Via Doloris - Guerre Et Paix

I don't write as many album reviews as I did back in my heyday of working for the ol' webzine, but now and again an album comes out that I just need to go on about. Being my blog, it's a lot more informal, but nonetheless this album deserves the praise. 

From the mind of Gildas Le Pape, someone who has done some time in the extreme metal scene, but is quite involved in jazz as well, Guerre Et Paix is a debut album like one that I have not heard in a very long time. It brings me back to the days where I can grab a genuinely new album and be blown away by it; this has not happened for awhile. I've certainly heard a few very good debut albums the past few years(one from Norway last year stood out quite a bit), but I can count them on one hand, it feels like. Via Doloris being as incredible a band/project as it is made me very happy to be able to crack my knuckles and gush about an album all over again like the old days. 

For those unfamiliar, Gildas is a French musician who resides in Norway, is a guitar teacher, and has done some work in metal bands in the past; he was Satyricon's guitarist from 2008 to 2013, and was in a short-lived French black/thrash band called Morbid Rites(they only had two demos.) Via Doloris is the first time, at least that I have heard, where he's doing an entire extreme metal album on his own. 

This album is mostly a one-man affair. Gildas composed and wrote everything here, and played all of the instruments save for the drums, which he tapped the mighty Frost to handle. If you're going to get yourself a drummer to take part in a project, trying to get one of the best in the biz is a great bet, and he did just that. If you aren't familiar with Frost, I imagine you might be new to the genre(which is fine! We all start somewhere), but he's basically one of the best extreme metal drummers out there, having been in the scene since the early '90s and has taken part in countless projects, though his main bands are Satyricon and 1349. 

I very, very much hope that Gildas has more albums in him, because this debut is stellar. Sitting at seven songs and clocking in at nearly fifty minutes, the songs are incredibly layered and dynamic, never overstaying their welcome. 

Stylistically, this album is definitely black metal, of the melodic, well-produced and atmospheric variety. At least for me, it harkens back to the '90s when I'd break out one of those groundbreaking new albums, a la Nemesis Divina or Storm of the Light's Bane. It doesn't copy either of those at all, but it's just to give you a sort of idea of the vibe I get. Given those are two of my favorite albums of all time, it's a very high complement. The production is tight, though not overly wrought, and feels natural. 

Opening with "Communion," it sets both the pace and the theme of the album-the bleak main riff sticks with you as the chilling vocals cut through and Frost's drums keep it all together, setting the blistering pace. A memorable riff keeps me coming back to the track; definitely one to want to hear more than once. "Un Franc Soleil" is a slower, more melancholy track, the haunting vocals, tight groove and strong melody selling an almost grieving atmosphere. It was the second track released from the band, close to the album's release. (I don't want to 'spoil' all the tracks talking you through each and every one from start to finish.) 

"Omniprésents" speeds things back up again, and continues to feed the listener wonderful, still-mournful, yet surprisingly catchy melodies. The more one listens to this album, the more it becomes apparently just how talented Gildas is at composition, performing, and arranging as well. With Frost's stellar drumwork adding the backbone, it also shows he has an ear for picking out exactly who he might need for the album, too. I'll be honest, while there are plenty of talented drummers in the scene, I'm not sure any others could've given this album its feel, given the drum legend's ability to feel the music better than many. 

"For the Glory" is up next, and is the band's first music video and was the first song that was up for release. I'll link it here in case you haven't seen it yet:

A great pick for the album's first taste, as I think it encapsulates the album's whole feel very well. This one's a fast and pretty heavy affair, though it does not lose the fantastic riffs and melodic tones that it has been delivering so far, and importantly, it keeps and in fact well showcases that almost desolate atmosphere. The break of acoustic guitars melds wonderfully with Frost's frenetic blasts and double bass assault. 

"Ultime Tourment" is the longest song on the album, clocking in at over ten minutes, but never wears out its welcome. Opening with a marching beat on the drums, it has a slower groove that almost invokes a dirge-like anthem, but both guitars and drums are delightfully dynamic in this one. Halfway through the song, it proceeds to have a transformation into a much more wicked sounding affair. The riffs on this album continued to impress me as I listened, mixes of both heavy grooves and tremolo picking giving it its unique, yet still dark sound. 

The final two songs are "Visdommens Vei I" and "Visdommens Vei II." The first being the longer of the two, opening with yet another beautiful and somber melody and some creative drumwork for a good couple of minutes before the song forms into something one might hear if there were such a thing as a black metal funeral procession. Slower to mid-tempo at first, with a groove that drives you to headbang right at your desk. 

The follow-up is more of a two-minute, eerie outro with some very eerie sounding guitars and monk-like choir-chants, closing off the affair rather beautifully, almost like it closes off the funeral-like dirge of the previous track. 

If you've caught onto my possibly somewhat repetitive descriptions, I use the terms "melancholy," "atmospheric", and "bleak," quite often. It's for a good reason; it's the type of picture this album paints. To me, this album sounds like a lonely sunset as one sits on a rooftop, a solitary, windy walk through a wooded graveyard, or an early, cloudy morning with a storm rolling in. It sounds classic, yet new at the same time. 

Something I genuinely appreciate about Guerre Et Paix is that it's an album with a clear vision, or at least to me it *sounds* like an album with a clear vision. Quite often I hear albums that might be good, hell, even great, but I can also hear a lot of 'Throwing stuff at a wall to see if it works or not' at the same time. I feel like when I put this on I get a clear view of what Gildas was going for, and he succeeded in putting it all together. But it never comes off as some sort of mechanical, "false" thing, it feels like an organic, genuine beast formed of a creative spirit. In a world where that genuine, creative spirit seems to get stifled by one thing or another more times than I'd like to see, it's a great thing. 

Already having gone on for awhile with this one, I will put this not only on my "Must buy" metal list this year, but "AotY Contender" as well. It's certainly on my regular playlist already(I have been listening to it while doing work with the miniatures and it's bleak soundscape is quite inspiring for the grimdark aesthetic that I like to paint.) 

Hopefully this little writeup gives you an idea of what to expect from the album. It comes with my whole-heartedly positive thumbs up and a "Go buy this." I'm hoping that we get to hear more from the mind of Gildas Le Pape, until then I'll go spin this some more while doing some bleak art! 

