Style: Epic Viking metal
Primary Emotions/Themes: The very definition of how to create an epic soundscape within the metal genre.
Thoughts: It's always difficult writing about my favorite albums. This one in particular is going to be a monumental challenge to capture adequately in words.
Twilight of the Gods is my definition for epic. There is no single album that comes close to the scope of this one. These seven songs - and especially the title track - are among some of the finest compositions ever penned in the metal genre or otherwise.
Every knock I had on Hammerheart has been resolved here. The riffs and pacing in Hammerheart sounded way too similar for me. Here they have been greatly expanded to include an incredible variety of riffs, emotions, and even instruments.
The best way to do this is to go into the title track and explain exactly why this is so special. The intro is composed of a soft blowing wind with an acoustic guitar. This entire sequence lasts just over a minute and is barely audible. So many albums are scared to get truly quiet, Bathory is not one of those bands.
When the metal finally does come crashing through it's as if the very world is crashing down on me. Layers up on layer of guitars, layer upon layer of acoustic work, chanted vocals, drums. It's nearly too much to take in at once. Welcome to the Twilight of the Gods, this is now what Bathory has become.
The song continues in a march like fashion for the next minute or two until the drums steady out into a back beat, the riff normalizes into a massive strum and the vocals finally enter in. The vocals no longer show any sign of harshness, this is all clean signing. Quorthon has learned how to not only develop his clean vocals, he's done so remarkably well. Much better than I ever would have thought considering the bands past.
The title track continues for a good eleven minutes before fading out into wind and an acoustic outro again. It transitions directly into the next track and we are off to another adventure.
Unrivaled, unequaled, superior, elite. This is it. This is the single most epic album in my collection. The very definition of grandeur. One of the very few albums that I consider the greatest of all time.
Written May 9th 2024
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