- Bathory · 1984
- Blood Fire Death · 1988
- Under the Sign of the Black Mark · 1987
- Hammerheart · 1990
- Under the Sign of the Black Mark · 1987
- Twilight of the Gods · 1991
- The Return of the Darkness and Evil · 1985
- Twilight of the Gods · 1991
- Under the Sign of the Black Mark · 1987
- Bathory · 1984
- Jubileum III · 1998
- Hammerheart · 1990
- Bathory · 1984
Essential Albums
- Unleashed upon a very discriminating audience in 1987, Bathory’s third album became one of the primary building blocks for the Scandinavian black metal movement of the early ‘90s. Essentially the solo project of then 21-year-old Swedish musician Tomas “Quorthon” Forsberg, the record has an uncompromising attitude, cavernous atmosphere and demonic vocal style that made Bathory one of the most extreme bands in the land. Along with the early works of Celtic Frost and Venom, it inspired the legion of corpse-painted firebrands that followed.
- Though Venom had named an album Black Metal two years earlier, the 1984 debut by Sweden’s Bathory is what really established the genre’s sound—no human had ever sung with the phlegmy, demonic screech that Quorthon does here. The band’s murky, zero-fidelity mixture of Motörhead’s momentum with Black Sabbath’s pagan pessimism adds up to a battering ram of depravity. The nefarious subject matter of tracks like “Storm of Damnation” and “Raise the Dead” just makes the creep show creepier.
- 2003
- 2002
- 2001
- 1996
- 1994
- 1993
Artist Playlists
- One man forges two genres of metal.
Compilations
- 2001
- 1998
- 1993
- 1992
About Bathory
Though ostensibly a band, Bathory is really the musical vehicle for Swedish metalist Quorthon (nee Thomas Forsberg). Bathory's sound has touched upon numerous metal sub-styles, but the outfit is best known for creating the sinister "black metal" sound popular in Scandinavia. Bathory is also considered the first band to play in the "Viking metal" style, a grandiose type of metal heavily indebted to Norse mythology and imagery. Although Quorthon himself never indulged in the violent, destructive behavior (including church burnings, suicide, and murder) that brought black metal bands such as Chaos and Burzum international attention, he is thought of by many as the de facto godfather of that community. Quorthon died unexpectedly in 2004.
- ORIGIN
- Sweden
- FORMED
- 16 March 1983
- GENRE
- Metal