Via Doloris is Awesome

I'm just stopping in to say that my latest music obsession has been with this one-man band, Via Doloris. 

Gildas Le Pape(mostly a jazz fellow, also played guitar for some years with Satyricon, from about '08 to '13, if I recall?) has so far managed to compose two amazing black metal tracks. Very bleak, melodic yet cold and blistering sounding, I cannot wait to hear this whole album on March 20th. I have my vinyl pre-ordered. I knew the guy was talented, but hearing him compose this stuff is spectacular. I can't wait to hear more! 

Oh, I did say it's a one-man band, and that's true, but the album does have a session drummer-the one and only Frost, who sounds, of course, on point. If you're gonna get a session drummer, get one of the best, and he's one of the best! 

If you like that cold, well-produced 90s-vibed black metal, please check out the songs that are out so far, "For the Glory" and "Un Franc Soleil!" 

I'll definitely be doing a review of the album here. If the rest is as good as these two songs, it's AotY potential already! 

Winter Mass Marble Vinyl Arrived! (Also Chaos Mans Tribute)

 So that limited vinyl I mentioned in my review a few days ago arrived! And this thing is a work of beauty. I love getting gorgeous packages like this:

Kim Diaz Holm's art is fantastic, and suits this band so well. Kind of inspires me to try to do a totally black and white mini at some point(which I'd been wanting to do anyway thanks to Under a Funeral Moon.)

Anyway, as I mentioned in the review, the album itself is fantastic(when you pre-ordered, you also got the FLAC/MP3s, so I had heard it, plus they have the live show on Youtube which is awesome to see, though I will say they needed more drum cams), so if you like blistering black metal that is like being beaten to death with a hammer while on fire, go get this one. And I highly suggest getting the vinyl if you can since it's so beautiful. 

Oh yeah! Speaking of 1349, my (Massive Cauldron of) Chaos Warrior tribute is done! I'm fairly happy with how this guy turned out, though I was afraid the white armor would've been a disaster. I'd have had it a lot easier if I had picked Literally Any Other Album given they're all otherwise in black as the main color, lol, but I DID want to try some white armor. 

The logo is a little shaky(I sketched it lightly freehand and painted over it), but it gives it the 'painted in blood' look so I think it fits. The shield didn't photograph too well(I really need to get a better setup for taking pictures.)

Anyway, see you guys again soon when I do a year-end-wrap up at some point! 

1349 - Winter Mass

For a long time, I thought I was out. And then they keep pulling me back in.

Well, I was never out of extreme metal. I've listened to it now for what, about 3 decades of my life? But I hadn't really had urges to review over those times; yes, even hearing lots of great albums that had been coming out. I was content just buying and enjoying the music, going to a live gig when I could, you know, like a normal person.

But somehow, last year, 1349's "The Wolf and the King" hit me so hard that it made me pick up a pen(or, well, my keyboard) and write a little review of it on my Facebook, something that I only use once a month to show whatever models I am working on at the moment and to let folks overseas know that I still draw breath in some format. (I have ranted on my blog before that I think the internet peaked back in the 2000s and it's been all downhill from there, you cannot even try to get me posting on IG or TT anything else of those. Hey, you do you if you use it for business, pleasure, or both, but it's not for me.) 

I suppose I might have been inspired because I had missed their Helsinki gig last October due to having a chest infection, which I am still mad about. But I loved the album, it was my Album of the Year 2024, and besides an odd bit of blogging, I was like, "Surely I won't have to review anything else for awhile." 

Well, 1349 went and did it again; the end of 2025 they went and released something. So here I am, taking a break from trying to finish this particular miniature here, and as I wait for Season of Mist to deliver my 200-limited colored double vinyl to my door(or, more like, up the hill where I have to go talk to a person to receive said item) to write my thoughts about this album because of course I have to. 

Said miniature, who looks like he'll come to life and kill me in my sleep if I don't finish him this week.

It's fucking awesome. 

Winter Mass is the latest release from 1349, albeit not a *fully* brand new album, so to speak, but a live album. Recorded back in 2021 at Parkteatret in Oslo, this album runs over an hour and sounds absolutely top-notch. 

I've talked about the band a few times on the blog; 1349 typically consist of Ravn(Vocals), Archaon(Guitars), Seidemann(Bass) and Frost(Drums), though for this set, they add in Destructhor(Myrkskog) as a second live guitarist, giving them a thicker sound again. (The band used to run two guitarists back during their earlier years; after Hellfire, they had become a four-piece.)

It's got a really solid 13-song setlist, spanning their works up to and including The Infernal Pathway from 2019; The Wolf and the King had not been released(it came out in October 2024.) The only album they didn't hit their first full-length, Liberation; everything else is accounted for in some way, usually with some of their more beloved tracks(like Demonoir's "Atomic Chapel", Hellfire's "I Am Abomination" and "Sculptor of Flesh" and Beyond the Apocalypse's "Chasing Dragons." This band's discography is so strong that trying to narrow down a Best Setlist for them is basically impossible, but we get a damn good one here, especially if you're a big fan of Massive Cauldron of Chaos and The Infernal Pathway(the two most hit albums in this.) There's also a fun bonus at the very end, if you're a big fan of David Lynch like myself. ;) (I am sitting here with an array of Lynch stuff to use while DJing myself, so I was *extra* happy to hear this.) Hell, they even included a track off of Revelations of the Black Flame(their experimental, polarizing album which I also managed to write a couple thousand words about in another blog), Serpentine Sibilance, and Dødskamp, from an EP. 

With cover art done by Kim Holm, an amazing Norwegian artist who paints musicians live in concert in a very cool way(really, go check his stuff out, he also does amazing Cthulhus and other dark, awesome looking pieces), I'd definitely pop this album on a must-have list if you're a fan of the band, or a good way to check them out if you hadn't heard of them yet, since you get a compilation of their stuff, since they've never really had a 'greatest hits' album or anything. The sound is crisp, the band is incredibly tight and they sound super-brutal live, the chainsaw-like guitars and Frost's drums(somehow simultaneously hitting near sonic-speeds while hitting harder than a spiked lead club and never missing a beat, showing that he's still one of the best) cut through the air like a big, nasty and serrated blade you might see on a Chaos harbinger or something. They have several of my own favorite songs on this one, but if I had to pick some standouts, their live versions of "Atomic Chapel," "Slaves," "Chasing Dragons," "Through Eyes of Stone" and "Abyssos Antithesis" might be my fav cuts here. 

