Bathory – Twilight Of The Gods (1991)

January 8, 2024

As enjoyable as Twilight Of The Gods is, there is something about that pales in comparison to some of the earlier records in a similar style. It is difficult to put my finger on it, purely because there is nothing “wrong” per se with anything that I am hearing. There is also the fact that TOTG was the first “viking” Bathory album I heard (before I decided to address them chronologically, which was a much better idea). For years I struggled to get into this thing due to the massive 14 minute opening track. I am not adverse to long songs I just found it a bit much for music that essentially “plods”. Does the song really need to be that long? Whether it does or not, it put me off for a very long time.

However it is with a new found appreciation for later Bathory records that I still struggle if just only slightly with the entirety of TOTG. On paper though it is still a very solid entry into the band’s varied discography and perhaps the band’s truly final “good” album, in light of those that follow? I’ll leave that up to you.