Bathory - Jubileum volume I - III (1992 - 1998)

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Bathory - Jubileum volume I - III (1992 - 1998)

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Bathory was essentially a one-man band, fronted by Quorthon and filled out with an endless string of session players who usually only lasted one album.

Based in Sweden, Bathory is widely regarded as a pioneer of the modern black metal sound, and everybody who is anybody in black metal likes to quote Bathory as a big influence

~ discogs

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Bathory - Jubileum volume I - III (1992 - 1998)

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Along with its nearly as seminal companion release (Vol. 2), Jubileum, Vol. 1 features the absolute highlights from the career of Sweden's trailblazing Bathory – a band not only responsible for launching Scandinavia's black metal scene, but for inventing the often intersecting subgenre of Viking metal. Focusing on the band's first six albums, Jubileum, Vol. 1 avoids the chronological order approach and proceeds to mix and match its tracks at will, but this is perhaps for the better given Bathory's wide range of metallic styles. Getting things started are two premiere recordings that, for one reason or another, were left off those classic mid-period albums. The instrumental "Rider at the Gate of Dawn" from 1987 was possibly a little bit ahead of its time, while 1989's "Crawl to Your Cross," although recorded a mere two years later, was conversely behind in terms of subject matter. Paired here, they work just great. "Sacrifice," Bathory's extremely Venom-derived (down to the Cronos-like grunts) submission to 1984's career-launching compilation Scandinavian Metal Attack is next, and from here on out "black to Viking" metal evolution really takes over, with the transitional "Dies Irae" setting up the suitably dramatic "Through Blood by Thunder." Another rare demo recording, 1984's brutally basic "You Don't Move Me (I Don't Give a Fuck)," then precedes what many consider "ground zero" of the Viking metal movement: Blood Fire Death's opening tandem of "Oden's Ride Over Nordland" and "A Fine Day to Die" – both still as awesome to the ears as the day they were first presented to the world in 1988. The second half of Jubileum, Vol. 1 carries on in similar fashion, alternating vivid examples of utmost primitivism like first and second album favorites "War" and "Sadist" with third LP refinements like "Enter the Eternal Fire" and "Equimanthorn," and, of course, very mature offerings from the subsequent trio of Viking metal albums like "Song to Hall Up High," "Under the Runes," and "Blood Fire Death." In summary, pretty much everything that should be here is, and what isn't can be found on the nearly as indispensable Vol. 2 – get them both.

by Eduardo Rivadavia, AMG

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Bathory - Jubileum volume I - III (1992 - 1998)

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Essentially a companion release for the first, nearly impeccable installment from a year earlier, Jubileum, Vol. 2 covers the same crucial span of six albums and eight revolutionary years that established Sweden's Bathory as iconic godfathers of the Scandinavian black and Viking metal movements. Also taking the same approach as its predecessor, the set avoids chronological sequencing in order to sprinkle Bathory highlights in seemingly arbitrary fashion. The resulting hodgepodge of metal classics makes for fascinating comparisons between the band's unbelievably primitive early efforts and the astoundingly refined achievements that followed. Among the former, primordial poundings like "Possessed," "Raise the Dead," and "Total Destruction" were as simple as they were influential for the black metal masses that followed. Likewise, advanced Norse metal epics such as "One Rode to Asa Bay," "Shores in Flames," and "Twilight of the Gods" left as indelible a mark as their predecessors for future generations to build upon and improve – painfully out-of-tune vocals and all. And somewhere between the two strains, one finds the utterly manic, Slayer-like thrashing of fan favorite "The Golden Walls of Heaven." Finally, precious rarities and unreleased tracks are interspersed among these well-known standards – namely the amusing outtake "Burning Leather," the previously compilation-only "The Return of the Darkness and Evil," and, perhaps best of all, the first demo treasure "Die in Fire." All in all, Jubileum, Vol. 2 – like its even more essential precursor – stands as a necessary bookend to any serious extreme metal collection.

by Eduardo Rivadavia, AMG

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Bathory - Jubileum volume I - III (1992 - 1998)

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The third installment of Bathory's retrospective Jubileum series is at once very similar and quite distinct from its two predecessors. Like them, it showcases some of the Swedish black metal pioneers' best moments, along with unearthed, previously unheard rarities; but, while volumes one and two covered the same historical period (1984-1991), Jubileum, Vol. 3 focuses on the subsequent era of Bathory's evolution, a brief but convoluted spell from 1994 to 1996. Often regarded as a time of confused rediscovery, this era effectively marked the un-retirement of Bathory mastermind Quorthon, and the three albums profiled on Jubileum, Vol. 3 clearly reflect his search for a new direction even whilst revisiting various angles of his past exploits. The selections from 1994's comeback Requiem, for instance, (including "War Machine," "Pax Vobiscum," and the particularly memorable "Crosstitution") tend to filter the bludgeoning, unrefined black metal typical of the band's first albums through a seldom used death metal prism. Only two examples from 1995's very spotty Octagon ("Immaculate Pinetreeroad #930" and "Sociopath") make the cut here; and with good reason, since their deconstructed husks of punk and thrash suggest a truly lost Quorthon, and come corroded by the worst production values of Bathory's career – and that's saying something! Thankfully, the three impressive offerings from 1996's Blood on Ice ("The Lake," "The Stallion" and the über-anthemic "Gods of Thunder, of Wind and of Rain") manage a stirring return to form by rekindling the embers of Viking metal glory which many consider Bathory's greatest achievements. As for those aforesaid rarities, they range from primordial near-demos like "Satan my Master" and the brilliantly raw "Witchcraft" (both from 1984), to an unused instrumental theme (the wonderfully perverse "In Nomine Satanas"), to assorted Octagon session outtakes ("Resolution Greed" and "Genocide": better than the LP choices), to a true curiosity: a portion of the multi-tracked backing vocals heard on the Hammerheart classic "Valhalla." In summary, whilst most would agree that Jubileum, Vol. 3 covers a relatively subpar slice of Bathory's long career, this also makes it an ideal purchase for less than devout listeners wishing to sample the crème de la crème from these albums in a single-disc collection.

by Eduardo Rivadavia, AMG