Now, since I'm a fair reviewer, even for my favorite bands, I'll say that I'd have *loved* to have hear them play Celestial Deconstruction at this gig, as it's one of my fav 1349 songs of all time(from Hellfire, one of my top 10 albums of all time), and it's not one that makes it onto live setlists too often. If this was a special, recorded gig, I'd have really loved to have seen them take this one out of their pocket, but at the same time, I understand I Am Abomination and Sculptor of Flesh are big fan-favorites. (I'd have loved to have seen a 3rd Hellfire song.) But I'm just one person and that's one of my own favorite songs, and I don't make the bands' setlists-they know what they're doing. (Had I had my way for the pick for Revelations, I'd have probably wished for "Maggot Fetus...Teeth like Thorns", which is a nasty, nasty track and I love when I hear it on live videos.) But otherwise, the setlist is fantastic, and I try not to be too hard on live setlists because bands have tons of songs, and they gotta narrow it down, so something's always gonna give. 

While I usually don't often give AotY to a live album only, what I would indeed be doing this year is *including* this in my Albums of the Year this year it's so good. (Usually I reserve Live Albums of the Year to very special ones; stuff like Metallica's S&M, Satyricon's Live at the Opera, or something perhaps like Children of Bodom's A Chapter Called Children of Bodom, rather than a really great live show, but this album IS so good that I feel like I need to name it as one of my favorites of 2025.)

As someone who keeps running into horrible luck seeing these guys live(Note: I WILL BE SEEING THEM LIVE in 2026, so help me, I don't know or care where but I will see them), getting this at least lets me hear their absolutely blood-freezing aural assault live right there on my stereo; it's never AS good as being there, but it certainly helps, and I certainly have a new soundtrack to add while I am painting up more harbingers of Chaos this winter. (And yes, one of them is going to be heavily inspired by 1349 itself. I'll post it here when I'm done.) 

May the nine hells steady my hand when I attempt to free-hand paint the band logo on that banner at the end. 

Hell, maybe I'll see them play Celestial Deconstruction when they come around again! (Please come around again! ;__;)

In short, if you like 1349, buy this live album. If you are unfamiliar with the band and want a great selection of songs that sound like a brutal battering ram, buy Winter Mass, and then probably end up buying a bunch of their other stuff since you'll probably like it, at least I would hope. In any case it's a fantastic addition to the band's already packed-with-great-stuff-catalog. 

Alrighty, back to the paint table! 

Band: 1349

Vocals: Ravn

Drums: Frost

Guitars: Archaon, Destructhor(Live)

Bass: Seidemann

Track Listing:

1. Enter Inferno

2. Sculptor of Flesh

3. Slaves

4. Through Eyes of Stone

5. Cauldron

6. Striding the Chasm

7. Chasing Dragons

8. Serpentine Sibilance

9. I Am Abomination

10. Golem

11. Atomic Chapel

12. Dødskamp

13. Abyssos Antithesis

Azzy Ranks: 1349

 Well, you all(well, more like you three) knew this was coming. Especially if you know me. 

That, and I've mentioned it in a couple of the other posts, I think. 

At least if you DON'T know how I feel about 1349, I love them. They're definitely a top-10 to 15 band for me. If not top 10 to 13. Probably top 10, though it starts to get hard there. Formed around the turn of the century(a bit before), and named after the year the plague hit Norway, they had a little bit of demo material before they put out their main, self-titled demo in 2001, and their debut album, Liberation, was in 2003. I heard them pretty much right then and was hooked from the getgo. They play very extreme, brutal black metal, often at breakneck speeds. If getting beaten to death with a sack of hammers after being lit on fire had a soundtrack, it would be 1349. It's a brand of raw, brutal and even technical black metal(though it doesn't fall into the same area as some 'tech-metal' like weird time signatures or whatnot, more technical from a standpoint of layered and interesting; it's hard to explain, but I think you know what I mean.) 

1349 has managed to keep an amazingly stable lineup throughout their career. In black metal, this can sometimes be quite the challenge it would seem, but 1349's lineup was essentially nearly set on their first demo and solidified after, their biggest change coming from their 2nd guitarist, Tjalve, leaving after 2005's Hellfire, and them continuing as a four-piece. 

The band consists of Ravn(Vocals), Archaon(Guitars), Seidemann(Bass), and Frost(Drums), of course also from Satyricon and many other bands as a session musician. (The other members have been around, but mostly just as live session musicians. Seidemann is the most travelled of the others, having helped with several bands.)

They also take the best pictures.

This band looks like the secret super-boss of bands who you come across unprepared and they absolutely destroy you. From L-R we have Frost, Archaon, Ravn, and Seidemann; class-wise I believe they are Monk, Cleric, Fighter, and Wizard. 

Anyway, as usual, I'll be hitting up their 8 albums in order from "Worst" to the "Best," and yes, this is yet ANOTHER band where I thoroughly enjoy the whole discography! So there is no "Worst," there's just "Something has to be lower and something has to be higher;" with the caveat of "This is how I feel today," but I'll say the last and the first are quite solidified. Also, full albums, no EPs or demos, etc. 

I HIGHLY suggest that people listen to this band. I will say that they might be challenging sounding, in a sense; they are such a combination of heavy, raw, and fast that someone looking for 'catchy sing-a-longs' might come up short(though there's plenty of songs where I can find myself bopping along, that might just be me, though), but I don't think you'll regret it if you have a sit-down with these albums as a metalhead. 

With all of that out of the way, let's get started! 

