Metal Overview: Bathory (Part 3)

Welcome back fellow Otaku & Metalheads!

I know I just posted up part 2 a few days ago, but like I said in that post, things got scrambled thanks to the computer update. Luckily, today’s post was quicker to research & type up. Thanks in part to this being Bathory’s least productive period in terms of quantity, the quality massively makes up for this. These 3 albums may be the strongest that Quorthon & the gang ever created, and act as a fitting end for a storied career. So let’s take a look shall we? This is part of my look at Bathory. Enjoy!

Destroyer Of Worlds (2001)

Though the Viking Metal output was generally well received, fans were hungry for a return to the Black Metal roots of Bathory. They were hungry for the darkness that made the band who they were, and they wanted it soon. Quorthon thought about this, and granted their desires in the form of Destroyer Of Worlds. Put out on the 9th of October, 2001, the record harkened back to some of the band’s earliest material. Destroyer Of Worlds got it’s name from verse 32 in chapter 11 of the Bhagavad Gita, which in turn was quoted by J. Robert Oppenheimer after the dropping of the atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. On top of that, but this album also happens to be the longest in Bathory’s career: playing for just about 66 minutes, Destroyer Of Worlds is the most substantial out of everything they’ve made.

Best Track? I gotta say that I like Lake Of Fire quite a bit. It’s got the dark imagery of the band’s early output, but with slow Viking Metal pacing, and maybe just a tiny hint of gothic flavoring to it. The guitarwork is fantastic, the drumming is great, and Quorthon’s vocal work feels revitalized from the prior decade. As a way to open up the album, I’d say it easily succeeds.

Lake Of Fire

Worst Track? While a great album quality wise, Destroyer of Worlds’s biggest problem is that it doesn’t know what it wants to be. Like Snake Bite Love from Motörhead and Infinity from Devin Townsend, it’s a great collection of songs, but no unifying theme to tie it all together. Some come across as blackened, some are thrashy, and some make me want to pillage. Apart from that, the record isn’t quite exactly the titanic Black Metal return that fans were expecting. There’s definitely tracks that have some more blackness to it than others, but in general Destroyer Of Worlds dips it’s toes into the pool rather than dive down to the bottom.

Destroyer Of Worlds. Not the full-blown Black Metal return that fans were expecting, but it was about as close as they were going to get at the time. It may not have a solid theme, but the overall quality easily makes up for this. If you were dissatisfied with the Viking & Thrash Metal routes they walked down on, then you may like what this album provides. However, despite their partial return to their past, Bathory heard the horns blowing in the distant winds. It seems there was one last trip to Valhalla in store for them. Next album!

Nordland I (2002)

With Destroyer Of Worlds bringing back some of the old ways of vintage Bathory, fans were excited that the band was returning to their roots after having been away from Black Metal for 15 years by 2002. However, this was not to be the case, as instead they went with the allure of Viking Metal once again, and Nordland would be this return. Released on the 18th of November, 2002, Nordland saw what is perhaps a massive refinement of the previously mentioned sub-genre. While albums like Blood Fire Death and Twilight of the Gods were fantastic, the production quality was rather dated by the early 2000s. With Nordland? You have an album that still sounds fantastic nearly 20 years after it’s original release, and not only that, the Power Metal-like vibes that were first born within Blood On Ice came back in force. Though I enjoy Bathory’s first release of the 2000s, I find the pull of Nordland to be stronger.

Best Track? For me it’s a tie between the thrash-laden Broken Swords and the epic Great Hall Awaits Fallen Brother. Instrumentally, both songs somewhat harken back to the earliest period of the band, but with more modern production behind them so they don’t sound like they were performed in an echo chamber. Broken Swords in particular almost sounds like a forgotten Black Metal track they never put on a release. Granted, the subject matter is obviously different, but it’s easy to see the connections. The later track feels like a tale straight from the village elder: powerful, epic, strong, etc. You feel the weight of the song with each note, each drum beat, and each bit of vocal work from Quorthon. That’s an impressive feat if you ask me!

Broken Swords

Great Hall Awaits Fallen Brother

Worst Track? Personally, I really can’t think of anything bad about Nordland. You could argue that going back to Viking Metal just a year after letting out the Black Metal tease that was Destroyer Of Worlds might be a cop out, but with the album being this good I’m not that upset.

Nordland. An wonderful return to Bathory’s Viking powered metal, it’s refinement in terms of sound and production makes it a release that may age better than what came before it. I definitely recommend this release to anyone that prefers the band’s Viking Metal period than anything else. Next album!

Nordland II (2003)

Released on the 31st of March, 2003, the circumstances around Nordland II were interesting. Before it’s release, rumors surrounding the album were numerous, not the least of which was that the Nordland series was supposed to by a 4-release epic saga of Nordic tales. Each and every single rumor was ultimately squashed by Quorthon, when in a late 2003/earlier 2004 interview (Don’t know the date off the top of my head) he stated that the saga in question was essentially finished with Nordland 2. In a bit of tragedy, he stated that he was set to fully return to the Bathory’s vintage Black Metal roots, which would have been highly appreciated by those who were fans of their earliest work and the potential of Destroyer Of Worlds. As for what I think.....I dig it! The album doesn’t come across that much different than the first Nordland (Save for some small improvement in terms of sound & production), but it’s still a fun journey through Nordic fantasy!

Best Track? Vinland is a bit of a surprise to me. The first time that I know of where the story of the Vikings discovering America was in metal music caught me off guard (Though I wish in was in the history books more), the song is appropriately epic. The instrumentation is almost paced as if you were actually on the journey with the Norsemen themselves, and Quorthon’s vocal work almost comes across as if he was telling a story. It’s a really interesting approach to a piece of history that many seem to ignore, and I am very thankful that this song exists.

Vinland

Worst Track? The only bad thing I can point out, and even then it’s really nitpicky, would be the album cover. At the end of the day, it’s just the album cover from Nordland 1 reversed and the colors slightly altered. Again, it’s really nitpicky to point this out, so I’m not really going to complain.

Nordland 2. Further refined from what made the prior album so good, it may be even more epic & powerful than the first Nordland. Whether you’re at a D&D session, wandering through Skyrim, taking a walk through the woods, or just sitting down in a comfy chair with a good fantasy book, it’s just perfect. Easily recommended!

And sadly we come to the end of Bathory’s career. As most if not all of you know, Quorthon tragically passed away on June the 7th, 2004, due to a heart attack from congenital defect he had. The Black Metal & Viking Metal community felt a shockwave from his death, and the vibrations can still be felt on rare occasions to this day. Regardless, without Bathory we wouldn’t have two of the metal world’s most iconic genres. Hats off to you Quorthon! Hats off to you and your legacy! With that, we got March to look forward to in just a few short days. See you soon!

***
If you’re curious about these albums, then click on the links below to listen:

Destroyer Of Worlds

Nordland I

Nordland II