Bathory - Blood, Fire, Death
1988, Black Mark Productions
Not enough can be said about Bathory's contribution to metal as a whole, with their self titled release, [URL=http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=262013]Bathory[/URL] in 1984, the stage was set for the "first wave" of black metal to come onto the scene.
Bathory's musicial progression is one of epic proportions, starting off as aggressive black/thrash metal they soon evolved into a more atmospheric black metal with hints of thrash before moving onto viking metal.
This album, Blood, Fire, Death is perhaps the climax of Bathory's musical life. Combining elements of thrash, black and viking metal to create this, one of the all-time metal classics...
Lineup...
Quorthon - Vocals, Guitar
Vvornth - Drums
Kothaar - Bass
Tracklisting...
Odens Ride Over Nordland
A Fine Day To Die
The Golden Walls Of Heaven
Pace 'Till Death
Holocaust
For All Those Who Died
Dies Irae
Blood Fire Death
Outro
The album begins with Odens Ride over Nordland which if listened to adds an incredible amount of atmosphere to the album, it sets the stage. This is the calm before the storm which is known as A Fine day to die. A fine day to die is an absolute classic song, with it's death-like acoustics before bursting into a full on attack on virgin ears. This song is incredible in every aspect of the word.
The Golden Walls of Heaven starts off like a spring, wound up ready to explode and when it does, it is pure aggression. Raging solos and harsh vocals push this song onward. Towards the end it begins to slow down and lead into Pace 'til Death, a tantalizing, speedy song that grabs your from the very beginning with a tempting little guitar lick that Quorthon slipped in there. This song keeps the aggression which has been a constant throughout the album so far.
With Holocaust we get more spring-loaded raw aggression. Quorthon's vocals seem to be sung with an anger and a vengeance in this song. This song is brutal throughout. Coming out of Holocaust, we get the high energy track, For all those who Died. Bathory takes more of a thrash metal approach here, slowing down the tempo of the song. Hearing Quorthon screach out "For all those who died!" is one of the most memorable moments here.
Dies Irae is without a doubt the fastest and most raw song on the album, full on black metal here. In this time period, songs like this were the reason Bathory were in a league of their own. This song takes bands like Venom, Hellhammer and Celtic Frost and absolutely dominates them. The next song is quite a contrast from Dies Irae, Blood, Fire, Death is another absolute classic from this album. Choir-filled acoustics mixed with slow, somewhat doomy guitars at times before soaring into a more slow version of Bathory. This song shows many hints of the viking metal that is to come, this song is an all-time classic for Bathory. It really shows that Quorthon and company can do more than make just aggressive music, but they can write incredible pieces of music.
The outro is just a minute, of odd noises and sounds. This outro was used on every album up to Hammerheart. I wouldn't mind it though, if they had just ended on Blood, Fire, Death.
Strengths...
The two pieces of art, Blood, Fire, Death and A fine day to die really show that Bathory can do more than pound your face with aggressive music.
Power, there is never a moment on the album where the music is dull or boring.
Quorthon is not afraid to solo.
Weaknesses...
A few of the songs follow the same song pattern and beats, i really have no problem with this because they do it so they don't sound the same but you can tell that there are a few songs modeled after eachother
The production may be a put off to some, i think it fits perfectly, though there are some who can't take mediocre production.
Overall, 4.8/5
I'm so tempted to give this a 5/5.
R.I.P. Quorthon