8. Revelations of the Black Flame(2009)

While I will stand by and defend this album -- remember I did write a damn essay about how this album and Celtic Frost's "Into the Pandemonium" has what I thought are some interesting things in common! I do still think, in the end, I'd have to put it at the number 8 spot. Again emphasizing "There are no bad albums, or even, IMHO, mediocre ones, just ones that are better", this one is one of those "Mood-Style Albums" for me. While I can always find time for "Maggot Fetus...Teeth like Thorns"(a really freaking awesome, fast and nasty song), all in all, I think because it's so experimental, I just need to be in that "Experimental" style of mood. So at the end of the day, I appreciate very much that they tried out new things and broke off their usual path, but I feel like they managed to hit the 'Experimental Aspect' on a later album in a way that clicked a lot harder with me. 

7. Liberation(2003)

Writing about Liberation brings me back. I wrote a whole review for this on the old webzine, the year it came out, and it was my AotY 2003. (Fun Fact: 1349 as a band probably holds the record for Most Albums of the Year from me. While they aren't my number 1 band -- if I even have one of those -- they're A Favorite Band, and while one of their albums is a top 10 of all time of mine, it's just a case where the years they release albums, they have, more often than not, had my favorite album that particular year. But I digress.)

Back on track for Liberation; this album just floored me when I first heard it. It's *so* blistering, raw, nasty, and fast. It's a bludgeoning from start to finish. Frost's hands and feet deliver some of the nastiest blasts and double bass on this album you really will think he's a machine(if people hadn't already, back when they thought he was a machine on Rebel Extravaganza.) It's got a strange production; I think occasionally the production holds it back just a little bit, but at the same time, it also adds to the galloping destruction of these songs. And yes, I am aware that I'm gushing about an album that won my AotY 2003, in the same year as some insanely good albums, and it's at number 7 out of 8. This is just a testament to continue to show you the quality of the band's work(as I remind my dear readers once again, number 8 was an album that I wrote a 2000+ word essay on.)

6. Demonoir(2010)

After 2009's more experimental Revelations of the Black Flame, Demonoir sped things up overall again, going back to the style they were better known for(and it wasn't that Black Flame was *completely* left-field, more somewhat, but again you can read about that in my Pandemonium and the Black Flame blog.) Demonoir is an incredibly strong album, and it has some interesting interludes in between the songs that give it overall an eerie atmosphere. "When I was Flesh," the title track, "Atomic Chapel," and the fantastically named "Pandemonium War Bells"(really, when you hear a song title called "Pandemonium War Bells" it really says everything it has to about the song) are four of my favorites from it. I do find myself putting this album on a fair amount, it's just that really hairy area of 'this part of the list has everything too close.' I guess I might put the other albums on slightly more often as a whole, which is why this is at the number 6 spot, but once again I give my patented line of 'Next week, I think I might end up re-arranging the 7 through 4 area and probably will want to.' I'll say that it continued to show that the band had no problem continuing as a four-piece(2005 was the last time they were a five-piece, though they do occasionally use a 2nd live guitarist.) 

5. Beyond the Apocalypse(2004)

From the opening of "Chasing Dragons"(along with its unforgettable riff and breakdown) this album is their sophomore effort, coming just a year after Liberation, and this, too, won my Album of the Year back in 2004. It had a stronger production, but did not relent in its brutality or nastiness in the least; if anything, I think the better production added to this one. I do stand by that, as much as I love my rough stuff, Liberation's rough sound I think held it back ever so slightly from being a 10/10. This album does not have this issue. Their songwriting moved forward, as well; while they hung onto the unrelenting speed of their predecessor, they got heavier and riffier, all while Frost's drums continue to murder you where you stand. It's got some other stand-out tracks besides Chasing Dragons; Aiwass-Aeon and Blood Is the Mortar are both also great, and the album really doesn't have any lacking tracks. Just an overall impressive, crushing album that you should buy(you should just buy this band's whole discography, really.) 

4. Massive Cauldron of Chaos(2014)

Oh, boy. This one's a killer. Massive Cauldron of Chaos, or what occasionally gets nicknamed MCoC(let's be mature about this), is sometimes known at a glance for its white-and-red color, standing out from the rest of their albums if you're looking at them all on the shelf, but it is no less brutal unforgiving, and unrelenting. It's one of those albums that sounds like its name. Its songs are simply one word titles, as well, with the exception of one cover song on the digipak("The Heretic", from Possessed.) MCoC is an album I come back to a whole lot; I use it as a backdrop for painting minis quite often(given my predisposition to anything Chaos oriented.) "Cauldron," "Slaves," "Golem," and the incredibly nasty and flesh-tearing "Godslayer" are some standout tracks(Godslayer might be my favorite!), but this album rips from start to finish. Like the rest, this one's position depends on the day. I have been painting a lot of evil looking stuff lately so it's fresh in my mind; this might explain its position here today. The production on this one is also very satisfying; I really like the sound of the drums here, too. Hopefully this album will continue to soundtrack me for painting up chaos for years to come. In fact, I think this week this is why MCoC happens to be at the number 4 spot in this 'tightly contested middle ground'; I have been listening to it during painting sessions. (Hell, I almost want to go back and reorder the Satyricon list at the low-mid end for that reason.) But yeah, either way, awesome album. 

3. The Wolf and the King(2024)

Another band with the honor of having their most recent outing rank very highly in my album collection. In fact, I really do think, after listening to it for the past year now(it came out a year ago this month, at the time of this writing right now, which is October), that it's my 3rd favorite album of 1349. The title has a concept derived from alchemy; a sort of meaning of self-growth, in a way; the wolf devours the king, dies in flame, and the king is reborn from the ashes, cleansed and ready to be the best he can be. The songs themselves have their vicious, cold and grim sound that the band is known for -- no matter how much they grow musically, they keep the nasty, blistering edge that they've always kept since their inception. Which I appreciate; I always know I can come back to these guys when I need to hear music that sounds like it's trying to kill me. That said, I *also* appreciate how these guys are masters of some almost catchy riffs throughout all of this. I highly suggest this album gets picked up by anyone who is a fan; as 1349 tends to do, it was my album of the year in 2024. (There are not many years that this band releases an album and it doesn't win AotY for me, I notice. A couple of times due to their being some other insane contenders those years.) 

