Very few artists can claim mystery, legends, pioneer status as well as secrets to their name, but enigmatic Quorthon and his musical outlet Bathory is a prime example. For 20 years now, this Swedish one-man outfit has been a source of inspiration for the entire black metal scene both in terms of musical expression as well as image-wise.It all began in 1983 when vocalist/guitarist Black Spade, bassist Hanoi and drummer Vans formed Nosferatu in an aim to play thoroughbred heavy metal. In the course of time, the band used names such as Natas, Mephisto, Elizabeth Bathory and Countess Bathory before the final choice of band name fell on Bathory.In 1984, Black Spade changed his pseudonym to Qourthon (a.k.a Quorthon Seth) while Bathory prinicpally became a one-man band concentrated on Quorthon himself, who apparently employed anonymous drummers on the studio records. This also meant that any live activities from the band ceased to appear. Later that year, Bathory released the Börje Boss Forsberg-produced Bathory, which gave the band cult succes on the metal scene due to its non-compromising and unique metal style. In 1985, the band issued The Return, which was far more chaotic and gloomy than the previous album. In 1986, Bathory recorded Under the Sign of the Black Mark, which obtained and illustrated the genre name black metal, and the album has ever since been a fundamental inspirational source for other black metal bands. In 1987, Bathory rehearsed with the German session drummer Chris Witchhunter (real name Christian Dudeck) for an upcoming tour, but these arrangements came to nothing. In 1988, Bathory was expanded with bassist Vvorthn and drummer Kothaar, after which the musicians released Blood, Fire, Death , which was composed of aggressive death metal with a general war theme. The album became a huge succes. In spite of the expanded line-up, Bathory did however not start to perform concerts, and this was moreover the one and only time that the bands line-up was depicted on a record cover. Bathory was already a myth, which was in particular caused by the concealment of Quorthons identity, but it was said to be possible that he was the son of Börje Boss Forsberg and that his true name was therefore Tomas Forsberg. In 1988/89, Bathory began the recordings of Blood On Ice, which consisted of an epic saga with musical roots in Viking-styled metal, but this album indicated a change of style that was too big in comparison to the previous album, for what reason Quorthon put the bloody work on ice. In 1989, Bathory recorded Hammerheart, which was composed of mainstream metal with an evident Viking-styled theme. The record was released the following year. Bathory moreover released a video for the one and only time for the track One Rode To Asa Bay. Soon Vvorthn and Kothaar disappeared from the band line-up without a trace. In 1990,Bathory recorded Requiem but once again Quorthon shelved the release plans as the brutal death metal style of the album broke too much with the actual Bathory style. In 1991 Bathory issued Twilight of the Gods, which continued the Viking theme but incorporated classical elements, and the record was on the whole very depressive and restrained in pace. In 1994, Bathory finally released Requiem. In 1995, Bathory recorded Octagon, which experimented with thrash metal influenced by industrial with socially conscious lyrics, which was completely unlike previous records. Later that year, Quorthon added the finishing touches to Blood On Ice, and in 1996 the album was finally released. Bathory later worked on the recordings of the album Destroyer of Worlds, but these efforts made slow progress. At the same time, Quorthon played with Nemesis for the sake of diversion. In 2001, Destroyer of Worlds was finally released. The music held strong references to both thrash, mellow heavy metal, doom metal and Viking-styled metal. In 2002, Bathory recorded Nordland 1, which saw a characteristic full-scale return to the epic and Viking-styled metal. In 2003, Bathory issued Nordland II, which continued the ideas of the previous and first album of the two, but the music furthermore relied on thrash.
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