Bathory - Under the Sign of Black Mark

 

BATHORY - Under the Sign of Black Mark (BLACK MARK - LP 1987)

People sometimes ask in the interviews about the top ten (or five he!) of metal albums of all time. And usually the questioned musician would say “oh, it is impossible to say just ten, if there are so, so many amazing albums”. I totally agree with it, it is just impossible to name just few LPs, if metal history is 30 years old or more and during this period there were thousands of albums released and among them there are so many absolutely astonishing LPs... But if I was about to make such impossible list, then I am sure that I know at least five LPs, which would just have to be there… sometimes more due to the memories, which I have about them than the actual musical value (which is still brilliant, anyway!). One of such LPs would definitely be Bathory’s third opus “Under the Sign of Black Mark”. I do realize that most people would like either “Bathory” or “Hammerheart” or “Blood Fire Death” LPs more, and sure, they are also fantastic, but for me “Under the Sign of Black Mark” is the most thrilling and perfectly composed and arranged piece of Quorthon’s music. It was also my first encounter with his music and that happened I think back in 1993, maybe 1994. At that time I knew only very few black metal bands – Beherit and Blasphemy, which I didn’t like at all, and Darkthrone (“Under the Funeral Moon”) and Burzum (“Hvis Lyset Tar Oss”), which I liked way more, mainly due to that incredibly dark and ghoulish atmosphere of these albums (I wasn’t so much into their raw production at that time)… And then someone taped me “Under the Sign of Black Mark”… well, I have been hooked by this album immediately, even if I was more into death metal at that time. But there was something truly unique about Bathory’s third album, what I liked so much. Later on, around 1997-98, when I had a two piece black metal project with my friend, we started to play three or four songs of this LP, so much influence it had on us. The feeling when playing them was amazing. So, not only “Under the Sign of Black Mark” is just amazing musically, but also it gives me a lot of good memories. This is why I consider it to be one of my top ten albums of all times, even if I don’t know if making such list is possible at all.

Composition wise “Under the Sign of Black Mark” is pure perfection; an album, which delivers a collection of astonishing, quite often almost catchy, but devastatingly dark and eerie songs. But that’s not all; even the order of tracks, how they’ve been putted together, seems to be carefully thought through, so the album starts with a pure destruction of “Massacre”, then goes through such classics of atmospheric, epic black metal as “Woman of Dark Desires” or “Enter the Eternal Fire”, to finish with such gloomy songs as”13 Candles” and “Of Doom”. When listening to “Under the Sign of Black Mark” I must admit that the production of this album is definitely my favourite one from all three albums, which Bathory has released so far. Both previous LPs were much rawer and almost primitive in many ways, while “Under the Sign of Black Mark” is much heavier and aggressive, but also open for those atmospheric parts, which this LP is filled with. I mean no way would “Bathory” – with the sound it has - be able to have such song as “Call from the Grave” and make it sound so powerful, but dark and eerie, with its fantastic, melodic guitar solos and all the stuff like keyboards in another songs. More so, I must also say that while the guitar sound is just excellent for my taste here, also Quorthon’s voice is just fantastic. OK, it always was, really, especially on “The Return…”, but his voice on “Under the Sign of Black Mark” is even rougher and more powerful, at the same time it’s quite understandable and with some brilliant arrangements. Really, when I listen to “Under the Sign of Black Mark” I just cannot think of ANYTHING, what would be done wrong. From start to finish this LP is perfect. Pure masterpiece…

It’s also just impossible to pick up two or three songs from “Under the Sign of Black Mark” and call them standout tracks. Each song is brilliant, each offers something truly exceptional and each has perfect arrangements, riffs, vocals… “Massacre” opens this album and is fast as fuckin hell, very brutal, uncompromising black metal song and then “Woman of Dark Desires” and “Call from the Grave” are more epic and atmospheric, with fuckin hooks all the way through. Once you’ll hear it, you’ll remember those riffs until the end of your miserable life, trust me! And then “Equimanthorn” will strike again with faster, viciously powerful riffing... and that awesome chorus part… you just wanna fuckin scream “Equimanthorn!!!!!!!!!!!!”! And this is how side A finish and when you’ll hear it, you may understand what I meant when I wrote that the order of track is not accidental here!

And I would think that it couldn’t get any better than side A, but that is until “Enter the Eternal Fire” opens side B… and man, isn’t it one of the best black metal anthems of all times??!! The riffing in it is just mighty and the atmosphere… well, it is gloomy, sinister and the whole effect is even deeper with the bells tolling. The impression is just huge, more so because the structure of this song is quite simple, I mean it is basically based on one main riff, where Quorthon just toys with it, changing the tempos or whatever… Well, you don’t need much to compose a masterpiece. “13 Candles” is another truly exceptional song, one with similar sort of riffing as the one from “Enter the…” or “Call from the Grave”, which doesn’t mean it is exactly the same, only structure wise it also is pretty simple, with basically just one or two riffs, similar tempo and that infectious catchiness. And in case if you don’t have enough then “Of Doom” will massacre you with probably the most insane, vicious, mayhemic, fast and uncompromising riffing from the whole LP. I really, really like this song a lot!