2. The Infernal Pathway(2019)

This one might come as a bit of a surprise, but yeah, their 2019 offering is my 2nd favorite album of theirs. When I mentioned "experimental aspect that hits better later" above, this is what I mean. A song like Abyssos Antithesis probably wouldn't have existed in this band's catalogue ten years or more before, but it's one of the coolest songs on the album with some absolutely killer riffs. My absolute *favorite* song on the album, and probably one of those top 30 Black Metal Songs in general, is probably Through Eyes of Stone, which likewise has absolutely insane riffs. This album is a dark, blistering, black metal riff factory and despite it being only six years old(note: It feels a lot more recent, but that's more the fact that everything has blended together since the mid 2010s for me), has nonetheless solidified itself right near the top. But, still, as fantastic as the last two albums have been from this band -- enough to take BOTH the number 3 and number 2 spots -- there is one album that will I think always reign supreme. Probably. 

1. Hellfire(2005)

Oh, Hellfire. Lovely, lovely Hellfire. One of my top 10 albums of all time, and yeah, this one is number 1, and a pretty easily said number 1, even though as you can see I've pretty much gushed about all of these. Hellfire is THE, IMHO, quintessential album in the sub-genre(or sub-sub-genre) of brutal, unrelenting, black metal that's absolutely essential listening. In the "If you only get one album that's in the sub-genre of brutal, unrelenting black metal, make it Hellfire." The vocals are absolutely sick, the riffs are amazing; simultaneously catchy, brutal, and cold, and the drums sound like they are actively trying to break every bone in your body; Frost is in insane form here. The production ties this one all together in a perfect package; it sounds VERY heavy and powerful. If I'm ever in need of something to listen to, putting on Hellfire is something that can never go wrong. All the songs are amazing, if you hadn't guessed; the opening of "I Am Abomination" sets the mood for the rest of the album, as Nathicana's nastiness follows it up, and Celestial Deconstruction is one of my favorite songs from the band in general. Its final track, Hellfire, is exactly 13 minutes and 49 seconds long and never wears out its welcome. If I hadn't sold you on the album yet, this may not be the genre for you. (And that's okay, of course! I certainly am not into every metal sub-genre I've heard.) But if you ARE Into this genre? This is a must-buy. Go listen and proceed to feel yourself beaten senseless. (I also paint often to this album.) 

--

And there we go. My own personal ranking, and yeah, as I said, that spot from 7 to 4 is pretty much 'what I felt like that morning.' It might be different a week from now, or whatnot. 

I also want to add that I NEED to see this band live. Because the universe likes to plot against me personally, the last time they were here, I had a damn chest infection and I couldn't go to the gig. And it was at a small place, too, making me even *more* infuriated. And then they hadn't played Helsinki the rest of the year, but I am hoping beyond hope they make it here for one of the festivals next year. I think they'd be perfect at Hellsinki Metalfest for the indoor stage!! Perhaps this can happen? Maybe? (I had missed them in 2016 as well, due to not having been home at the time -- we were traveling. Story of my life.) 

Anyway thanks for sticking around again, and I'll write again when I feel like I have something to say! 

'Til next time! As a bonus, enjoy this sick drum cam. We need more 1349 drum cams.  

Azzy Ranks: Mercyful Fate

Continuing on with my little random series(I really should pick a game series to do this with one day, Castlevania, maybe?) to celebrate seeing King Diamond live, I decided to do a back to back ranking of both Mercyful Fate's and King Diamond's discogs, starting with Mercyful Fate. 

Once again, we have acts like Sodom, Satyricon and a few others where I really enjoy their entire discographies, so there are no "Bad" albums in either of these, which makes it, once again, challenging. I stand by the fact I feel like it's harder to rank albums when they're all good, than when there are extremely obvious stand-outs or ones that don't work. 

Out of the two, I DO slightly prefer Mercyful Fate as a whole, but I do love the King's solo endeavors as well. I think MF just has a little bit more of a sound that hits me just a tiny bit more. But it's close. 

Mercyful Fate's most recent album was out in 1999, 26 years ago, but they ARE working on new material! So I'll get to see where that lands. As per usual, I'll be doing the full-lengths. I feel a little bad sometimes leaving out EPs and such(especially because some bands have EPs that I consider my favorites, like Keep of Kalessin with Reclaim or even In the Sign of Evil with Sodom), but I think it makes for a more clear and concise list to do so. Mercyful Fate only has seven full-lengths, so without further ado:

7. Dead Again(1998)

Starting off the list we have Dead Again. As I stated above, "A 'low' ranked Mercyful Fate album is still a really good album that I'd suggest to anyone looking for classic dark heavy metal to get.' I think overall I just end up putting this on less than the other 90s albums since I feel like even though it's overall good, it lacks those 'really standout tracks' that all the other albums have at least one of. There are still some really good songs here though, even if the production feels a bit odd sometimes. I can't say there's anything stand-out 'wrong' with the album. Since Forever and the Lady who Cries are both a couple of songs that almost hit that stand-out status, though! Fear is really good as well. 

6. Into the Unknown(1996)

Into the Unknown certainly has some gems on it. Fifteen Men(and a bottle of rum) is a pretty awesome evil pirate tribute, which is not something you'd expect from Mercyful Fate(but it's nice to see a more Bad Guy Pirate Song), and being a Lovecraft junkie I have to appreciate Kutulu. This is another one of those "Huh, I haven't put this on for awhile" albums. But for a classic, dark heavy metal album in the 90s, this still sounds great. Mercyful Fate didn't try to turn industrial, or go way into the left field in order to battle grunge or anything, they just stayed Mercyful Fate, and it works. 

5. 9(1999)

Their latest album(yeah, 26 years ago and counting, but once again praise satan that they're making more music!) I would say ranks sixth for me. An album that I'd continue to suggest to anyone -- being a band where owning their whole discography I would say is a nice idea -- 9 has some great songs and riffs on it. Last Rites and Insane are great tracks, and Buried Alive is like old-school levels of good with its riffs and is probably my fav track on the album and a song I'd actually rank up there with some of my favorite Mercyful Fate songs. King Diamond sounds as great as ever. This is another case of 'Well, something has to be down here', and I just find myself putting it on a little less than the ones further down the list/depending on my mood. They didn't try to change their sound too much like a lot of classic and thrash bands in the 90s, and in their case, I feel like it was for the best(as much as I can like when bands progress.)

