"--instrumental (3:00)
  2. "A Fine Day to Die" (8:36)
  3. "The Golden Walls of Heaven" (5:22)
  4. "Pace 'til Death" (3:39)
  5. "Holocaust" (3:25)
  6. "For All Those Who Died" (4:57)
  7. "Dies Irae" (5:12)
  8. "Blood Fire Death" (10:28)
  9. (some spooky unlisted track) (0:57)

Bathory's fourth album was the first to give a taste of "Viking Metal". Many songs are still fast but more in a speed-metal vein than Black Metal. "For All Those Who Died" has a riff that will kick your ass through the roof!

"Hammerheart"

  1. "Shores in Flames" (11:10)
  2. "Valhalla" (9:32)
  3. "Baptised in Fire and Ice" (7:58)
  4. "Father to Son" (6:28)
  5. "Song to Hall up High" (2:30)
  6. "Home of Once Brave" (6:44)
  7. "One Rode to Asa Bay" (10:25)
  8. (some spooky unlisted track) (0:52)

I bought this CD before even knowing about Blood Fire Death so it was quite a trip! Slow, heavy, a haunting male choir singing along with the refrains, ambient noises of horses neighing and oars slapping water, etc. The true epitome of Viking Metal, indeed! (And as far as I know, NO other band has imitated that sound...) One thing that irritates me is that horrid scratching noise throughout the album, in fact I returned my first copy thinking it was defective, but the replacement CD was exactly the same! Way to go, Quorth-dude...

"Twilight of the Gods"

  1. "Twilight of the Gods" (14:02)
  2. "Through Blood by Thunder" (6:15)
  3. "Blood and Iron" (10:25)
  4. "Under the Runes" (5:59)
  5. "To Enter Your Mountain" (7:37)
  6. "Bond of Blood" (7:35)
  7. "Hammerheart" (4:57)

Even more acoustic than Hammerheart--impossible to believe this is the same band that used to do songs like "In Conspiracy with Satan" and "Bestial Lust".

By the way, the "spooky instrumental tracks" that end their first 5 albums are supposed to be a warning that "Bathory will return..." However, this CD doesn't have it because it was intended to be their last album. Glad they changed their minds!

"Jubileum Volume I" (compilation)

  1. "Rider at the Gate of Dawn"--instrumental (1:19)
  2. "Crawl to Your Cross" (4:38)
  3. "Sacrifice" (4:14)
  4. "Dies Irae" (5:12)
  5. "Through Blood by Thunder" (6:03)
  6. "You Don't Move Me (I Don't Give a Fuck)" (3:30)
  7. "Odens Ride over Nordland"--instrumental (3:00)
  8. "A Fine Day to Die" (8:53)
  9. "War" (2:15)
  10. "Enter the Eternal Fire" (6:56)
  11. "Song to Hall up High" (2:43)
  12. "Sadist (Tormentor)" (2:58)
  13. "Under the Runes" (5:59)
  14. "Equimanthorn" (3:44)
  15. "Blood Fire Death" (10:28)

"Jubileum Volume II" (compilation)

  1. "The Return of Darkness and Evil" (4:57)
  2. "Burnin' Leather" (3:51)
  3. "One Rode to Asa Bay" (9:20)
  4. "The Golden Walls of Heaven" (5:22)
  5. "Call from the Grave" (4:57)
  6. "Die in Fire" (3:36)
  7. "Shores in Flames" (10:46)
  8. "Possessed" (2:39)
  9. "Raise the Dead" (3:40)
  10. "Total Destruction" (3:50)
  11. "Bond of Blood" (7:35)
  12. "Twilight of the Gods" (13:39)

These 2 CDs contain selected tracks from Bathory's first 6 albums (some of them with shorter time lengths, trimming down sounds of wind blowing or oars churning water...except the Jubileum version of "Fine Day to Die" tracks LONGER than the original, haven't figured out why that is yet) plus unreleased and/or impossibly rare tracks. "You Don't Move Me" & "Die in Fire" are from a 4-track demo recorded in 1983, prior to their 1st album. "Return of Darkness & Evil" and "Sacrifice" are from the speed metal compilation Scandinavian Metal Attack and are different recordings from the album version. Other unreleased tracks appear to have been taken from the Blood Fire Death or Hammerheart sessions.

"Reqiuem"

  1. "Requiem" (5:00)
  2. "Crosstitution" (3:16)
  3. "Necroticus" (3:19)
  4. "War Machine" (3:18)
  5. "Blood and Soil" (3:34)
  6. "Pax Vobiscum" (4:13)
  7. "Suffocate" (3:36)
  8. "Distinguish to Kill" (3:16)
  9. "Apocalypse" (3:49)

A sudden change of direction, more thrashy & raw than anything done before. In fact a little too raw. The same arpeggiated guitar riff plays through every song and the production is not that great. Play the Requiem DoomII wad instead. :-)

"Octagon"

  1. "Immaculate Pinetreeroad #930" (2:46)
  2. "Born to Die" (3:58)
  3. "Psychopath" (3:20)
  4. "Sociopath" (3:10)
  5. "Grey" (1:15)
  6. "Century" (4:08)
  7. "33 Something" (3:16)
  8. "War Supply" (4:42)
  9. "Schizianity" (4:17)
  10. "Judgement of Posterity" (5:11)
  11. "Deuce" (3:42)

MUCH improved over Requiem; Bathory delivers a serious thrash attack here. "Century" has an AWESOME riff, and the cover of Kiss's "Deuce" rocks the house down!

