Essential Bathory

This was the trump card Bathory album for me.
This is heavy metal with a dark purpose.

Of all the heavy, deathy albums in my collection I think I've listened to this one the most. Under the sign unleashed 8 new and far more polished tracks onto a market that was just waiting to have its ears ripped off, and damnit this album delivered.

The sound quality took a huge leap forward (for Bathory anyway) in contrast to the last two albums. Finally you could make out every smashed note and instrument, and the drums actually stayed in beat for the whole song (!!)

I've updated this review thanks to some feedback by some courteous readers to include more detail in the song listings. Thanks guys !!

In the beginning there was Nocturnal Obeisance , and the masses gathered in curious awe. Then the Massacre begun, smashing speakers which had been turned up too loud from people trying to work out what the intro track was on about, as well as any ear drums that were expecting a a slow doom-esque entrance. A great (albe-it slightly expected) beginning to a heavy metal album is the thrashy first track. This is the one that pretty much tells the listener 'if your not up to this, turn it off now' . Massacre isn't exactly a masterpiece of metal, nor of evil and darkness, but its a good introduction which sets the tone for the rest of the album. Its also a great bit of thrash for all those wondering if Bathory had lost its edge from the first two albums. I guess Quorthon wanted to put those sort of thoughts to rest very early on.

Women of Dark Desires , one of my favourite Bathory songs, brings about the first distinct change in the pace and flow of Bathory's music. It rocks, it pounds, and it should scare the hell out of any small children nearby as you can make out each and every word Quorthon screaches into the microphone. But its not a speedy / thrashy song like on the previous two albums. For me, this is really where Under the Sign begins, and shows how Bathory's sound is beginning to progress and mature.

And just when you were expecting the pace to speed up again, Call from the Grave grinds slowely into you. The lyrics scream at you in pain and agony, the guitars crash and burn, and I swear when its up loud enough it can cause your eyes to bleed; the sure sign in anyone's language of a winning track. The bridge in this song is interesting as Quorthon screams and wails throughout the entire solo. Its not an effect I've heard that often (probably because most guitarists don't share the limelight with anyone), but it sounds very cool and keeps the whole feel of pain and anguish alive throughout the whole song.

After the growling lyrics of Call from the Grave fade out, your then brought back into the fray of thrashy metal with an almost perfectly sounding distorted guitar. Whether its being played rythmically or not I'm really not sure since the notes just grind together in a wall of noise. It sounds awesome though, and bleeds into the furious drums and screams of Equimanthorn . This is a classic Bathory song. All rage, screaming and metal fury .. or so you'd think. At 1:38 the song swings around and turns into a thumping mosh fest of fist clenching demonic praising, which lasts about a minute before charging back into thrashy obedience. Equimanthorn is probably the Bathory song I've heard the most cover versions of, and the best of which was done by an Aussie band called Damaged and released on their Passive Backseat Demon Engines single as a bonus track.

Enter the Eternal Fire would be Bathory's first installment of an almost epic song. At just under 7 minutes its the longest song they've released thus far. In a similar vein as Call from the Grave this song plays at a much slower doom-esque pace. The guitars chord is written to compliment the vocals, never trying to overpower them or take the reigns, but to simply maintain the dark and chaotic atmosphere of the song. If you are at all interested in Bathory's epic songs and haven't yet heard this song then I recommend you check it out, as this sound is the pre-cursor of Bathory's following albums. One interesting thing though is that rather then simply being an homage to evil or demonic worship, this songs turns the tables by having the subject of the song wronged and double crossed by those beings of evil he was bowing too. I've often wondered if this was a bit of a play by Bathory on the mind set of the a-typical satanic listener.

A brief interlude of keyboards and atmosphere introduces Chariots of Fire . This is another speedy / thrashy song, but I find that its just not as refined as Massacre or Equimanthorn . The bridge in the song is a bit of a mess to me, and drowned out somewhat by the raging drums and rythum guitars. Its good, but not a highlight unless this is the type of song you prefer to listen to. I'd probably just play Equimanthorn for my fix.

13 Candles is a bit of a Bathory favourite of mine. Again the pace has slowed down, and the song's duration is extended out to just over 5 minutes, but at least 50 seconds of that are taken up with a very quiet and sublime introduction. What I like about this song is the rythum guitar chord, and how it melds so well with the chorus bellowing out Born a child of the underworld . This song just rocks and grooves, and everything about it compliments Bathory's sound and even the equipment (or lack of) that they had at their disposal when recording this. Also look out for the false ending.

Of Doom finishes the album by throwing a mass of noise at you. Its only a short track, but the tempo change at 2:12 is quite good as a finally for the album, so this song ends up being a great reprise for the last 30 odd minutes of evil noise you've been listening too.

I could go on, but I think you get the picture. If your into evil, satanic heavy metal and you like Bathory then this album is the one to own. If your into the later Bathory and you've always wondered what the early sound was like, then I'd recommend checking this album out before Bathory or The Return . There's enough methodical beats and smashing guitars to keep your ears ringing with the old sound as well as introduce you to some definative early Bathory metal.

If you have either Bathory and/or The Return but your not into 'that Viking stuff' , then why on EARTH don't you have this album yet ? The first three albums all compliment each other very well, and show a distinct passage in musical and lyrical experience for Quorthorn.
Blood Fire Death marks a change in the direction of Bathory, and many say that either this or BFD was their last 'good' album.
To be honest I just laugh at those poor saps. If your so naive that you can only listen to one style of music and not sit back and enjoy the full journey and experience of Bathory's albums then you'll never understand just how significant they were, and are.

Under the sign of the black mark is a classic, from the Yak headed figure on the cover-art to the final fading drums Of Doom .