An interesting return to something of a form from the later-career era of Bathory. I’m not scholar of Quothorn’s works so I have no idea why he’s whiplash u-turned back into fucking viking / norse stuff again after two albums of balls-to-the-wall blasting thrash, but here we are. My main complaint, at least initially, with Blood On Ice is that the production feels permenantly distant and far away, like I’m listening to a 192kbps mp3 rip of a bootleg CD from 1997. After a while it become wholly apparent that it’s supposed to sound like this and after multiple listens it’s even something that I can start to enjoy. Songs such as “Man Of Iron”, “The Stallion”, “The Woodwoman” and “The Lake” make suffering through the shite production a breeze.
I guess it’s like reading a really cool ancient story that has been carved from wood. Some things aren’t perfect, and sometimes you might have to squint a little, but in the end it is worth it.