Trollheart

Blood on ice --- Bathory --- 1996 (Black Mark)

This is a concept album, not based on a Norse or other tale but written by Quorthon himself, about a child who is the only survivor of a raid and returns to wreak his revenge. The album opens on “Intro: Blood and ice” and has a confusing mix of drums, sound effects, baby crying and then finally explodes into life on thundering drums and hard guitar with a “Viking Chorus” leading in the main vocal. With a slow, almost loping gait the song relates the attack, as ”Bursting through the icy morning/ Four times five black shadows ahorse/ Steel glimmering in the awakening sun's light/
And blood colours the white snow red.” Quorthon uses a dark, almost black metal vocal for much of the song but then reverts to a more listenable one. Since the song depicts the slaughter of the child's family and the destruction of his village, the moments of dark vocal actually work very well.

After all the men of the village have been slain and the women and other children taking hostage north, the unnamed protagonist hides out in the forests and learns the ways of the wood, growing strong and wise. “Man of iron” reflects this, with a medieval style of melody on acoustic guitar and with a clear vocal from Quorthon as he tells his story. ”I have learned to speak the tongue of the animal/ I have learned to read the signs in bark and snow.” It's a short song and leads to his encounter with the father of the gods, Odin, in “One eyed old man”, who tells him he has been chosen as a champion and will be trained to fight the great beast who was on the banners of the men who killed his family. A much harder, rocking, uptempo song with killer guitar, it flies along but not in speed metal territory. Great guitar solo from Quorthon here, and again a clear vocal, supplemented by the Viking Chorus.

In the middle it slows down to a single drumbeat as Odin speaks to the hero, explaining what is expected of him: ”And I see you riding up on a stallion as white as snow/ With the speed of the winds and endurance untold/ And you wield a sword of steel forged in fire and ice/ And the cry of a warrior you sound/ And victory is in your eyes.“ There's some lovely soft organ backing this, then it all breaks out in a big guitar riff as we head into “The Sword”, the tempo remaining high and heavy as Odin presents the hero with a magic sword that will help him defeat his enemy. ”A sword to protect the peace in troubled times/ A sword made to battle and to take a life”. A very Manowar-ish romping beat then takes the tune, like a warrior galloping along on his horse, and the Viking Chorus add their approving voices to his training.

Quorthon may have written this tale but he obviously borrowed heavily from Norse myth, as the eight-legged steed proferred by Odin in “The Stallion” can only be Sleipnir, the horse of the father of the gods himself. After all, how many horses do you know with eight legs? Parts of the melody here remind me of Manowar's “Blood of my enemies”; just in places. It's another hard, but not fast, song, guitar and drum-driven as Vvornth again gives it his all, Kotthar thundering on the bass beside him. Really, if there's a song I've heard from Bathory up to now that reeks of Manowar, this is it. Not saying he copied them or anything, but if anyone wanted to hear something similar to this I would play them “Hail to England”.

In order to steel him against his adversary, Odin has the hero meet the witch woman, as we move into “The Woodwoman”. She takes his heart, making him impervious to any weapon. ”She offers me the ability to take a fatal wound/ Every cut by sword or spear will be /Absorbed by her tree-womb/The magic will remain until it's time/ For me to part with this mortal world/ And all she'll claim is my young heart.” Yeah. Look, it's mythology, okay? Gotta wear your suspenders in disbelief, or something. It's a hard, marching track with powerful drumming and punching guitar and some nice tinkly guitar too, plus a smooth solo at the end. I tell you one thing though: it's the longest preparation for a quest I've ever heard of: thirty-odd minutes to get ready and the final battle only takes less than ten! Ah, sagas!

With the sound of wolves baying it's on to “The Lake”, where in a complicated game of one-upmanship Odin casts his eye into Mimir's Well, and his champion casts both his eyes in. Uh-huh! Remember what I told you about wearing suspenders? Okay, then, let's see if Quorthon can explain it: ”The one eyed old man told me that the face that I will see/ Has paralysed a thousand brave men sure of victory/ I cannot fight blindfolded and I'd freeze if I should see/ So I need to sacrifice my eyes to see all from within.” Yeah, seems clear enough. Kind of like Perseus using his magic mirrored shield to prevent him from gazing into the Gorgon's deadly eyes, except this guy takes his eyes out and throws them in a lake. Um. Anyway, our hero is now finally nearly ready to take up his quest, but first he entreats Thor for his blessing, in “God of thunder, of wind and of rain”.

