Bathory needs no introduction, they are legends. I will argue till the day I die that Under the Sign of the Black Mark is the first true black metal album. Everything until Requiem is an essential album, and Blood Fire Death is among the best of those.
This is the one and only transition album that Bathory had. It combined the black metal/thrash styling of the earlier works and the beginnings of what would eventually become viking metal.
Odens Ride over Nordland is the very definition of how to do an intro. Played entirely on keyboards, the song plays extended notes that resemble whips of wind weaving in and out of each other. Towards the end we hear Odens horse neigh, it's a small touch but it adds to the immersion immensely.
Immediately following the intro, A Fine Day to Die starts with an acoustic intro that picks up right where the keyboards left off. Clean singing and a sombre atmosphere lead the song for a minute before the guitars blast in. The song maintains a middling pace as it builds into a sweeping epic that climaxes with the metal mixing with the acoustic guitar from the intro. It gives me chills every time.
Unfortunately, the black metal parts of the album are not nearly as good as the viking parts. The Golden Walls of Heaven is an upbeat track that features an intense solo. There isn't much to it outside of speed and aggression. Pace Till Death is very much in the same vein, so is Dies Irae, so is Holocoust. Outside of a few moments that's all there is.
The one exception is the end of Dies Irae. The song breaks up the monotony with a slower section towards it's end that hearkens in the amazing title track when it finishes. Other than that though these songs are largely forgettable.
The album begins and ends on the highlights, the viking songs are clearly the best songs here. It almost sounds like Quorthon was running out of ideas on the older style and needed something new. With viking metal he found that and so much more.
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