You know, sorry for the decidedly un-catchy name for this series, but I was really drawing a blank. I was considering calling the series something like "Blood Must Be Shed: Azzy Ranks Albums" but I'm not sure how much sense that would have made.
Well, I figured I'd start this with Bathory. I mean they are one of my favorite bands of all time, holding one of my favorite albums of all time, and of the 1st generation, so it feels just 'right' to do so. Bathory was the mastermind of the late Thomas Björe "Quorthon" Forsberg, the main(and sometimes only) member of the project. He passed away in 2004 at the young age of 38 due to a congenital heart defect, and the metal world has certainly been less without his talent. A definite "What could be" moment; I am going to see the Blood Fire Death tribute band in a little over a week of the posting of this blog, and I only wish it could've been Bathory itself(though, to be fair, Quorthon only did a couple of live shows way, way back before he decided to keep Bathory as a studio band, so it may have been we'd never have seen him live regardless. Alas, we shall never know.)
I will admit that this ranking might not be a surprise. I feel like many a black metal fan probably ranks their first 3 or 4 albums in the first 3 or 4 spots, albeit maybe in a slightly different order, but I don't think the bottom two or top four are any real surprise. Ranking the folk albums was a little more difficult for me(but not even then, as I have the ones that I turn toward more.)
I guess I won't drag out this intro. Note this isn't a detailed review of each album(though as always I can get a bit wordy), here's my first Azzy Ranks: The Albums of Bathory!
11. Octagon(1995)
12. Requiem(1994)
Again, not a whole lot to say here, but I felt like Requiem had a few more riffs on it that I could enjoy. Another straight-forward thrash album that it felt like Quorthon put a little more effort into, but it still had that somewhat unfortunate phoned-in sound to it. I will say though given what I mentioned about the thrash era of the mid 90s, I definitely heard worse, but for Bathory, it's kind of a forgettable album.
10. Destroyer of Worlds(2001)
It's weird how I tend to rank some of Bathory's later thrashy stuff a bit lower, but I guess I heard a little less 'heart' in it. That said, I don't dislike Destroyer of Worlds. I think the album was overall pretty good; it starts to at this point, though, comes down to 'Something has to be lower.' I don't really listen to this one a whole lot admittedly. It's a pretty decent mix of thrash and viking/folk, though, if you're into that sorta thing. Not too much to say about this one otherwise. (Unfortunately as much as I love most of this band's albums, they do have a few where even I can't find a whole lot to say about them.)
9. Blood on Ice(1996)
The mastertapes were from earlier, actually -- 1989, even before Hammerheart, but this concept album was strongly in the folk/viking style the band became known for in the later years. I place this around here even though I'd say the next three albums fall under the "Interchangeable Depending on Mood," umbrella(which going forward with more of these lists, you'll see some albums that fall under.) It's a good album in this style, but once again it kinda has that "Somehow I find myself gravitating toward the other folk-tinged albums a bit more." But I like the concept album aspect and honestly it's a pretty damn good concept album all told(which can be hit or miss.) Has some rather excellent songs, though; I particularly like 'The Sword' and 'The Stallion.' This part of the ranking is where the albums start getting some real standout tracks and honestly being quite strong overall.
8. Twilight of the Gods(1991)
Like Blood on Ice, another interchangeable album, and I think sometimes I like it as much as Nordland II. Their sixth studio album, this was the second released album(Blood on Ice was written two years before this but released five years after), it's actually quite a heavy, slow and atmospheric album in folk/viking phase. It's got some great songs on it-'Through Blood by Thunder', 'Bond of Blood', and the title track. If I had a sort of issue with it, I think it sometimes gets a little bit samey sounding compared to the other folk material, but it nonetheless is an album I'd happily suggest to someone who likes this sub-genre.
7. Nordland I(2002)
If 8 through 6 are pretty interchangeable(maybe even 9 through 6), than 7 and 6 are even more interchangeable with each other. Even looking at the Nordland album covers give a sense of cold, and these albums I feel like are Bathory's most atmospheric. "Perfect Winter Atmosphere" comes to mind for a description. I'll say that I find myself sort of poking around these albums during the colder months of the year, and for good reason. I think listening to Nordland I and II back to back gives quite the journey, almost poetic like. Overall really good album(Bathory doesn't have many albums I'd consider mid), and if this is your genre I'd consider it on the essential listening list. I feel like this album stands best as a whole, instead of picking 'favorite songs.' Given these albums tell a story, it's kinda difficult to separate them out as a whole-I feel like they're all best listened to sitting there from start to finish.
6. Nordland II(2003)
Today, Nordland II's epic, atmospheric sound squeezes ahead of number 1, though just barely. Maybe it's the sound, maybe it's the songs, maybe it's the fact that this was Quorthon's final album before his tragic and way too young passing, and I find myself thinking "What could have been" in the future. It's in a similar style to Nordland I -- epic, atmospheric and cold bombastic folk metal. Would we have gotten a Nordland III? Quorthon never confirmed that we would have, but he also had said the door wasn't shut on the idea. Alas, we may never know, but we still have his legacy recorded forever.