A gong at the end of “The Lake” signifies that the time for preparation and training has come to an end, and a bluesy guitar accompanies sounds of wind, wolves, footsteps and rain before a hard driving beat takes the song as the hero looks to the sky and begs the thunder god for the strength and fortitude he needs to see his quest through. The Viking Chorus sing in unison (how else would they sing, now really?) and Vvornth pounds away enthusiastically as the hero sets off on his mission to ... I don't know. Something to do with descending to the Underworld and fighting this big two-headed beast he's been told he has to fight. With the twin ravens Hugin and Munin by his side, and wielding his mighty sword while astride Sleipnir ---- quite how he's supposed to see with no eyes I'm not quite sure, but this is myth and imagery after all --- the hero charges into Hel, the abode of the dead.

A gentle acoustic guitar carries the short “The ravens” before we hit the climatic battle in “The revenge of blood on ice”, the longest track, just short of ten minutes. It seems Quorthon has borrowed a little from Greek myth here too, as Hel is traditionally not guarded by any monster, but Hades is: Cerberus, the triple-headed dog. Guess he's lost one of his heads in the story, but this is the closest I can come to the inspiration for the hero's demonic adversary whom he plunges beneath the earth to do bloody battle with. As you'd expect, it's a rocking, rollicking, sinews-charging, chest-thumping battle anthem that describes the journey into Hel, the meeting with and eventual defeat of the two-headed monster and the victorious .... death of the hero? Well he sings about going to Valhalla at the end, so we must assume that though he defeated the monster he dies of his wounds in the end. Quite typical Viking ending I guess.

In the sixth minute most of the music drops away to just the sound of what I guess could be breathing, and the hoofbeats of the horse, backed by the bass of Kothaar, imparting quite an eerie impression and making you feel almost as if you are riding with the hero through the dark underworld. Battle is joined then and the music swells, tough and hard, the Viking Chorus back in full voice, and a big powerful dramatic ending as the hero's horse carries him, victorious, towards the gates of Valhalla.

TRACKLISTING

1. Intro
2. Blood on ice
3. Man if iron
4. One eyed old man
5. The Sword
6. The Stallion
7. The Woodwoman
8. The Lake
9. God of thunder, of wind and of rain
10. The ravens
11. Revenge of the blood on ice
12. Outro

Perhaps the pinnacle of Bathory's Viking Metal output, though I can't really say as I have not heard the older stuff. And I would like to do more here, but time is pressing and I have other bands to listen to. Although the story is derivative and pieced together from legends and tales from several cultures, and hardly an original work, it comes together quite well, and almost throws in a bit of Star Wars for good measure. The music is excellent and the vocals, despite my reservations, are all very clearly audible and understandable. A real triumph of the subgenre.

So, again, we must ask the question: are Bathory deserving of the accolade of the fathers of Viking Metal? Did Quorthon almost single-handedly create the style? To that I'd have to say no, but there's no doubt that he refined and improved it, streamlined it and threw down a marker for other bands who came later to try to measure up to. Did they, or do they? That question can only be answered in the next part of this feature. For now, as I think Batlord would agree, all I can say is: Bathory rule, man!

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Isbjørn

Dude, you've only heard 2 Priest albums? The hell? I thought you had listened to, like, every rock album of the 20th century..!

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Trollheart

No, like I said, I always discounted Priest simply because of Halford's hair. Ah, the stupidity of youth...
Also, I started getting into progressive rock about 1983/4, so leaned a little away from metal. All I had was my CD collection (and vinyl) with no real recourse to downloadable music till Audiogalaxy came along, then Napster, so I was kind of in a rut up until then. And then suddenly I had more metal, prog rock and every other type of music than I could ever possibly listen to...

I'm not the rock vampire you seem to think I am, you know...

