1/ Bathory: Here come the Vikings

By the late 80’s I was done with UK post-punk and was looking across the pond, at US bands for inspiration. Sonic Youth and Pixies were a mighty prospect but also The Jesus Lizard, Fugazi, Buthole Surfers, to name a few. Then, in some party somebody played a truly screamer of a track. It was from The Young God’s 1989 album ‘L’Eau Rouge’ and I was floored. I felt like the first time I listened to Bauhaus or Swans, it was exhilarating and the most exciting sound I had heard for a long time. Little did I know that would be my gateway to Metal.

But first, enter Ministry. Till then I was positively oblivious to Metal, I despised hard rock, Iron Maiden and Judas Priest were in the same category as Creed, for all I cared, but listening to Ministry’s 1989 album ‘The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste’ opened the floodgates to a new sound that I wanted to investigate. Through getting my head around releases by NIN, Swans and Godflesh, I dug deeper into their industrial and trash influences and via some Metallica and Pantera I got straight into Death-Metal. Early education from worldwide metal titans Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, Slayer and Sepultura led to Death, Morbid Angel, Obituary, Cannibal Corpse and Napalm Death. This happens between 1990-92 and the whole Grunge and Rap-Metal phenomenon is starting to really blow in Europe. I am paying attention, but my mind is already somewhere else.

It’s sometime in August 1993. Another lazy Sunday afternoon, no a.c. 35 celsius, at Pedro's house. Some other guy plays a very different record. It’s Bathory’s ‘Blood Fire Death’. I had listened to inspired intros, from classical to Vangelis - I even had several tapes filled with short, often eerie, mostly atmospheric and instrumental pieces I called (and still do) "intermissions" that I stitched between long tracks, right after an abrupt close or just carefully used as inspired fillers to reach a tape's full capacity - but listening to ‘Oden Ride over Nordland’ while staring at the rather peculiar cover art of the album (for a metal release) sends energetic chills down my spine. This is another one of them (ever so scarce) experiences when you find yourself listening to an album for the very first time and you already know it will go down as a special one, because you're already dropped a few 'wow' on the first couple of tracks.. Its only on proper headphones the next day that the album flourishes and captivates fully, beyond reason, it becomes my most played album for months. The clean acoustic guitar takes me back to the days of post-punk and goth-rock à la Sisters of Mercy and Bauhaus. but the harmonics sink differently. The captivating front cover comes from ‘The Wild Hunt of Odin’, a painting dated from 1872 by Peter Nicolai Arbo. The Wild Hunt motif is taken from Viking era folklore, an image that has since become popular with a number of the Second Wave of Black Metal bands, particularly from Scandinavia.

The first track blends into ‘A Fine day to Die’. The acoustic part turns into the first ever pagan/black metal track I have ever listened to. Its also fitting to call some of the tracks in BFD as the very epitome of a post-trash sound, veering towards symphonic and atmospheric. This is unlike anything metal I had experienced before. It’s cold but beautiful. It’s production is raw but you can hear everything in an almost enchanting way:  again, the acoustic guitar and choir chants come in to soothe things, tempo and mood changing. The guitar work/solo that follows is absolutely on point, screaming intent, battle and war, and I dislike solos in general. What makes the album even more special to me isn't only its exceptional musicality or beauty, but that BFD is a genuine response from Quorthon's ennui and utter disregard he had manifested towards the satanic elements of the genre he helped create. 

The highlight of the album though is the title track ‘Blood Fire Death’, which is amongst my favourite 10-minute metal tracks ever. Its pointless having to describe the intensity and emotion radiating from this track. This is a special record, not the first or highest ranked by Bathory but acknowledged as quintessential and a mandatory listen for any serious extreme metal fan. The more than 50 versions that were made of BFD since its initial release on Black Mark are testament to the continuous demand for the record. It is important to note that at the time of its recording Bathory was essentially a solo project, with its founder Quorthon arranging every bit of music, writing every lyric, singing all vocals, and playing every instrument (2).

Bathory may never get the recognition it deserves, but considering Quorthon’s incredibly influential body of work, most of which he did on his own from this album on, it would be fair to call him one of contemporary music’s truly under-appreciated genius.

RIP Quorthon (1966-2004). Gone too soon.