4.  In the Shadows(1993)

More horror-themed than Satanic-themed(much like King Diamond's self-titled work, though it's not a concept album like the King is known to do, though there is no lack of mention of witches and the like). In the Shadows might, after some thought, come in third. Their first album in almost ten years after Don't Break the Oath, it's a fine offering with Shermann's riffs being as catchy as always. Classics like The Bell Witch, Egypt, and the callback to the old days with Is that you, Melissa? make this an album I do find myself putting on a bit when I'm not running their 80s discography. Just overall a great album(but, for the hundredth time, all Mercyful Fate albums are great. 

3. Time(1994)

Time is a pretty incredible album that I think delves back more into the old-school Mercyful Fate more than ever. Maybe my brain sort of clicks with certain styles in certain bands, and while I'm always a fan of bands progressing through time(heh), and evolving, sometimes bands that keep going with their tried and true methods can work out and I think Mercyful Fate is one of them. Despite coming out in 1994(a time where a lot of those older bands went far into experimentation mode, for better or worse), it totally sounds like it could've been part of that 80s discography. Maybe that's why it kinda goes here for me? I like MF when they're on with the satanic themes too, I admit. Nightmare Be Thy Name, Angel of Light, Witches Dance right in a row hit hard and there are some super-killer riffs on this album. The Mad Arab of course appeals to the big Lovecraft fan in me, much like the sequel on Into the Unknown. 

2. Melissa(1983)

Melissa could be number 1 I think sometimes, and for a lot of folks I know it is; but it's very close in any case. How can one listen to the sounds of the legendary Evil(IMO one of their best songs), Black Funeral, or the epic Satan's Fall and NOT put this album at least close to the top? Melissa was one hell of a debut full-length(they did have their self-titled EP, later affectionately nicknamed' Nuns Have No Fun'.) Like, easily one of those upper echelon debut albums; while some bands' debuts left something to be desired and their real stride wouldn't be hit until their second or third album(see Judas Priest for a great example of this), Mercyful Fate hit the ground running straight to Hell with a big evil grin. All I can really say is to go out and immediately listen to this without stopping to pass Go or anything like that, if you're at all a fan of dark heavy metal. 

1. Don't Break the Oath(1984)

GodDAMN 1984 was a great year. Bathory's S/T album, Ride the Lightning, Morbid Tales, Apocalyptic Raids, At War With Satan...and Mercyful Fate's timeless sophomore effort, Don't Break the Oath. 

I think DBtO or Melissa could be interchangeable, depending on my mood, to be honest, but somehow I felt like this one just hit a tiny bit harder, or hits a tiny bit harder for me more often. Like, very tiny. Almost microscopic. Don't Break the Oath had the evil sound of Melissa, but they really went off musically on some of these tracks. A Dangerous Meeting, Nightmare, The Oath, Come to the Sabbath...all incredibly dark and wicked sounding offerings. I think one thing that sticks out to me almost more than Melissa is the extra slightly darker tone which ended up into that formation of black metal(okay, all Mercyful Fate did, but this album's sound was kinda transformative, I think.) Just like Melissa, go out immediately and listen to this album. Not much else to say but "What the fuck are you waiting for." 

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And that's the list! I'm not sure where I'd put the self-titled EP, but probably around Time, hovering right in that area right before or after it depending on my mood that day. Mercyful Fate is pretty incredibly influential, and really you can't go wrong with listening to any of their albums; that said, if I had to pick three, go with the first three at the start. Then branch out(since others may well find more stuff on the other albums they like even more than I do.)

Looking forward to doing my King Diamond ranking as well; he too has an incredibly strong discography. 

Anyway, 'til next time, readers! 

Azzy Ranks: Satyricon

With Bathory done(and I do think it was a good first band to do, even if my picks for said band might not be particularly surprising), I decided to move over to Norway for Satyricon. They're one of those bands that were with me since I started dropping into the 2nd wave of black metal, and they've never left my playlists since. A steadfast staple in Azzy's playlists, and a band I'll always play on a DJ night,, too. They're a band that's mostly been a duo; bandleader Sigurd "Satyr" Wongraven, who handles vocals, guitar, bass and most of the other instruments on the albums themselves(he also makes wine!) and drummer Kjetil-Vidar "Frost" Haraldstad, who is one of the fastest, most proficient black metal drummers in the scene today, his mark made on many albums as a session drummer back in the 90s and '00s(and he even occasionally appears elsewhere even today, though nowadays he mostly sticks to Satyricon and his other band, 1349, who you will be seeing come up in these Azzy Ranks series at some point for sure.) 

I feel like Satyricon I also think they're a great band to do since they're a challenging band to do. Essentially, I love all of Satyricon's albums. This band hasn't put out something that I've disliked, like, ever. Which I think makes the ranking a lot more fun, since I really have to think things over, as well as sometimes even see what my mood is that day. A 'low ranked' Satyricon album is, IMO, still an excellent album in it's way, I might just listen to it a bit less than the higher ranked ones. 

Indeed, when doing these rankings, something has to be first, and something has to be last, even when the whole discography is strong. So I'll try my hardest to arrange these albums the best I can. 

Without further ado, here's how I'd rank Satyricon's full-length discography(today!)

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10. Satyricon & Munch(2022)

So, I have this one as the last place, even though it's a masterfully crafted piece of soundtrack music. More ambient and less metal, it has guitars, bass, and drums utilized, but it really is more of a soundscape, set to take you on a journey through Munch's works. It's extremely well done like this, and as someone who loves Munch and loves soundtrack music, I do find myself putting this on every so often. It's definitely a great album to just lay back to. As a bonus, it makes for a great soundtrack piece with the pivotal scene in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, one of my favorite books, which includes a Munch exhibit. All that said, Satyricon & Munch is more of a 'mood album' for me than even some other albums, so that's why it goes here. It's so different that it's hard to rank with the rest. 

