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I've been formulating a theory on Quorthon's move to this sound and I must say I believe Manowar's song Thor(The Powerhead) to be a large inspiration,I'm not denying he could have came up with the lyrical content on his own being swedish and all, but the stylistic similarities are there and Quorthon was known to be a Manowar fan.

I believe "Mountains", "Thor" and "Bridge of death" were surely a great source of inspiration for the mighty Quorthon. However, "Gates of Valhalla" must have striken the final blow for Bathory's sound change. Its main riffs are heard repeatedly in all their possible versions on their epic albums.

I didn't figure I would be the first to notice this but I don't think this topic is talked about much.

I think that Bathory in general are not discussed much in this forum. Seems that Gotham City have a much larger audience here. I hope that people at least respect them

i'm a Bathory fan for sure! Hammerheart is a great album, it deserves to stand alongside the finest epic metal albums IMO.

ION BRITTON wrote:I think that Bathory in general are not discussed much in this forum. Seems that Gotham City have a much larger audience here. I hope that people at least respect them

surely I respect Bathory. First 6 albums are an absolute must for any Metal fan. It is true though that I haven't bother about the last releases.

Good question. I would also wage that MANOWAR had a lot to do with it, even if I can't imagine Quorthon ever confessing to that. After all their early VENOM-influences have been strongly denied through their career.

Still, their "Viking"-era sound is hardly a MANOWAR-rip off per se, so there must have been more influences involved. Worth investigating..

It's funny how many Tr00 BM-kvltists slag those albums. If he had wanted to, Quorthon could have made BATHORY into "the Metallica of Black/Death Metal" - pioneering the sound and being at the right place at the right time and all - but chose to go in his own direction. That's pretty much the definition of untrendiness and individualism.

Beign a Bathory fan for more than 20 years I must say that all Bathory albums are the result of the Quorthon's wish to go futher more into the future. I would call him a visionary and ahead of his time.

About the influences, well, thi is something we can discuss for ages, but n my opinion the first Bathory album is not a a Venom-sounding lp. I find much more of Motorhead, Discharge, GBH and Black Sabbath than Venom (well, not some of these bands were also influential in Venom's albums).

As Quorthon mentioned in various interviews, he was introduced in classical music and Manowar stuff by Vvornth, the drummer for Bathory in Under the sign..., Blood fire death, Hammerheart and twilight of the gods (and the various session, including Blood on ice). But as usual, Quorthon did take that inspiration to another level and thus, we have this very atmospheric albums like Hammertheart and Blood On ice, whose barbaric atmosphere, even similar to a movie soudtrack, Manowar albums certainly do not have

Anyway, the viking albums of Bathory, in my opinion, are result of a natural development of Quorthon's creativity which went straight to innovative ideas which, to this day, are beign copied by thousands of bands. And sadly, none of them have surpassed the Bathory legacy. hey might play better and faster and have great productions with all those pro-tools, but the creativity of Bathory (and other bands of course, Venom, Hammer/Frost, Slayer, etcetc)is unbeateable.

So, in conclussion, I'd dare to say that Manowat may have been inspired Quorthon, but the man did his own thing, in a very good way I must say.

Most importantly, those albums are ca. 100 times better than most things Manowar ever did ;)

Pointless post.

St. Erben wrote:Most importantly, those albums are ca. 100 times better than most things Manowar ever did

I can't do anything but agree with this. BATHORY's epic albums are full of feeling, which lack of most MANOWAR releases which are more, let's say, Hollywood-like or so.

HAMMERHEART is for sure the most authentic Viking album that ever will be, if you listen to it, you can really see the dragonships, smell the blood, sweat and ale and feel the majestic cold winds blow over icy deserts and a stormy sea. Its one of my top-5 records of all time.
On the other hand, all of MANOWARs albums up until TRIUMPH are nothing but eternal classics as well. They have written more mindblowing great songs than ANY other band in the world (BATHORY included).
Ok, that was not the question, but whatever...

FenderMedium wrote:Pointless post.

Yes I'm so sorry, but sometimes even pointless posts may have a point.

Well, even the riffing in "Enter the Eternal Fire" on "Under the Sign..." has similarities to a Manowar tune (and perhaps to Manowar's music in general if you want). Don't know which one it is, might be "Bridge of Death".

Noisenik wrote:surely I respect Bathory. First 6 albums are an absolute must for any Metal fan. It is true though that I haven't bother about the last releases.

Is there anyone on earth who really likes "Requiem", "Octagon", "Destroyer of Worlds" and those? However "Blood on Ice" could maybe be attached to the six classics for me.

St. Erben wrote:Is there anyone on earth who really likes "Requiem", "Octagon", "Destroyer of Worlds" and those? However "Blood on Ice" could maybe be attached to the six classics for me.

"Blood on ice" is a masterpiece. "Requiem" and "Octagon" are not crap, i think they have some good (but not extremely good) moments, while "Destroyer..." is pure trash, possibly the worst Bathory album ever. Only "Blood on ice" can be compared to their older, monumental albums imo.

St. Erben wrote: Is there anyone on earth who really likes "Requiem", "Octagon", "Destroyer of Worlds" and those? However "Blood on Ice" could maybe be attached to the six classics for me.

Well I like them. Perhaps "Destroyer" is the very best but contains very good tunes like "Lake of Fire" , "Ode", "109" , etc. "Octagon" has two very bad songs, perhaps the worse Bathory songs I think, but certainly is not a bad album in its whole. And "Requiem" is a total Thrash Metal album with very high standard if you ask me