"Blood on Ice"

  1. "Intro" (1:45)
  2. "Blood on Ice" (5:41)
  3. "Man of Iron" (2:47)
  4. "One Eyed Old Man" (4:21)
  5. "The Sword" (4:07)
  6. "The Stallion" (5:13)
  7. "The Woodwoman" (6:17)
  8. "The Lake" (6:42)
  9. "Gods of Thunder of Wind and of Rain" (5:42)
  10. "The Ravens" (1:09)
  11. "The Revenge of the Blood on Ice" (9:52)

Back once again to the Viking Metal days. This isn't really a new album but a resurrection of a concept theme that was partially recorded and then shelved. A real masterpiece, though it's sad to know that there will be no more Viking Metal from Bathory. The song "One Eyed Old Man" has a strangely 70's acid rock feel to it! Or at least so I noticed...

"Jubileum Volume III" (compilation)

  1. "33 Something" (3:14)
  2. "Satan My Master" (2:06)
  3. "The Lake" (6:42)
  4. "Crosstitution" (3:17)
  5. "In Nomine Satanas" (6:24)
  6. "Immaculate Pinetreeroad #930" (2:47)
  7. "War Machine" (3:19)
  8. "The Stallion" (5:14)
  9. "Resolution Greed" (4:13)
  10. "Witchcraft" (2:49)
  11. "Valhalla Backing Vocals Multitrack Sample" (1:38)
  12. "Sociopath" (3:11)
  13. "Pax Vobiscum" (4:12)
  14. "Genocide" (4:34)
  15. "Gods of Thunder of Wind and of Rain" (5:41)

The band's long-awaited "best of" compilation #3, containing tracks from Requiem thru Blood on Ice, plus several unreleased songs. Of particular interest are the two pre-Return tracks, "Witchcraft" and "Satan my Master", and also the two outtakes from Octagon ("Resolution Greed" & "Genocide".) "In Nomine Satanas" is basically the same riff from "Shores in Flames" with growly, totally indecipherable vocals (apparently this one's from an earlier album, also called Requiem, that was never completed...) The "Valhalla" sample is totally unnecessary. My only two gripes are: TOO MANY Requiem songs (they never should have started out with "33 Something"!) and they neglected to include "Ace of Spades" (from A Black Mark Tribute) or "War Pigs" (from A Black Mark Tribute Vol. II) which would have been nice...

"Destroyer of Worlds"

  1. "Lake of Fire" (5:43)
  2. "Destroyer of Worlds" (4:51)
  3. "Ode" (6:27)
  4. "Bleeding" (3:55)
  5. "Pestilence" (6:50)
  6. "109" (3:36)
  7. "Death from Above" (4:35)
  8. "Krom" (2:50)
  9. "Liberty & Justice" (3:52)
  10. "Kill Kill Kill" (3:09)
  11. "Sudden Death" (3:19)
  12. "White Bones" (8:35)
  13. "Day of Wrath" (8:11)

This CD was originally scheduled to come out in 1998, but wasn't released (or even recorded) for another three years!!! And was it worth the wait? Unfortunately, no. The first three tracks are solid enough, a pleasurable throwback to the Viking-metal days of yore. Then the music does a sudden 180-degree turn into speaker-blasting death metal with "Bleeding", an excellent song despite the jarring style shift. From there, it's about halfway through "Pestilence" that things start to go wrong. The riffs become more and more derivative, the lyrics more and more banal and stupid, until the end when the only thing you can think is, "What the hell was THAT about?"

Seriously, this disc sounds for all the world like Quorthon was just sitting around for the longest time, until he finally said, "Oh shit, I've got an album to release in two weeks! Better get crackin'!" And then threw together at random whatever came off the top of his head. (In fact, according to some recent interviews, that appears to be exactly the case! The songs aren't even listed correctly, for Chrissakes!!) I used to do term papers that way, and if this were one, it would score a dismal C-. Hey Quorthon, better shape up or your fans will put you out to pasture!

"Nordland I"

  1. "Prelude"--instrumental (2:34)
  2. "Nordland" (9:20)
  3. "Vinterblot" (5:17)
  4. "Dragons Breath" (6:45)
  5. "Ring of Gold" (5:34)
  6. "Foreverdark Woods" (8:06)
  7. "Broken Sword" (5:34)
  8. "Great Hall Awaits a Fallen Brother" (8:16)
  9. "Mother Earth Father Thunder" (5:37)
  10. "Heimfard"--instrumental (2:12)

Okay, let me get this straight. Quorthon spends over six years working on Destroyer of Worlds, one of the most derivative, boring albums he's ever done. But less than a year later, he releases not one, but TWO albums that are a triumphant return to the Viking-metal era, and indeed just might be the best work the band has ever done. Am I following this right??

Seriously, this is one HELL of a good album. And while it's pure Viking metal, the "black metal" elements lurk not too far below the surface -- "Broken Sword", for instance, is one of the fastest songs in Bathory's career (certainly the fastest from the Viking metal era!), and "Great Hall" follows up with another pounding, mid-paced tempo. It does seem to feel "imcomplete" by the end, but that's mainly because it's one half of a whole, like that recent Matrix Reloaded movie sequel. So I'll have to wait for Nordland II (which is out, I just can't afford to buy it yet) before making any further judgments.

Oh...and I actually did find this album USED, but it had a fairly significant scratch on it, and while I was standing at the counter wondering whether to buy it or not, the store owner (who was afraid of losing a sale, I guess) offered to sell me a BRAND NEW, SEALED copy for the used price!!! Cool, eh? By the way...I probably would have bought it anyway. :)))

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