While finishing this review and paying a tribute to Quorthon and his third album, I must also point out how brilliant and fast this composer was evolving and progressing. I mean just listen to “Bathory” and then “Under the Sign of Black Mark”. The difference is big, but from the other hand this third LP still has some traces of Bathory’s old style. More so, I must also notice that the debut was nothing more or less but a Venom / Motorhead influenced black ‘n’ roll sort of stuff, but just take a listen, which way did Cronos and Venom go and how the Bathory style was developing. Isn’t it one of the examples of “the student becomes the master” thing? For me Bathory was always way better than Venom and such LPs as “Under the Sign of Black Mark” only proves me right. I’ve been listening to it for almost 20 years now and still I feel thrills like it was my first time, it just doesn’t get boring. This definitely is one of my top ten metal albums of all time and one, which just must be in everyone’s collection, best on vinyl, if you ask me!

Standout tracks: ALL OF THEM!!!

Final rate: 100 / 100

Bathory - The Return

BATHORY - The Return... (BLACK MARK - LP 1986)

1986 was a year of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, but somewhere else at that time, far in the North of the European continent, in Sweden, the freezing winds and Northern darkness has brought something maybe not as radioactive and lethal as that nuclear force, which the Eastern wind was bringing from the Ukrainian territory back then, but surely equally destructive… Bathory has finally spawned their second LP, “The Return…”!!! It was only a year after the release of Bathory’s highly acclaimed self titled debut LP, but from the first listen one can notice a development in Quorthon’s music. While the first LP was more or less Venom and Motorhead worship (although I have no idea whether Quorthon was actually ever influenced by Venom or not), but played in more evil and faster way, then “The Return…” came out as even more obscure, more malevolent, vicious and evil record. When I listen to “The Return…” I can clearly see, where the Norwegian sound of black metal mainly came from. I mean the riffing, as well as the harsh, raw, shrieking vocals and utterly dark and raw production of this second album of Bathory must have been the main source of influence for the whole early 90’s generation of Norwegian bands, including Darkthrone, Satyricon, Hades, Burzum, etc. That itself is enough proof I guess for importance of “The Return…” and surely if anyone wants to know where the sound of the second wave of black metal come from, he must go back to the real roots of it and this album is an obvious choice.

I don’t think that “The Return…” is yet a perfect record (such definitely is “Under the Sign of Black Mark”, in my opinion, an utter black metal masterpiece). There are few parts, where I can say that the level of brilliance is not exactly there on the top – but only slightly, as all in all this album nails me down to the floor right from its very beginning – which is a creepy intro “Revelation of Doom” - up to its final and also definite finest moment, which is “The Return of the Darkness and Evil”. That sole song is enough reason to get this album, as in my opinion it belongs to the most memorable and finest, most important tracks in the history of the metal music. I sincerely can say that I love this track, its simple, but effective riffs and structures and obviously every time I listen to it I just must scream the lyrics from the chorus part. This is what I call cult. Another song, which stands above the rest, is “Born for Burning”. Think what you want, but for me this is essential early Bathory and definitely this particular track holds some of the best riffs and ideas Quorthon had in that early period of Bathory existence. Again a very memorable, catchy as fuck chorus and again a very morbid and obscure atmosphere… Phenomenal stuff!

But honestly I could mention almost entire tracklist here and each of these songs is great. Take “Total Destruction” for instance – barbaric, violent and totally aggressive demonstration of what Bathory was all about. And “Bestial Lust (Bitch)” is a clear continuation of the style from the first record, again with the strong resemblance to some Venom all the way through. I can assume that some of you may feel slightly pushed away by the primitiveness of the songs like “Possessed”… this one – maybe my least favourite song from the whole LP - has almost troglodytic riffing and the whole structure of this track is as simple as it can only be, but it doesn’t really matter, as the atmosphere, which Bathory managed to create here is one of a kind. And if one’s a bit bored by this song, then maybe “The Rite of Darkness” and “Son of the Damned” will make you feel better? Also I must say that I really like what Quorthon’s vocals were like on “The Return…”. They’re very harsh, raw and utterly morbid, kind of the singing which fits the obscure music perfectly. Total destruction it is!

