Bathory – Hammerheart (199)

September 20, 2023

Bathory’s ever-changing sonic palette is taking me to places that I never thought I would go. Honestly, when I think of “viking metal” I think of idiots at festivals with their plastic drinking horns and cringe shit like Amon Amarth’s stage shows, but honestly, Bathory are leading a much more genuine charge and I’m fucking here for it.

Maybe I’m just forever bitter than Skyrim is infinitely more popular than Morrowind and I will forever hate the appropriation of Nordic cultures into modern day media for that reason (lmao, what a life) but it’s time for me to stop writing about absolute fucking rubbish and actually address the album I’m supposed to be talking about.

Hammerheart further cements the decision to step away from thrash / proto-black metal for Bathory and instead focuses on more grandiose songwriting. The production on Hammerheart is still suitably horrible, but that does not stunt the ambition of tracks like “One Rode To Asa Bay” or the album’s opening trifecta of giant mountainous metal epics. The vocals are a bit whackier now that the blackened rasp is gone, but I suppose Quothorn may have still been finding his feet in this style.

Either way, this album is fantastic.