Blood Fire Death

What else can be said about Blood Fire Death? It was with this album that Quorthon scored his high water mark with the theme of Odinist paganism. This is, in my opinion, the greatest Bathory album ever recorded and released.

The music is, in itself, rather simplistic, but every riff is memorable. The guitars are a brilliant mix of thrash metal speed, death metal riffs and distortion, and black metal soloing (at times). The bass is rather audible throughout every track, and provides the onslaught with the rhythm needed to keep you listening along. Even the drums are ranking high on the scales of perfection; they aren't a constant double-bass assault, but rather, more of a blend of all the genres Bathory is associated with. Each song carries a different drum beat; if the guitar riffs are thrash-oriented, the drums will accompany them with a thrash blastbeat, and so on, so forth.

Now for the lyrics and vocals. The lyrics are a big step up from the Satanist lyrics the band had penned for their self-titled album and the few that followed. Finding a more personal inspiration, Quorthon took to his heritage and wrote down odes to his Pagan Forefathers and their Gods, but didn't drop the Anti-Christianity theme (as can be seen in "The Golden Walls of Heaven"). As for the vocal performance, it reminds me more of black metal vocals than anything, just not shrieked, but growled and actually sung in some parts. They're raspy, but easy to understand if you have an ear for scream vocals.

My only complaint about this album is the seeming flow of repetition between the songs. I listened to the entire album from start to finish about three different times over the course of the past week and a half, and I noticed that most songs tend to sound alike in the middle of the album. It's not a bad thing, as every song on here is memorable whether it is similar to another or not, but that had a way of irking me a little. I'm sure nobody else would care, but all the same...

All in all, if you don't have this album, you're missing out. It is a metal classic and if it isn't in your collection, set yourself aflame immediately. Or go out and purchase it. Either one.