BATHORY - HAMMERHEART (1990) & TWILIGHT OF THE GODS (1991)

Hammerheart the limited edition gatefold first print vinyl on Noise International. Not often that I find such gems as this one in my own midsized Swedish hometown (approx 100 000).

Twilight Of The Gods vinyl is a 2003 reissue on Black Mark Production.

Been listening too Bathory extensively for quite some time so I thought of doing a 2 part series of their viking albums. This is part I or II:

Hammerheart & Twilight Of The Gods were the 5th & 6th Bathory albums. Hammerheart being the first release in their "viking era". Sure there were hints of it with songs like Odens Ride Over Nordland; A Fine Day To Die and also the title track from their previous Blood Fire Death (1988) record.
Other bands had released viking themed songs long before. But here Bathory go all into full Viking Metal mode and the Hammerheart album was the first of its kind.

Believe I bought both these albums on CD back in 1996 it could maybe even been in 1997 at the same time. Because the Jubileum I & II compilations had many of the best songs and being 16 years old one had to prioritize albums to buy.

Hammerheart didn't quite blow me away like the albums Blood Fire Death; Under The Sign Of The Black Mark; The Return and the debut Bathory had done. I appreciated the songs that appeared on the compilations especially Shores In Flames and Song To Hall Up High.

But it didn't take long before I realized just how excellent the album really is. It starts perfectly with the already mentioned Shores In Flames and it's 11 min of pure amazing Scandinavian Viking/Black Metal at its finest. Then another excellent song Valhalla also a long one 9,5 min.

Already 2 songs into Hammerheart one can hear especially where especially the early Viking/Pagan Metal bands from the Norwegian Black Metal scene found their inspiration. Bathory were truly the godfathers of the Scandinavian scene.

Baptised In Fire And Ice and Father To Son are both amazing songs and just like almost all the other songs on the album quite long but feels way shorter. Actually the shortest song on the album is the 2,5 min long Song To Hall Up High.

I'm not sure when Home Of The Once Brave was written. But it sounds more like something like a less refined song from the follow-up Twilight Of The Gods rather then a Hammerheart song. Still one of my favorites on the record though.

Now for a long and maybe controversial topic. I really like One Rode To Asa Bay but I got to be in the right mood to fully appreciate it. Still one of their most overrated songs in my opinion. It wouldn't be my choice to make a promo video for that one from Hammerheart. The video they did was really impressive and spectacular though.

Don't know but I have this love/hate relation to One Rode To Asa Bay. Love and hate are very strong words that I wouldn't use for it but those describes my feelings for the song best.

The 10,5 min feels very long sometimes when I listen to it. Also I wouldn't have it as late on the record either. That's my opinion on One Rode To Asa Bay let's move on.

Altogether Hammerheart is an amazing album and my 2nd favorite of the viking records and that's definitely a great rating for it. The highs might be a little better on Hammerheart but I think that Twilight Of The Gods is a much more even record and the best one of all the viking albums Bathory did.

Starting with the 14 min title track Prologue - Twilight of the Gods - Epilogue the sound and production is more refined on this album and it already shows in the opening song. Even if it's a great opener I can hear why it was the ending song of the compilation Jubileum II.

Also I think that Quorthon's vocals has evolved so much for the better on Twilight Of The Gods.

Through Blood By Thunder is another song that appeared on one of the Jubileum albums and is a personal favorite on the album. The 10,5 min Blood And Iron is another one that I really enjoy.

I know that it sounds like I'm repeating myself I'll try and mix it up the text a bit. Under The Runes is a top-3 song on this album amazing guitars on that one. To Enter Your Mountain begins with this Folk music feeling to it and guess what? I think it's a great song even if I know some don't like that particular one.

Bond Of Blood has a very interesting story behind it. That one was recorded as In Nomine Satanas in 1987 and that version wasn't released until Jubileum Volume III (1998). The lyrics are of course way different from each other. Both versions are great but I do prefer Bond Of Blood slightly more maybe because I heard it for so long before on Jubileum II in 1995. It's in my- top 3 songs on this record.

The song Hammerheart that confusingly appears on Twilight Of The Gods does really stand out on the record because it's so different from the other material. It took me many listens before I learned to like that one but when I did it's a really great song.

That's my opinions on Hammerheart and Twilight Of The Gods two brilliant records that should belong in any serious collection. I don't know many who prefer Twilight Of The Gods over Hammerheart but if you're one of them feel free to leave me a comment.

I'll do post II about Blood On Ice (1996); Nordland I (2002) and Nordland II (2003) soon. Usually don't do the same band two times in a row so we'll what I post next.