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The Batlord

Audiogalaxy? You ****ing dinosaur.

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Trollheart

My first ever introduction into the world of free, downloadable music. I was crushed when it got shut down. Kids these days won't understand, with music so readily available from so many sources (Spotify, Pandora, Grooveshark, YouTube, Torrents etc) but back then this was a seachange in how people got their music. Instead of having to buy, or borrow and tape the music you wanted, you could actually download it for free! Before the Man clamped down on it and burned it to the ground, of course. I learned a lot in those days, thanks to AG and also to the long-lamented Allofmp3.com, first of the Russian "Dollar-an-album" websites. Respect.

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Mondo Bungle

The days when you downloaded songs

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The Batlord

Seasons In the Abyss is a great album, even if it's kind business as usual. That short drum solo/fill/whatever-the-**** immediately after the end of the second chorus is one of the most metal things I've ever heard. And I think you're missing something on the influences of the title track. I see it as the culmination of the more melodic experimentation on South of Heaven, but realized better. It's got that same kind of melodic, but creepy atmosphere as "Spill the Blood". "Seasons In the Abyss" is probably my favorite Slayer song. If they hadn't run out of steam by the next album, I'd have loved to see if they could have explored that sound even further. Also has my fav Slayer lyric ever, "Inert flesh/A bloody tomb/A decorated splatter brightens the room/An execution a sadist ritual/Mad intervals of mind residuals". Especially those last two lines. The alliteration, along with the rhythm of the delivery, just make it so memorable. The entire thing has great lyrics though.

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Trollheart

I remember buying this album and just being so impressed by it, considering I had at that point never heard of the band. Even the title sounded metal, both of the band and the album, and I had a feeling I would not be disappointed. I wasn’t. From the first glance at the sleeve you get a sense of awe and majesty, power and strength, and you know this isn’t going to be any “wimpy” soft rock album. In fact, through a clever campaign of publicity Manowar raised their profile and interest in their debut by utilising what I believe was the first I ever heard of the term “False Metal”, and urging those who listened to their music to reject same.

False Metal was deemed to be anything that masqueraded as Metal but was not seen to be hard enough or dedicated enough. The likes of glam and hair metal would have fallen under this banner --- Motley Crue, Hanoi Rocks etc --- as would anything that used too many ballads or keyboards, girly vocals or wimpy lyrics. Manowar would ally themselves to the new breed of Metal bands coming up like Tank, Venom and Slayer, as well as bands who were established and had proven their credentials like Priest, Maiden, Motorhead and Sabbath. These bands all played True Metal, and were to be either revered or accepted. Anyone else was not.

It was a clever ploy, but as I mentioned when I reviewed “Hail to England” some time ago, Manowar’s bastard-hard-come-and-have-a-go stance was purely for the cameras, as it were, revealed when they were reported to have run from a fight with another band. I can’t recall the details but it was reported in The Bible (no, not that one: “Kerrang!” of course!) and I remember I think it was Joey’s grinning admission: “Hey, we’re musicians, not boxers!” As an impressionable kid who had believed every word these guys said and expected they practiced what they preached, it was a huge blow to me at the time to find out that it had all just been words, a ploy to help them sell albums and gain fans.

Battle hymns --- Manowar --- 1982 (Metal Blade)

But when I bought this album on its release in 1982 I knew nothing of Manowar’s true lives and excitedly dropped the stylus onto the vinyl to see if what “Kerrang!” had been saying could be right, to see if the hype was deserved. It was. From the moment this album starts it’s like suddenly getting hit in the face with a steel glove, spiked and studded, and until the final chords of the closer you never get a chance to recover. The sound of a motorbike is synonymous with Heavy Metal and as this one revs up we’re suddenly subjected to the guitar punch of Ross “The Boss” Friedman, quickly followed by the high-pitched scream of Eric Adams as “Death tone” opens the album that would become, for me at least, something of an epiphany.