5. Hammerheart(1990)
Hammerheart, for my money, is the peak of Quorthon's foray into practically inventing the folk/viking genre, and to be honest competes with one of my fav albums of this particular sub-genre(I think I like the black metal of Enslaved's Eld a bit more, but Hammerheart certainly ranks up there. An almost bombastic album, though without getting pompous about it, the icy atmosphere comes through extremely well. With epic songs like 'One Rode To Asa Bay', 'Shores in Flames' and 'Valhalla', I appreciate Quorthon's rougher voice on this one. It's not his harsh black metal voice, but there's a rasp to his singing here that I feel like adds to the album's overall battle-like atmosphere. This is an album that I'd put on as a background in one of my tabletop games for sure, and I'd even put a track of this in during a more extreme metal DJ night. I do bring it out when I'm in the mood for something heavy, but without harsh vocals. Absolute essential listening if you're a folk/viking metal fan.
4. Blood Fire Death(1988)
Blood Fire Death is an album that I'd call one of the best examples of a "transitional album" in heavy metal, when it comes to bands that have shifted their sound around. Now when I say 'shifted sound', I mean in a more extreme way. There are several bands that have evolved their sound in the extreme metal genre, but in Bathory's case, their shift from the raw, unrelenting 1st wave black metal over to the melodic folk/viking metal, Quorthon was there basically just helping invent and inspire genres left and right.
Blood Fire Death was the shifting point between Under the Sign and Hammerheart. While Blood Fire Death was still more in the harsh, black side than it was the viking/folk, it nonetheless starts to dabble with the intro song(Oden's Ride over Nordland), and some acoustic intro pieces, and also in the title track. It's got some fantastic songs on it; 'A Fine Day to Die'(which takes verses from The King in Yellow) is classic, and 'For All Those who Died' is a vicious, angry spitting song which may genuinely be one of Bathory's most enraged-sounding. It comes in 4th more because...well, the other three before it I just end up putting on a little more often overall.
3. The Return...(1985)
I do love the Return -- I mean it's ranked 3rd on the list of Bathory albums -- but this is one of those cases that falls under that "I just put on the other two more." Don't get me wrong, The Return is a legendary album and 100% suggested to any black metal fan(how could I live without songs like 'Bestial Lust', 'Born for Burning' or 'Sadist'. This album brings in some serious grooves to some of the songs; while some are still nasty, ugly affairs, he starts to add a little more variety to the songs; 'Born for Burning' grooves like hell. It's an excellent evolution of the self-titled, but doesn't jump too far ahead. Another 1st wave must-buy. This album crushes, it's dark atmosphere with an almost stifling sort of feel to it due to the crunchier production.
2. Bathory(1984)
One of the best debut albums in the black metal genre, period(regardless if it's the 1st or 2nd wave), the infamous goat-head staring at you just sort of attracts you to the album. So you pick it up and see the pentagram on the back, seeing Side Darkness and Side Evil. You take the album home, put it on your turntable, and after the tell-tale pops of the needle(you're probably in a metal-ish looking room or perhaps one of those literal underground record stores), and there's a cold breeze coming in. The winds of mayhem blow and the harsh, cold chainsaws that you might know as 'guitars' start spitting through the speakers, completing the evil atmosphere as the goat stares into your soul as the door blows open and the storm comes right into the room with you.
And then 'Hades' begins in earnest.
I mean I dunno what else I have to say. It's a 10/10 album, a 10/10 debut and the only reason why it's not number 1 is because of what's number 1. Iconic cover, iconic songs, iconic sound. The goat(one day, I will get a yellow one...one day) remains one of those 'Top Recognizable Logos in Extreme Metal.'
1. Under the Sign of the Black Mark(1987)
Straight up; this album is my 2nd favorite album of all time, let alone my favorite Bathory album. It just sort of dances around with Under a Funeral Moon, maybe some days tying with it, but yeah, just to give you an idea of where I stand on this album. Pure 10/10 perfection from start to finish. Under the Sign of the Black Mark is a perfect example of an album from an artist who dropped a legendary self-titled, and then another legendary follow-up, and combined everything that worked from those two albums into one perfect combination. It has the self-titled's evil, chainsaw-esque guitars and nastiness, combined with The Return's heavy grooves, and they come together in bloody harmony. 'Enter The Eternal Fire' might be one of the best black metal songs of all time. A 100% essential album(okay, any of Bathory's first 3 are essential, even first 4, for a black metal fan), I can't really gush enough about it. It's pretty obvious why this is my number 1 Bathory album and one of my favs of all time.
I could probably review this album like I did in my old days of writing eons-long reviews for the old webzine. Besides Enter the Eternal Fire being one of black metal's best songs, I can't of course leave out the rest of the album, of which there are zero filler(okay, Bathory hasn't had filler for a few spots here, let's face it.) 'Equimanthorn' is vicious, 'Woman Of Dark Desires' is a straight-up singalong, and 'Call of the Grave' is dark as hell, complete with the intro of someone trying to scratch their way out of a tomb(or so it sounds.)
Also, it's got a mega-cool album cover. I don't know what it is about it specifically, but the album just screams "80s extreme/black metal."
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Anyway, those are my rankings. Like I said, maybe it's not too much of a surprise for a black metal fan to rank them this way, and maybe you have different rankings, but these are mine for now. I think Bathory has some material to appeal to a variety of fans -- black metal, thrash metal, and folk&viking metal at least. Stay tuned for my next in the series of Azzy Ranks(which will be on the tail end of this one!)
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