Jubileum - Volume III

Bathory. Supreme gods in the black and viking metal Olympus, one of the most influential and legendary bands in history. That powerful word, surname of the infamous Hungarian countess, written in such a beautifully Gothic font and crowning iconic and unrepeatable covers. There is little left to say about Mr. Thomas Börje Forsberg and his immeasurable legacy, the man behind the myth, a talented composer whose life was cut short 20 years ago. A warrior who left this world too soon, but who will remain alive in those of us who love his music.

Quorthon composed material of varying quality between 1983 and 2004, from immortal masterpieces to enormous rubbish that would mark stains on his until then brilliant record (he made mistakes and therefore demonstrated that he was human). The first three decades of the band are well represented in the trilogy of compilations released under the name Jubileum, with that mythical goat from the eponymous debut on the cover, undoubtedly the emblem of Bathory. The final chapter provides a total of fifteen songs, five of which are unreleased; the rest are part of the studio albums from the 1993-1998 period: the mediocre "Requiem" and "Octagon" and the superb "Blood on Ice".

The most notable thing about the album is, precisely, the "new" songs. “Satan My Master”, forceful and extremely dirty, is an unreleased piece dated May 1984, that is, a month before the recording of the band's legendary debut. I don't understand why Mr. Forsberg didn't include this blasphemous gem on the yellow goat album, nor why it took fourteen years to see the light of day. Second track and we already come across the best composition of this Jubileum III, that's clear. “In Nomine Satanas” sounds vaguely familiar to us and is that it is an early (recorded in October 1987 to be exact) and darker version of “Bond of Blood”, included in "Twilight of the Gods", a grand finale to the great Bathorian initial sextet.

The third new song is “Resolution Greed”, original from 1995. Groovy and with some very oriental initial melodies, it is, like “Genocide”, an outtake from "Octagon" (both much superior to the material of the album itself) that had to be withdrawn due to an absurd controversy with the supposedly racist lyrical section, although it is a criticism of Western capitalism and the situation in the Arab world. It seems that the people at Black Mark Productions did not get the message of the lyrics and refused to continue releasing Bathory material unless those two specific songs were removed.

Another surprise of this compilation is “Witchcraft”, a powerful relic recorded on the same day as the aforementioned “Satan My Master”. Both were written to be part of "Bathory", but would ultimately remain hidden for more than a decade. In fact, according to the band's website, “Witchcraft” would have been modified numerous times until it evolved into “Reaper”, this one included on the debut album from 1984. “Genocide” is about what happened in the concentration camps in the 1940s, something that, like almost always when the subject of World War II is discussed, was misinterpreted in Germany, where Bathory was even accused of being a neo-Nazi band. The guitars continue to have that Pantera-ish tone while Quorthon's voice sounds somewhat forced, but moderately bearable.

"Jubileum Volume III" leaves a slightly bittersweet taste, in which the notable unreleased songs and those taken from "Blood on Ice" more than counteract the twenty minutes of material from the insufferable Requiem/Octagon duo. They had to add something of these eyesores and luckily there were only half a dozen compositions. Better for everyone. There is no choice but to enjoy the glorious and immortal music of Bathory and thank the great Quorthon for the eternal legacy that he has left us.

It's hard to figure out why Quorthon felt the need to release this one. The only reasonable explanation I can give is: to release the unreleased tracks. The material that is worth giving a listen to only make up to the number of five, three of which we already know from the superb Blood On Ice. The remaining are the two of five unreleased tracks, namely Satan My Master and Witchcraft while the other three are useless. You may come to like In Nomine Satanas, anyway. The rest is compiled out of Requiem and Octagon stuff plus a sampler-alike from Hammerheart.

There are compilations that are worth obtaining no matter you own the complete discography of the artist. It doesn't even matter that these compilations contain no new or unreleased versions. You play it and it hammers you down to the ground since all the titans are grouped there together. In Jubileum III, this is not the case. It might have been better if Quorthon filled this up with Jubileum-leftover tracks from the first four albums. What he produces here is nothing but highlighting the downfall of Bathory in time, observable through the Jubileum serie.

