BATHORY R.I.P.
by Fjordi
 Death and resurrection of a northern sonA strong halo of mystery has surrounded Bathory from the very beginning, and now, with those news concerning the death of band´s mastermind Quorthon, that uncertainty is likely to be felt again. Many strange things surround the whole stuff. First of all, the news on the death of Quorthon appeared in a single web (www.blabbermouth.net) and the rest of places where the event could be read used that as a source. You can see everywhere the same stuff, Quorthon died at 39, at his apartment in Stockholm, etc. What if that web simply reverbed a rumour? Where´s the official confirmation? Well, one must take a look at Bathory official website (www.bathory.se). At the moment of writing these lines, it features “Hammerheart” song lyrics and puts a simple “In memory of Ace/Quorthon”. So what? What really happened? Where is the information about what took place exactly? They say he was Börje Forsberg´s son. Well, Quorthon always said in interviews that his name wasn´t Tomas Forsberg, nor he was Black Mark Production owner´s son. Other names as Pugh Rogefeldt are also false. But if all this was true, it seems we find that Börje Forsberg seems to be only 12 years older than Quorthon. An age too premature to be father, certainly... Black Mark Production website is also silent about all the topic. All in all: I don´t believe a word, call me incredulous or whatever you want, but I can´t trust a rumour and even less coming from a Roadrunner Records associated website. But this is not a reason to not write an article based on Bathory. Such a band deserves thousands of lines and I´m going to make my humble contribution. And, after all, the music is the same, no matter if Quorthon is alive or dead. All hail Bathory!Song to hall up high...?This is not, and can´t be, a typical elegy to Bathory. This can´t neither become a simple panegyric to Quorthon and all his creations. I can point, as negative Bathory aspects, quite a few: they didn´t ever released a clean album; the "Nordland" series aren´t that perfect; even "Requiem" and "Octagon" aren´t present in my records collection. So if you expect me to vomit praises around Quorthon you´re wrong. But reality must be noticed and not denied: I think Bathory is the most influential band in black metal along with Celtic Frost. Some would claim Venom as one of these too, but, honestly, any person without an enormous load of wax in the ears should admit that Venom, in the musical aspect, has less in common with which we know as black metal than the aforementioned two acts. If Venom were a bunch of naughty Newcastle provokers that brought their Motörheadish rock n´roll-boozing spree-allegedly Satanic music all around the globe, Bathory performed the most evil songs ever heard from a dark corner in Stockholm. Not only they created black metal, but they also gave form to viking metal, something that only Manowar could try to reach with their epic songs before Bathory had hit the scene. And above all these things, Bathory reached something that many bands tried to achieve but failed: that mystical aura of evil and mystery. Bathory is a band that only played live a few times in the first years of the band, so concert bootlegs simply don´t exist, except for a “Call from the grave” live version supposedly recorded in ´87 that is messing around in some pirate CDs. A fake live song, of course... other limited editions of Bathory songs have been put on the market, too. And the jewel is that “One rode to Asa bay” video (the only video cut that Bathory ever made), that for a long time was unavailable and surrounded by rumours of every kind. A bootleg CD included that video track that could be seen after installing two damned programs on the PC, but the quality was near shit, to say the least. Demos? There´s one demo hanging around but it features an intro taken from Basil Pouledouris “Conan” film soundtrack and four songs that are simply the versions contained in the first albums, not different ones. So one can see that Bathory is a band of uncertain stuff, really... But that magical adorn is still looming when the name of Bathory is quoted anywhere, although nowadays isn´t the same that in the glorious 80´s.In conspiracy with Satan
Quorthon´s self-critical spirit has been a constant throughout the years, until the point that his own work has suffered the black arrows of his words more than once. Quorthon even said in an interview that when he was listening to his first six albums (the classic ones!!) in order to choice the best cuts to compose the Jubileum “best of” albums, he simply couldn´t believe how awful they were... Well, despite of that, the albums ranging from “Bathory” to “Twilight of the gods” are six milestones of the genre. Each one has its own traits and personality. Of course they sound like shit in some moments, productions have never been a strong point in Bathory´s career, and they have mistakes (the first album has some hilarious moments with rhythm losses...). Yes, all that´s true. But they have that “something” that makes them so special, so unique, so intense. “Bathory”, with its dirty sound and intentions, sets the foundations of black metal with those creepy shrieks and the classical black structures and vibrations. “The return...” is a declaration of war to any trace of good left in the world, using that fuzzy atmosphere, great songs and a satanic feeling that possess you easily. The third opus “Under the sign of the black mark” meant a step further into maniacal territories, with that knife-edge sound, sharpened hand in hand with Quorthon vocals, crazier than ever, containing slow dark songs as “Call from the grave” or one of the most killer mid-tempos in metal history: “Enter the eternal fire”. “Equimanthorn” is the proof that Quorthon was from another planet, it is an invented word that many people mistook as a real demon name or whatever... fast, furious tracks as “Chariots of fire” or “Massacre” provided the dose of metallic wrath, unmatched brutality and evilness.