Standout tracks: “The Return of the Darkness and Evil”, “Born for Burning”, “Total Destruction”

Final rate: 89/100

Deus Mortem - Emanations of the Black Light

DEUS MORTEM - Emanations of the Black Light (STRYCH Promotions - CD 2013)

This project has been bringing the attention like the light atracts moths, ever since the news about it has been spread around the Polish underground. All in all Deus Mortem has been formed by Necrosodom (deathyells, plague of rats and necropulse), who must be known to all of you from such killer acts as Anima Damnata, Thunderbolt (cult!), Mord, Throneum and most recently from his excellent participation on “Blasphemer’s Malediction” LP of Azarath (Recommended!!!). He’s been joined by another interesting and well known persona, Mr.(mother-fuckin-blast-master) Inferno – rotten coffins and old spirits – who’s been playing the drums of death with Behemoth for the past 15 years or more, and also plays (or played) in Damnation, Witchmaster, Azarath… With such a killer line up, composed by two strong individuals, Deus Mortem was destined to catch the attention right from the day if its spawn. And it certainly did, as quickly Witching Hour released their debut EP “Darknessence”, which contained two tracks, one of which was a Sigh cover. The band has even played some gigs, what was a killer experience, especially to see Inferno playing guitar (he was able to sacrifice his time not only to Azarath, but also to Deus Mortem, as Behemoth – due to Nergal’s sickness - was inactive at that time), instead of the drums; it surely was something new (the drums has been taken over by Stormblast from Infernal War). But I just didn’t have a clue that Deus Mortem was ready also to release their first album... and so they did, in February 2013, releasing it by themselves (what surprised me a little), giving it for distribution to Witching Hour and Malignant Voices. Obviously the purchase of this CD was undisputed, I wanted “Emanations of the Black Light” ever since I found out about it… and finally I got it few days after the premiere. Well, the album (dedicated to Trondr Nefas of Urgehal) catches the attention first and foremost with its dark and eerie layout… I definitely like it a lot; its black colouring, mixed with the grey… great font used for all the texts, some really killer Deus Mortem photos… that sort of layout and graphics fits the music perfectly, creating a sinister and evil atmosphere right from the start, complementing the sounds just as it should be.

And the sounds are black metal, if you wanted to ask. Actually I must say that before I even heard any music from Deus Mortem I thought it will be more like an obscure, old school death metal project, I don’t even know why, but obviously I was completely wrong and that also shouldn’t be a surprise, considering what other bands Necrosodom (who’s been responsible for writing the music on “Emanations of the Black Light”) plays with. Yeah, the music on this CD is fuckin obscure, evil, nasty, mayhemic black metal… but not primitive and dull, not ridiculously simple or pathetic, but strong and powerful. Actually when I listen to “Emanations of the Black Light” I have a resemblance to a couple for other Polish black metal bands – Thunderbolt and Infernal War, at least speaking of some riffs or motifs, as generally especially Infernal War is way, way faster than Deus Mortem, but still a small resemblance is present definitely. Besides, I have a feeling like along with the pure, furiously fast black metal, which often fills up the “Emanations of the Black Light” the band takes quite a strong influence from the old school thrash and death metal as well, going as deep as to the 1980’s in the search of anything what’s disgusting, necro and brutal. I must say that I’m glad that the band didn’t opt for the minimalistic and primitive ways of the sound destruction, but their music is actually more complex, with plenty of variety within the style of riffing – starting with those old school metal riffs, through utterly fast devastation and finishing with quite few melodic parts spread all over the album – and obviously using miscellaneous tempos and patterns. Don’t be surprised then, if one minute you’ll get smashed by the wall of brutal and fast black metal riffing (“Receiving the Impurity of Jeh” – pure Darkthrone / Zyklon B worship, but with strong personal touch and some more harmonic hints here and there) and next you’ll hear almost melancholic and sorrowful atmospheric part with painful and possessed vocals, which will almost remind you Furia or FDS (in “Ceremony of Reversion pt 1”). And everything has been played in pure metal way – guitars, bass, drums and raw, shrieking vocal / howling of N., with no keyboards or useless intros (only once there’s clean guitar tone used in the finishing part of “The Shining”), what only strengthens the impression of the obscurity, rawness and aggression of the album. All in all I cannot say that Deus Mortem has recorded the most innovative or inspiring black metal album ever - I would actually never expect it from them - but certainly they did an awesome and very well listenable piece of horrid, bestial and morbid music, which I have very enjoyed to listen to and will surely back to very frequently. So, I recommend you getting this piece of abominable desecration – it is a fuckin’ bulldozer.

Final rate: 85/100

Scent of Death - Woven in the Book of Hate

SCENT OF DEATH - Woven in the Book of Hate (BLOODY Productions - CD 2005)

When I was listening to the second full length CD from Spanish death metal combo Scent of Death (“Of Martyrs's Agony and Hate” was released in December 2012, check it out!) I realized that I haven’t actually listened to the debut CD of this band for few years already, having it in my collection pretty much since the day of its release, which was way back in 2005 – I think I got a promotional copy of it directly from the band (or the label?? I cannot remember that anymore), reviewed it quite positively, rating it for 80 out of 100 points, which is not bad. But unfortunately for many reasons I haven’t listened to “Woven in the Book of Hate” ever since, so the second album was kind of stimulating force to give the debut CD one (or six hehe) more listen.