Jubileum Volume III leaves a rather bittersweet taste, perhaps saved by the unreleased tracks and those taken from Blood on Ice, but it is ruined by twenty bitter minutes of stuff from the insufferable Requiem/Octagon duo. Not sure if he really had to put these monstrosities. No more than a collector's item, for one can live without the unreleased tracks in Jubileum III that are most probably thought by Quorthon as the main assets of this compilation.

Despite representing the seediest era of their low hours, it is the compilation I enjoy the most of the trilogy, especially for the new songs Satan My Master and Witchcraft. Their first fifteen years are represented in this trilogy with that male goat from the self-titled debut on the cover. Quorthon wrote a variety of excellent stuff during his 21-year career, from immortal masterpieces to hulking clunkers that would stain a hitherto brilliant catalogue, something that showed he was just a human.

Because two near worthless Jubileum compilations were not enough, it was decided that a third be released 5 years later to incorporate material from Quorthon's mid-90s identity crisis circa Requiem and Octagon. Now, I'm not quite sure why such albums, the first quite mediocre and the latter downright awful would warrant such a treatment. Any masochist who was interested in such letdowns could surely just purchase them at barely double the cost, and there are no 'greatest hits' to be had in either case. The refinished songs included here from Blood On Ice had been so recently given an official album release that they also had no pressing need for a reprint, and they are so stylistically jarring to the content from the previous two full lengths that this is by far the most inconsistent of the comps.

Jubileum Vol. III presents one hour of material, 9 of its 15 tracks previously released through the 90s. From Requiem (1994), we get "War Machine", "Pax Vobiscum" and "Crosstitution"; from Octagon (1995) "Immaculate Pinetreeroad #930", "Sociopath" and "33 Something"; and from the entirely different Blood On Ice we've got "The Lake", "The Stallion" and "Gods of Thunder of Wind and of Rain". Not an an impressive roster by any standards, though I favor the last three simply because they are part of Quorthon's return to common sense, and the Norse themes he had begun to explore upon the masterwork Blood Fire Death. Even then, though, these are far better experienced on the full-length album with their neighbors, almost out of place among the more boring, straightforward thrashers. So in other words, about 60% of this collection is a rehash of null value.

We are left with the unreleased material, which hails from all over the spectrum. "Satan My Master" is the best of the lot, a pure grimy speed/black metal track from the s/t debut years which has eventually developed into one of their most popular classic tracks (covered by a large number of the bands they've influenced). Not that it's really one of their best, but the riffs are pure honest bludgeoning with Quorthon's rasp splattered all over them, and almost a punk undercurrent in the bass and chords. Another oldie called "Witchcraft" is here, a nice savage rush of gnarled speed with scintillating guitars, though the vocal bark is a bit repressed in the mix. "In Nomine Satanas" was the original incarnation of the track "Bond of Blood" which was later recorded for Twilight of the Gods, but obviously the subject matter was changed. I rather like this raw interpretation, but it's not cool enough that I'd go out of my way for it. Other than these, we're treated to an alternate vocal take on "Valhalla" (Hammerheart); and a pair of mediocre mid paced groove/thrashers in "Resolution Greed" and "Genocide" which probably didn't make it to the miserable Octagon and wouldn't have helped if they had.

In short, not a lot worth a damn, and I once again am left baffled as to why the rarer demo and cult tracks from all three of the Jubileum releases weren't just gathered in one place. Instead, Boss and Quorthon must have felt we all owed them another 30-50 dollars for next to nothing. Comparatively, Jubileum Vol. III might have more unreleased material than either of the earlier compilations, but as a collection of music of note, it pretty much sucks a bone. Better to listen to "Satan My Master" and "Witchcraft" elsewhere and save the scratch.

-autothrall
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