Blood on ice --- Bathory --- 1996 (Black Mark)
This is a concept album, not based on a Norse or other tale but written by Quorthon himself, about a child who is the only survivor of a raid and returns to wreak his revenge. The album opens on “Intro: Blood and ice” and has a confusing mix of drums, sound effects, baby crying and then finally explodes into life on thundering drums and hard guitar with a “Viking Chorus” leading in the main vocal. With a slow, almost loping gait the song relates the attack, as
”Bursting through the icy morning/ Four times five black shadows ahorse/ Steel glimmering in the awakening sun's light/
And blood colours the white snow red.” Quorthon uses a dark, almost black metal vocal for much of the song but then reverts to a more listenable one. Since the song depicts the slaughter of the child's family and the destruction of his village, the moments of dark vocal actually work very well.
After all the men of the village have been slain and the women and other children taking hostage north, the unnamed protagonist hides out in the forests and learns the ways of the wood, growing strong and wise. “Man of iron” reflects this, with a medieval style of melody on acoustic guitar and with a clear vocal from Quorthon as he tells his story.
”I have learned to speak the tongue of the animal/ I have learned to read the signs in bark and snow.” It's a short song and leads to his encounter with the father of the gods, Odin, in “One eyed old man”, who tells him he has been chosen as a champion and will be trained to fight the great beast who was on the banners of the men who killed his family. A much harder, rocking, uptempo song with killer guitar, it flies along but not in speed metal territory. Great guitar solo from Quorthon here, and again a clear vocal, supplemented by the Viking Chorus.
In the middle it slows down to a single drumbeat as Odin speaks to the hero, explaining what is expected of him:
”And I see you riding up on a stallion as white as snow/ With the speed of the winds and endurance untold/ And you wield a sword of steel forged in fire and ice/ And the cry of a warrior you sound/ And victory is in your eyes.“ There's some lovely soft organ backing this, then it all breaks out in a big guitar riff as we head into “The Sword”, the tempo remaining high and heavy as Odin presents the hero with a magic sword that will help him defeat his enemy.
”A sword to protect the peace in troubled times/ A sword made to battle and to take a life”. A very Manowar-ish romping beat then takes the tune, like a warrior galloping along on his horse, and the Viking Chorus add their approving voices to his training.
Quorthon may have written this tale but he obviously borrowed heavily from Norse myth, as the eight-legged steed proferred by Odin in “The Stallion” can only be Sleipnir, the horse of the father of the gods himself. After all, how many horses do you know with eight legs? Parts of the melody here remind me of Manowar's “Blood of my enemies”; just in places. It's another hard, but not fast, song, guitar and drum-driven as Vvornth again gives it his all, Kotthar thundering on the bass beside him. Really, if there's a song I've heard from Bathory up to now that reeks of Manowar, this is it. Not saying he copied them or anything, but if anyone wanted to hear something similar to this I would play them “Hail to England”.
In order to steel him against his adversary, Odin has the hero meet the witch woman, as we move into “The Woodwoman”. She takes his heart, making him impervious to any weapon.
”She offers me the ability to take a fatal wound/ Every cut by sword or spear will be /Absorbed by her tree-womb/The magic will remain until it's time/ For me to part with this mortal world/ And all she'll claim is my young heart.” Yeah. Look, it's mythology, okay? Gotta wear your suspenders in disbelief, or something. It's a hard, marching track with powerful drumming and punching guitar and some nice tinkly guitar too, plus a smooth solo at the end. I tell you one thing though: it's the longest preparation for a quest I've ever heard of: thirty-odd minutes to get ready and the final battle only takes less than ten! Ah, sagas!
With the sound of wolves baying it's on to “The Lake”, where in a complicated game of one-upmanship Odin casts his eye into Mimir's Well, and his champion casts
both his eyes in. Uh-huh! Remember what I told you about wearing suspenders? Okay, then, let's see if Quorthon can explain it:
”The one eyed old man told me that the face that I will see/ Has paralysed a thousand brave men sure of victory/ I cannot fight blindfolded and I'd freeze if I should see/ So I need to sacrifice my eyes to see all from within.” Yeah, seems clear enough. Kind of like Perseus using his magic mirrored shield to prevent him from gazing into the Gorgon's deadly eyes, except this guy takes his eyes out and throws them in a lake. Um. Anyway, our hero is now finally nearly ready to take up his quest, but first he entreats Thor for his blessing, in “God of thunder, of wind and of rain”.
A gong at the end of “The Lake” signifies that the time for preparation and training has come to an end, and a bluesy guitar accompanies sounds of wind, wolves, footsteps and rain before a hard driving beat takes the song as the hero looks to the sky and begs the thunder god for the strength and fortitude he needs to see his quest through. The Viking Chorus sing in unison (how else would they sing, now really?) and Vvornth pounds away enthusiastically as the hero sets off on his mission to ... I don't know. Something to do with descending to the Underworld and fighting this big two-headed beast he's been told he has to fight. With the twin ravens Hugin and Munin by his side, and wielding his mighty sword while astride Sleipnir ---- quite how he's supposed to see with no eyes I'm not quite sure, but this is myth and imagery after all --- the hero charges into Hel, the abode of the dead.
A gentle acoustic guitar carries the short “The ravens” before we hit the climatic battle in “The revenge of blood on ice”, the longest track, just short of ten minutes. It seems Quorthon has borrowed a little from Greek myth here too, as Hel is traditionally not guarded by any monster, but Hades is: Cerberus, the triple-headed dog. Guess he's lost one of his heads in the story, but this is the closest I can come to the inspiration for the hero's demonic adversary whom he plunges beneath the earth to do bloody battle with. As you'd expect, it's a rocking, rollicking, sinews-charging, chest-thumping battle anthem that describes the journey into Hel, the meeting with and eventual defeat of the two-headed monster and the victorious .... death of the hero? Well he sings about going to Valhalla at the end, so we must assume that though he defeated the monster he dies of his wounds in the end. Quite typical Viking ending I guess.
In the sixth minute most of the music drops away to just the sound of what I guess could be breathing, and the hoofbeats of the horse, backed by the bass of Kothaar, imparting quite an eerie impression and making you feel almost as if you are riding with the hero through the dark underworld. Battle is joined then and the music swells, tough and hard, the Viking Chorus back in full voice, and a big powerful dramatic ending as the hero's horse carries him, victorious, towards the gates of Valhalla.
TRACKLISTING
1. Intro
2. Blood on ice
3. Man if iron
4. One eyed old man
5. The Sword
6. The Stallion
7. The Woodwoman
8. The Lake
9. God of thunder, of wind and of rain
10. The ravens
11. Revenge of the blood on ice
12. Outro
Perhaps the pinnacle of Bathory's Viking Metal output, though I can't really say as I have not heard the older stuff. And I would like to do more here, but time is pressing and I have other bands to listen to. Although the story is derivative and pieced together from legends and tales from several cultures, and hardly an original work, it comes together quite well, and almost throws in a bit of Star Wars for good measure. The music is excellent and the vocals, despite my reservations, are all very clearly audible and understandable. A real triumph of the subgenre.
So, again, we must ask the question: are Bathory deserving of the accolade of the fathers of Viking Metal? Did Quorthon almost single-handedly create the style? To that I'd have to say no, but there's no doubt that he refined and improved it, streamlined it and threw down a marker for other bands who came later to try to measure up to. Did they, or do they? That question can only be answered in the next part of this feature. For now, as I think Batlord would agree, all I can say is: Bathory rule, man!