With lyrics that flip off society in that way you love when you’re that age --- ”I give some square the finger/ Now he won’t look again!” it’s a powerful statement of intent as Eric growls ”Pull alongside if you’re looking for a fight!” In somewhat the same way as Ian Gillan did with Deep Purple --- but nowhere near as good a range --- Adams sets the tone for Heavy Metal vocalists for years to come, a loud, angry, triumphant scream that can go into yells and roars at times. Ross the Boss rocks on, but won’t come into his real element just yet. “Metal daze” gives him something more of a platform to build on, a faster, rockier song as Adams again lays down the marker: ”Only one thing sets me free/ Heavy Metal, loud as it can be!”

It pounds along with a kind of boogie vibe and a chanted chorus that would ensure they would receive adoration onstage: ”Hea-vy Me-tal!” simple but effective. Manowar certainly knew how to work the system, and they gave us what we wanted. Their fans became known as the Army of the Immortals, and when you listen to their music, that’s how you feel. Like nobody can touch you, like nothing can hurt you, like you’re gonna live forever. The thing I quickly learned about Manowar though was that they relied very much on power and bombast rather than the speed some of the bands coming up during the time of the NWOBHM --- Raven, Motorhead etc --- preferred. Even “Fast taker”, which you would expect to rocket along, well, does, but it’s not the heads-down, break-your-neck speed that the likes of Slayer and Anthrax would later espouse.

There’s a great solo from Ross here, his first real chance to show what he can do, and he does not waste it. Of course, Manowar were really an eight-piece: four guys and their egos. They had no compunction about going around saying they were the best, and inviting other Metal bands to take them on, a real case of “Come and have a go”, but it must be accepted that the talent was there. They knew how to play, and they knew how to write. They also knew how to project an image, before many Metal bands had a clear idea of how they wanted to present themselves to their fans, and went through various changes, Manowar had it down pat. “Death to False Metal!” they roared, and we roared back in delight. Had we horses, and could we ride them, we would have followed them into battle. It was just that empowering.

Much of their lyrical content concerned, at least on the first album, the Vietnam war, with it being mentioned in the opener and the main theme of the next track, “Shell shock”. Later they would turn to more historical/mythical, even fantasy themes, recalling great battles and warriors, and musically worshipping Odin and the Norse gods. But here they were still sort of shaping their ideas, and war and Heavy Metal always go well together, so why not? The next song however is their mission statement, and is simply called “Manowar”. It’s a faster, more driving song, with drummer Donnie Hamzik thundering the beat, and tells the story of the band’s formation, somewhat embellished --- ”We met on English ground/ In a backstage room we heard the sound/ And we all knew what we had to do” --- with perhaps what The Batlord would term the goofiest and yet most satisfying chorus line --- ”Manowar! Born to live forevermore!/ The right to conquer every shore!/ Hold your ground and give --- no more!” Oh you have to laugh now, but back then we believed every word passionately, and loved it.

Another cracking solo from Ross as Joey de Maio thumps out the bass, then the beginnings of their move towards a more fantasy lyric with a darker, grindier sound comes with “Dark avenger”, which slows everything down to Doom Metal speed, as Adams shows that he can sing at the other end of the scale too. A raw, angry lyric speaks of the lust for revenge of a hero left to die after his enemies have taken everything he has. The gods, impressed, allow him this opportunity for vengeance. Taking him to the land of the Dead, they resurrect him and send him back as their instrument of retribution. This song could be on any Sabbath album, and includes, rather amazingly, the services of the famous Orson Welles, narrating part of the story. It’s a powerful addition and really adds gravitas to the song. It sounds like there’s a synth backing, but I can’t find any credit for it, though Ross did later play keys on other albums, so maybe they snuck one in but didn’t want to tell the Army of the Immortals about it!

As the song reaches its climax, Ross goes wild on the guitar, Hamzik rattling the drums like galloping warhorse as Eric screams out his revenge with gusto, stretching his vocals cords to the limit. You can almost see the blood dripping off his sword, already slick with the life essence of so many slain enemies --- and many more to be slain! --- and the terrified women cowering on the ground sodden by the blood of their husbands, awaiting their turn. In a total change of pace, Joey deMaio gives a virtuoso display on the bass as he interprets Rossini’s “William Tell” for a Metal audience with the assistance of Ross, before we end on the big title track, a stunning almost operatic piece, opening on acoustic guitar which fades down as Hamzik starts slow then increases the speed as he calls in Adams.