I must say that when I listen to “Woven in the Book of Hate” nowadays I still like the album quite much, maybe it doesn’t torn me apart as much as some of the other death metal releases, which I have been torturing recently (like Coffin Texts or Nominon, to name just two), but surely it is a very good album… in some ways maybe even better than the second one. It – just like the “Martyrs’s Agony and Hate” – also is pretty technical, very brutal and uncompromising death metal, but maybe slightly more straight forward and all in all maybe also not so complicated in its strictures as the mentioned second CD. I mean there are some pretty old school, very US death metal influenced tracks and here I must mention especially my two favourites: “A Thorn in the Forehead of God” – which sounds like it was hugely influenced by the mighty Immolation, from such LPs as “Failure of Gods” and “Here in After” – and the title track, which from the other hand has a massively heavy riffing resembling me the mid era Morbid Angel, from such LPs as “Gateways to Annihilation” and “Formulas Fatal to the Flesh”. Both songs are really excellent, especially the later one, with its powerful riffing, which Azagthoth would surely be envy for. This song is really an epic motherfucker, the ideas in it are just excellent, very well composed, arranged and performed, so definitely I recommend you to listen to this track. Great guitar leads, memorable Morbid-esque riffing, some very fast tunes as well… hell yeah! “Circles of Eternal Return” again have the influence of Immolation more dominating, especially vocal wise, as the growling of Lois really reminds me Ross Dolan’s powerful vocals, while the riffing may be a mixture of both Immolation and Morbid Angel, depending on which part of the song we’re talking about. Well, Scent of Death doesn’t even try to hide who their main source of influence was, covering “Day of Suffering” in truly killer way! I like this cover a lot!

But Scent of Death is showing their great skills all the time through the album and “Dancing Upon the Thin Line of Insanity” is definitely another fine example for that… bulldozing song, with a wall of massacring riffs and full brutalism! This song is technical, but at the same time really straight forward and relentless! “I am the slave of freedom, I'm free of bindings…” – great vocals again! So I am really glad that after having listened to the new album of Scent of Death I realized I also have their debut full length, as it is also very, very good death metal album and all those, who like this music just must give it a listen.

Standout tracks: “Woven in the Book of Hate”, “A Thorn in the Forehead of God”, “Circles of Eternal Return”

Final rate: 70/100

Scent of Death - Entangled in Hate

SCENT OF DEATH - Entangled in Hate (Demo CDR 2002)

I got this demo years ago, pretty much when Scent of Death has released it, so it was back in 2002. Well, I just have read my review, which I wrote back then and I seemed to have liked the demo quite much, but honestly the time, when I was reviewing “Entangled in Hate” was also the last time, when I actually have listened to it, as since then I just completely didn’t bother and the CD laid dormant in the catacomb with the other demos or stuff, which I don’t listen to so often. Soon later I also got Scent of Death’s debut CD “Woven in the Book of Hate” for review and that was the last time I’ve listened to the band at all, not remembering it for seven years, until last month these Spaniards have sent me their newest album “Of Martyrs's Agony and Hate”. Then I remembered that I still have their previous recordings somewhere in my collection and decided to go back to them to see what the progression and evolution between all those releases is.

So, I gave “Entangled in Hate” few listens and I can say that this demo doesn’t impress me so much nowadays, as it did back in 2002. It is pretty standard, typical and not so effective brutal death metal, a demo with no history and one, which honestly doesn’t stand above the majority of similar releases. The song structures are pretty typical, they’re decent and solid, but also rather forgettable, if I can be honest with you. Sure, the production is OK, maybe just not powerful enough, the same I must say about vocals and in general I just miss some spark in this music, some of that devastating energy, which I could find on the last album of those Spaniards. The performance is good in general, like the bass guitar – there are some great parts in the music, but sadly it doesn’t necessarily go in hand with good songwriting and killer riffing.

One of the things, which I always liked about this demo are two instrumental passages called "Perpetual" and "Epilogue". Both are very melodic and atmospheric, and on the first impression one can think they don’t fit the dominating brutality of Scent of Death’s death metal. But I actually think they’re doing well there and give some time to take a breath, before another cannonade of riffs will eviscerate your flesh. The first of these songs reminds me a bit of Death’s “Cosmic Sea”, while the later sounds a bit like Tiamat’s acoustic material from “Astral Sleep”, with that acoustic guitar, violin and melody… nice. But all in all “Entangled in Hate” is not really a demo, which would ever conquer the world.

Final rate: 60/100