9. Dark Medieval Times(1993)

And for my first wrench thrown in the gears of most "trve" types, yeah, I have their debut, often put on the Satyricon top 3 pedestal by black metal fans, all the way at number 9. Once again, I do love this album, like I do all their albums, and I listen to something from it on pretty much any playlist I'll make. So this is not me saying the album is bad by any stretch of the imagination. It's still an A+ tier album, easily, and absolutely an album I'd suggest for someone to listen to looking for something in this style, and an album I do put on often. But it's also, in its own way, a 'mood' album. When I want to hear barbaric, medieval-tinged type of black metal, soaked in both ice and melody, this album hits the spot. In fact, I LOVE it in the autumn, especially. But it's also rough around the edges; which is both good(it has that old 'spirit'), and also lags it behind the well-oiled extreme musicians they became. When I feel like going on a journey to, well, the plague-ridden Dark Medieval Times(the use of the Pesta Kommer from Kittelsen as the art in the booklet of the original, and on the cover of the remaster -- and, well, I might use it too as a banner -- gives me plague-vibes, what can I say), then this is the album that I put on. All in all, I'll always appreciate a well-timed 'Walk The Path of Sorrow' or 'The Dark Castle in the Deep Forest'(possibly my favorite song on the album and somewhat underrated I think.) Again I reiterate this list is challenging because I am forced to put some albums I like at the end, but that's why it's fun. Something has to be last, something has to be in the middle, and something has to be first. 

8. Satyricon(2013)

Their self-titled album tends to get a little maligned by the underground, given it really did branch out a lot. Despite having some incredibly heavy, dark songs like 'Walker Upon the Wind', and the amazing -- nah, masterpiece of a song 'The Infinity of Time and Space', I think people sorta pushed against the dark rock-tinged offerings like 'Nekrohaven', or 'Phoenix', which featured a guest singer and even clean vocals. What I see is an album that was incredibly experimental in its genre, not afraid to branch out to try other things while still keeping its roots in black metal(which can mean a whole lot more than just like, stuff from the 80s and 90s.) All that said, because this album branches out so much, it's once again another 'mood' thing for me. I need to be in the mood to sit down with an album that goes here and there. Plus, and I can't explain this as it's just a weird 'me' thing, this album is more of an 'autumn-winter' album(especially autumn, this is yet another favorite autumn album.) I dunno what it is about the album's sound, but it just hits right around then. When it's perfectly chilly out and I'm around the parks nearby in the morning, its atmosphere makes it great to wake up to, especially since there are some brutally heavy tracks to help with that. 

I will also add that from 8 to 5, these spots can shift depending on my mood, the week, the time of day, or even if I heard a song on one of them recently. While I'd say 10/9 are pretty well set in stone, and 4 to 1 are as well, 8 to 5 for Satyricon are 'the mutable ranks', much like how Bathory's viking/folk outings were. 

7. Volcano(2002)

I hesitate to keep using the "black 'n roll" term that many like to use, because there's been grooves in extreme metal since the beginning with Bathory and Venom. Are you going to try to tell me "Woman of Dark Desires" isn't a singalong? Come on now. Not to mention the rest of the first wave; Mercyful Fate has such a grounding in classic heavy metal and hard rock that for me it's just a natural thing. I guess people started using the term for...some reason? I always preferred to call it 'black metal with heavy grooves' or something, though I suppose the "black 'n roll" moniker falls off the tongue easier. In any case, while Satyricon were never a stranger to some good grooves in their music before Volcano, they really came to the forefront in this. I will say their '2000s Era albums' where they put out three albums with a whole lot of these heavy grooves do swap spots for me often. Volcano might be my favorite 'summer album' of Satyricon(and one of my fav 'summer albums'), though this is probably because we used to listen to it constantly then(and I played it a ton while DJing over the summer, too.) We also used to listen to it in the receiving department when I still lived in the US and worked at the record store. It's a killer, heavy album and you can't help but love stuff like 'Fuel for Hatred', 'With Ravenous Hunger', 'Angstridden', 'Repined Bastard Nation'...I think the best song might be 'Mental Mercury' which is brutal as hell! But, again, something has to go somewhere, and I do find myself turning toward their other 2000s era albums just a bit more often. So today Volcano gets the 7th spot. 

6. Now, Diabolical(2006)

Volcano's follow-up, and for my money, just darker, heavier and groovier enough that it usually sneaks a tiny bit above the album, though with some hesitation. I think it occasionally even swaps with the number 5 spot. Like the rest of Satyricon's discography I adore the album and I don't think it has any skippable tracks. 'K.I.N.G.' is the grooviest black metal song to have ever grooved(and the video is great for this song, too), the title track is an incredible 'get pumped' track, and 'A New Enemy' really hits some sorta brain neurons in my strangely wired brain for some reason. Now, Diabolical is one of the albums I'd hand to someone who says 'gimme something great to listen to from the 2000s.' I feel like another reason I put this a little higher than Volcano was that it kinda sounds ahead of its time; when I listen to it today it's like I'm somehow listening to an album that was made yesterday. It's easy to see why the band leans heavily on this album for live shows, too; these songs translate *very very well* to a live set. All in all when I'm making up playlists and such I find myself revisiting this album enough that it just about scratches the top five, and depending on my mood that day, like I said, can sometimes be IN the top 5. But for now, I've been playing another one just a little more often...

5. The Age of Nero(2008)

Maybe it's because it's the sign of the times, but with Nero meaning both darkness/black and being the famed emperor, I've always just felt like this albums sheer, suffocating darkness and heaviness has spoken to me more and more over the years and it's crept higher after a time and often overtakes the other 2000s era albums. The Age of Nero does have a little bit of an experimental bent from time to time, but whenever I start thinking of ranking these albums, I'll put this on and listen to it open with the vicious drum assault of 'Commando' and this one ends up coming back home to the top 5. 'Black Crow on a Tombstone' is the second-grooviest black metal song ever. To go along with Commando's perfect opening, Den Siste is a dark and nasty closer, and the Sign of the Trident is yet another one of those catchy as fuck tracks. All in all The Age of Nero comes together extremely well and shows I think the growth of their 2000s-era perfectly. It's another album that sounds like it could've come out yesterday(and is just as relevant today as it always was. Their message wasn't straight-up blatant, but it certainly had that air of an observation of the world's darkness.) 