A triumphant, victorious battle song, it’s the perfect end to this amazing debut album, and cuts right to the heart of what Manowar were about. With choral vocals evoking the feel of an army on the march, the lyric is full of words like “blood, steel, fight” and “glory”; in fact, the title of the followup album is prophesied here as Adams yells ”Sound the charge!/ Into glory ride!” In the midsection the song drops to an acoustic gentle passage, with more choral vocals as the battle pauses, but we’re quickly back into mayhem as Ross takes control, urging the troops on as dust rises about them in a cloud and enemies fall on every side. ”Kill! Kill!” screams Adams, and you could say it’s glorifying violence, but it’s hard to take it too seriously and it’s set to the backdrop of a battle. It’s not like Manowar are exorting their followers to go out and kill people in the street, unlike some bands I could name.

It all ends then in a run-up on the drums, a squeal on guitar and a choral interpretation almost of Orff's “O fortuna”, and with a final guitar chord we are out, and the battle is won. The fictional battle in the song, and also the battle for the hearts and minds of metalheads, who having heard this album became instant followers and fans of the band, and a legend was born. As Manowar had intended from the start. To quote the late, lamented Rik Mayall, the plan worked brilliantly!

TRACKLISTING

1. Death tone
2. Metal daze
3. Fast taker
4. Shell shock
5. Manowar
6. Dark avenger
7. William’s Tale
8. Battle hymn

Over the years I’ve given Manowar a bit of a rough ride, and that’s for two reasons. One, I did, as I said above, believe everything they said when I was nineteen and bought this album. I thought they were hard as nails, and Heaven help anyone who crossed them. When reality showed itself to me in the cold light of day, I was crushed. My idols had feet of clay. The other reason is that a stance like this can only be maintained for so long, and Manowar have now dined out as it were on this for over thirty years. The joke, so to speak, is wearing thin. It’s hard to take seriously men who are now in their sixties -- spookily, although I can’t find a birthdate for Joey deMaio, all three of the others were born in the same year, 1954! Destiny or what? --- raging about “False Metal” and talking about riding forth to slay the unworthy. Yeah granpa, just sit down in that chair and remember your blood pressure!

But I do love Manowar, and always have done, and if I poke fun at them it’s gentle and not meant in any way to be hurtful or dismissive. They filled my late teens and early twenties with some amazing music, with some great great lyrics and drew for me vistas with music I could only otherwise read about in my fantasy novels. When I bought this album and listened to it, it was like Conan the Barbarian had taken up a Fender and ridden into battle. It was that powerful, that influential, and the two albums that followed just reinforced my belief at the time that this was a band who could take on the world.

And they did. What can I say in closing? Into glory ride! Death to False Metal! Yeah!

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Trollheart

A band who are huge in Germany but of whose work I have heard precisely nothing is Rammstein, who have suffered accusations of Nazism and white supremacy throughout their career, though they deny it totally, saying their music is not politically motivated. They generally sing in German, so like DAR yesterday it’s unlikely I’ll be able to comment on the lyrics, though I do have a translation of each song title and a general idea of what each is about, so that will help.

Reise, reise --- Rammstein --- 2004 (Motor Music)

The title can be interpreted a few different ways --- apparently words can mean several things in German --- but is said to translate as “journey”, and indeed it’s the title track we start off with, a dark, ominous slow keyboard laying down the backdrop, singer Till Lindeman sounding to my ears like Matt Johnson of The The, with a gritty, growly, almost muttered vocal full of anger and disillusionment. I see why they call it Industrial Metal: it’s sort of like Depeche Mode or The Pet Shop Boys decided to cut a metal record, but there’s a clear sort of operatic, cinematic element to the music too, added to by the strings arrangement on this track. An odd addition is the lead-out on of all things accordion, as we head into what has become something of an infamous song for them.

