What can really be said about an album as classic as this ? Sure, Venom may have given us Black Metal, but Bathory was the band that defined the style and took it to new heights (well, not on this particular release, but that's a different story altogether). Bathory's self titled debut is an excellent example of how much of an influence Venom were to metal in general (much to the disdain of all the newbie idiots out there who would like nothing better than to minimize Venom and the fact that THEY invented black metal and not the Norwegians). Almost ever song on this CD draws heavily from either the "Welcome To Hell" or "Black Metal" albums by the British trio of terror, and while many would consider this album nothing more than a knock-off (which it is truth be told), it's a DAMN FINE knock-off, and that's what really matters. The songs themselves ? Most range from mid-paced to blistering (relatively speaking - this is 1984 we're talking about here) in speed, the guitar tone is thin yet razor sharp, bass is of a rather "muted" tone and somewhat non-descript, drums are dampened in sound and simplistic as hell (I don't hear more than a 5 piece kit here), and mid-range gritty demon vocals that are so caustic they eat away at everything in their path - in other words, the de-facto standard for 80s black metal. Highlights of the CD are "Hades", "Necromansy" (where you can hear the riff Varg later recycled/ ripped off for the Burzum track "War"), "In Conspiracy With Satan" (an absolute fucking CLASSIC), and "War". If you don't already own this album, buy it immediately - it might not be the best Bathory has given us over the years, but it's still better than 99% of all the synth saturated camel shit that gets passed off as "black metal" today.

© 1999 chorazaim