4. The Shadowthrone(1994)

Now we're settling into the top 5, and from Satyricon's "old sound"(which is what I consider DMT and ST, Nemesis Divina had sort of evolved past their older, more raw sound), I always preferred the Shadowthrone. This album always has and always does get a lot of play; I feel like they took their barbaric, medieval influence of DMT and evolved it into a harshly cold and melodic, almost epic sounding album, featuring some longer tracks and keyboards that I don't think ever really overtake the album and turn it pompous or anything like that. I rank this album highly because I also feel it shows the band's growth very, very well, even though it was only a year after DMT. Their songwriting and musicianship evolved a whole lot in that year and it comes through in the music. This album is one of 1994's best black metal albums IMHO; up there with Transilvanian Hunger and In The Nightside Eclipse. When it opens with that snarling "Kampen mot Gud og hvitekrist er igang!" you know you're in for a ride. 'Hvite Krist's Død', 'In The Mist By The Hills', 'Vikingland', all so good and with riffs galore. Frost's drums step up pretty much immediately too(even though they were pretty damn good still on their first album.) It's been solidly in my top 5 Satyricon albums since I sank into the realms of black metal, and I'm not sure I see this one leaving anytime soon unless they release two albums in quick succession that warrant it. 

3. Deep Calleth Upon Deep(2017)

Yes, yes, I know. I have performed a black metal sin and placed one of the newest albums in the top 3. I of course kid(I mean, many people find Monotheist to be one of Celtic Frost's finest, me included, and that was their last album), but let's face it, the extreme metal community has a big draw to sticking with a band's first albums; as I remember hearing one time "The first demo is always the best." In Satyricon's case, I simply feel like their last full-on metal album was incredible. The musicianship, for one, on this album is absolutely top-notch. You can hear just HOW much they have evolved and just gotten better and better over time. The tracks on this album actually start scratching an almost progressive sound, though it avoids crossing straight over into 'prog'; more of an influence. And Frost sounds like he is having so much fun on the drums on this one, and has put out some of his most impressive bits yet. The drums in 'Blood Cracks Open the Ground' alone are mind-boggling(and try to find a clip of that played live!) The title track I have fond memories of listening to inside while playing some PC games. I feel like this album belongs here because it's a fantastic example of growth and evolution while still keeping an incredibly dark and heavy sounding album. 

2. Rebel Extravaganza(1999)

Getting toward the top! I recently wrote a blog gushing about how much I loved this album, and there are times where I sometimes really do think it's their best album, but at the end of the day I think my nostalgia makes number 1 the way it is, but goddamn it's a mere hair's thread. I listen to this album SO much. It's dark, cold, incredibly heavy, thickly produced, with, as I've said a lot, some of the greatest black metal drumming of the 90s found right here. From the beginning of 'Tied in Bronze Chains' to the absolute stamina test of the last three+ minute blastbeat at the end of  'The Scorn Torrent', this album is a masterpiece in what it takes to push against the direction that a genre might be headed and not being afraid to do so. I use the words "game-changer" with this album a lot, and it's because I mean it; I believe this album was one of the biggest game-changers of its time. 'Filthgrinder' is a legendary track to see played live(and is a fond memory of anyone with Kazaa downloading the famous drum check involving that and Forhekset), with one of the coolest buildup and breakdowns ever at the last part of the song. 

If you want to read me vomit a lot more words about Rebel Extravaganza than I did here, you can check the blog about it here: https://azaaelfgc.blogspot.com/2025/07/my-ode-to-one-hell-of-game-changing.html . This blog is the only reason why I didn't go on longer about this one. 

1. Nemesis Divina(1996)

When I talk about essential albums, I mostly just mean really great albums of any particular genre or sub-genre. They don't have to be peak or legendary(though they often are), but just really spectacular albums. Nemesis Divina, on the other hand, is one of those albums that I straight-up consider 100% essential legendary black metal listening. If you asked me to make a list of the 10 most important black metal albums of the 2nd wave(90s-early 00s basically), Nemesis Divina would absolutely be on this list. From the intro of Dawn of a New Age and the iconic "This is armageddon!" -- ranking up there with best song openings with Angel of Death -- to the finale, Nemesis Divina is a masterclass on how to combine an icy feel, sharp production, blasting, keys, melody, and heaviness all together, never really getting symphonic at any time. Mother North just needs to become Norway's national anthem(especially if it's the live version with the National Opera), and Forhekset's iconic double-bass assault and riffing keeps it one of the best songs on the album. The riffs on this album are absolutely fantastic; I can recognize pretty much any one of them with a listen. 

I don't think I need to even mention that there's no filler on this(I don't think there's really filler on Satyricon albums, just songs I listen to a bit less). Interestingly, this was the last album where Satyricon operated as more than a two-piece; Nocturno Culto of Darkthrone had joined on guitar for this and was a part of the band/their live performances this time, as well. These songs have stood the test of time; it's hard to believe, but this album is going to be 30 next year(and I certainly hope they do something for that!) They hold up live, they hold up on album, they hold up everywhere. Despite the band's youth, Satyr and Frost showed a musical maturity already here on this album that seemed to level up severalfold from both Dark Medieval Times and The Shadowthrone. Perhaps it sounds a little rough still compared to the musicians they became decades later, but this album aged so incredibly well it's crazy. 

I don't want to turn this into an outright review of Nemesis Divina, but it's my 3rd favorite album of all time for a reason, as well as, once again, an album that I'd consider one of the most important of the 2nd wave. 

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Welp, there we have it. Yeah, I know this is going to look different than a lot since I know a LOT of people put some order of The Shadowthrone or Dark Medieval Times first(occasionally Nemesis Divina), and others yet won't even recognize anything after them -- but you know what, no hate, it's their loss if they won't even give it a try, IMO. I think this band has something for almost everyone in metal, though, and even IF something isn't up your alley, there might be something else. 

I'll be back again with more Azzy Ranks in the near future! 

Azzy Ranks: Bathory

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)

Oh, Octagon. If anything said 'phoned in', it's Octagon. There's a few serviceable riffs, but compared to the downright majesty of so many of the albums, this one is very weak, and it came out during The Mid Nineties, which was a very, very rough time for thrash metal. (A lot of thrash bands are known to have their weakest albums during this time period; Sodom weathered it well, but a lot of other bands, not so much.) I think I rated this album 'strictly average' once but I never really put it on and I was very generous that day, heh. 

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!)