“Mein teil” (my part) takes as its subject matter the story of Armin Miewes, a cannibal who advertised for a willing partner to be killed and eaten by him --- and found one. He was subsequently charged with, and convicted of murder. It’s a punch-in-the-face, kick-in-the-balls metal song with snarling guitar and a raucous chorus, alternating with dark, bassy passages wherein Till snarls the vocal in almost a menacing mutter, taking the persona of Miewes. A screaming guitar presumably represents the death screams of the “victim” and the choir on this song adds a sense of unreality and surrealism to the song. Scary in its own way, probably moreso if I could understand the lyric. Claustrophobic, crushing and tense.

“Dalai Lama” needs no translating, a grindy, bleak and dark song, with snarling guitar and a sombre but raging vocal from Till. Great keyboard work from Christian Lorenz, and a sort of chant going on in the background with the return of the choir from the previous track. “Keine lust” (something along the lines of “no desire”) ups the tempo for the first time, marching along on the twin guitars of Richard Kruspe and Paul Landers, sort of a boogie feel to it. If these guys remind me of anyone it’s Tiamat, though again I’ve only heard two or three of their albums, but there are similarities, especially on “Amanethes”. Strange sound here, almost like a French Horn.

An acoustic start then to “Los” (translates as “go”) with a low, dark vocal and generally it’s quite a stripped-down melody, don’t even hear Lorenz’s keyboards yet, just guitar, bass and some perfunctory drumming. Now it all stops and the synth comes in but then fades back out, having taken the track completely for a few seconds. A short, restrained guitar solo from one of the guys while the other does a more squealing one, mostly in the background, With the first English lyric --- perhaps the only one on the album --- “Amerika” is a mock anthem poking fun at the greatest world power, using staples of global corporations such as Disney, Coca-Cola and Wonderbra. Great little keyboard flurry from Lorenz, and it’s a fun song which is bitter without being overly preachy. Powerful guitars too.

“Moskau” --- again, not too hard to translate --- is another fast-paced song with a great bassline and some whistling keys, rocking along nicely and featuring the vocals of Viktoria Fersch, a Russian singer who frankly sounds like one of those teenage J-pop singers. The choir returns to usher in “Morgenstern”, which even I know means “morning star”, a harder, sparser track than the previous with its almost singalong quality. The presence of the choir and orchestra adds a sense of gravitas to the song, but it’s still quite barebones mostly. A really nice solo piano then takes us into “Stein um stein”, which apparently means “stone by stone”, a much slower, doomier track with kind of echoing drumbeats that then ramps up on the back of the twin guitar attack, before falling back to the original tempo and melody,

Rather oddly, the album ends on not one, but two ballads, the first “Ohne dich” (“without you”) framed by a sumptuous synth and strings melody, while the closer “Amour” sounds initially more like something Vangelis would do. Nice restrained guitar line and Lorenz’s keyboards sound very new-wave, like something out of Ultravox or Tubeway Army. Interesting, and certainly shows great variety in this band, who I was expecting really just to be loud, fast and, er, loud.

TRACKLISTING

1. Reise, reise
2. Mein teil
3. Dalai Lama
4. Keine lust
5. Los
6. Amerika
7. Moskau
8. Morgenstern
9. Stein um stein
10. Ohne dich
11. Amour

Yeah, this was a lot better than I had expected. Plenty of variety, heavy in places but not like death or speed metal, just as heavy as it needed to be. Apparently Rammstein’s music has been described as “dance metal”: I don’t see it. There are some poppy/new-wave elements in the bass and in the synth certainly, but this is still metal with a capital M. Mind you, it’s my first (I think) taste of Industrial Metal, if that’s what this is, so I don’t know what the usual thing is to expect with this subgenre. But what I’ve heard I like.

I think I’ve had enough of the German language for now though, so the next band is going to have to sing in English. Hey, it’s the language of football, the language of Shakespeare, the language of rock and roll, why, the very language of God himself! If you don’t believe me, ask Alan B’Stard!

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Janszoon

How is it business as usual? I understand it's kind of the template for a lot of later Slayer albums, but at the time it didn't particularly sound like any of their previous albums.

Anyway, I agree, it's a great album. For me it's pretty much tied for first place in their catalog with Reign in Blood.

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A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

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