Odens ride over Nordland
Quorthon realized that satanism was a subject exhausted to sing about (he later admitted he didn´t know a single thing about satanism) and began researching mythological elements and topics. Being Swedish, viking battles, gods and way of life had several appealing aspects, so they were the chosen ones to accompany the music, that was changed too. “Blood fire death” was the shift towards viking metal. This album has some epic elements –long songs, accoustic guitar passages, lyrics based on battles leaving the satanic stuff dealt until then- that ushered the arrival of the “pagan” style, but still featuring rapid tunes like immortal “Dies Irae” or psychopath mayhemic devastation “The golden walls of heaven”. Nowadays I feel shivers down my spine when the song “Blood fire death” is played, it´s so hellish perfect, with that vocal lines, that immense guitar intro, that hymn-like chorus and the final part with those drums resembling an Oskorei cavalcade coming from the Valhalla itself and landing just next to you... “Hammerheart” left aside the speed to concentrate on myths, legends and vikings in the form of paying them tribute through steady-paced songs that were rather firm and mid tempo than fast or varied. Lyrics pointed to the northern sky and the one-eyed god, all along with Thor, of course. “Hammerheart” is probably the best viking metal album ever released, with unforgettable songs that almost make you grab an axe and attack the nearest shore, or, if you prefer, plunder the neighbours´ house and rape the whole family! Every song in this album is excellent, with pounding solemn percussives, strong guitar harmonies, voices coming from the entrails of Quorthon, bombastic choruses in the vein of Wagnerian moments. The next album, accurately titled “Twilight of the gods”, since it was to be the last Bathory album (it would have been the best ending, seeing the latter releases lesser quality... maybe?), kept that pagan Norse wave despite it didn´t reach the levels of intensity of the previous LP. Anyway, songs as “Under the Runes” (that brought problems to Quorthon because of the misinterpretation of the lyrics towards the Nazi side...) were really great and pompous. This album had a pair of curiosities, being the first the back cover, a monument made by Quorthon himself that symbolised the pagan mythic tree Yggdrasil. Apart from that, the title track “Hammerheart” is nothing less than a classical music tune from Gustav Holst´s “The Planets”, with Quorthon´s lyrics dealing with the Nordic vision of death.
Purity of essenceThe viking topic vanished in the air and a renewed band came before our eyes. The influence of Slayer and thrash/speed metal is evident, and the traces of epic tunes, lyrically and musically, are completely lost. This is nearly another band, certainly... dark, aggressive, extremely violent. But maybe too much evolution, in a whole. I personally dislike these two albums, namely “Octagon” and “Requiem”. The first one even includes a Kiss cover, “Deuce”, a song that was used to replace a censored track which was supposed to be on the original pressing of the album. Many people left the wagon and disapproved the shift, while others hailed this new path. Controversy came to the fore with this style, and there is still a lot of different opinions as far as these albums are concerned. Apparently “Requiem” was a very good record if we check the sales, but most of the die hard fans rejected the LP. Well, Quorthon was simply tired of the previous imagery and style and he tried to do another thing, that´s all.That will of enjoy different things compelled Quorthon to release a couple of solo albums that, as everyone know, are absolutely forgettable and unrelevant to the human race. In these releases Quorthon delivered several songs ranging from pop territories to rock and punk. Really crushing, hehehe!! This “just for fun” stuff was, in a nutshell, only entertainment. By the way, do you know someone who loves these albums? The return of wind and rain ...and “Blood on ice” came to the fore. So huge was the demand, so immense was the push from the die hard legion of viking fans that Quorthon felt compelled to release some old material taken from the “Hammerheart” and “Twilight of the gods” recording sessions. These leftovers were re-recorded and improved, adding here and there some details in order to reach the proper sentiment. The result was not magnificent but still we can find great songs in this “Blood on ice”. I think the production didn´t get better at all and the album suffered this lack of emphasis in the mixing and recording. There was a real studio, no cheap dirty garage like in past times, but despite of that the sound is as always in Bathory: that messy confuse aura, a thin noisy background noticeable specially in trebles, you know what I´m talking about if you are into Bathory sound. Bathory came back to the epic stuff but this was kind of a farewell to that style. Bathory always was, in the end, very unpredictable and nobody could know what Quorthon was going to do next. The next step in Bathory history was as logical as unconvincing, certainly. There was people that liked black metal. Others yearned for viking topics. And last there were the maniac speed thrash fans. So Quorthon, in a peculiar decision, decided to blend all the Bathory styles in an album, and thus “Destroyer of worlds” was edited. Variety, but... everyone happy with the result? At least this a quite doubtful statement. I personally dislike the LP, but other people like it. It´s up to you, but one thing is sure: to release an album including songs from different styles just to please people, is something really shameful and trendy. I don´t know if the negative reactions to “Destroyer of worlds” influenced the subsequent events. It´s just a hypothesis of my own. But, oh surprise! Bathory return (again) to the viking ground releasing two albums tastely titled “Nordland I” and “Nordland II”. Even the cover art of both albums is nearly the same. Lyrics and music are in the vein of the old style but with shorter songs and a more modern sound (without being quite clean, however... if it had been so, it wouldn´t have been Bathory!). The magic is lost, some songs are still good and correct, others are simply weak. What was Quorthon preparing? What will be the next Bathory material released by Black Mark? Some time ago rumours about a box and a book were running around, but nothing´s sure. As usual, we have the essence in our hands, ears and souls: the music from a mythical band. Persons leave sooner or later; music stays eternally.
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