Bathory – Blood Fire Death – 1988

I would argue that Blood Fire Death is less extreme than its predecessors. The sound quality is still pretty poor, but there’s much more variation than on the earlier albums. Additionally, the musical style has shifted somewhat, at least partially, and the intro to the album suggests, at least in hindsight, that the transition to the Viking Metal that would characterize later albums was underway even here. Overall, the melodies are longer than what we’ve been used to before, with peaks of over eight minutes with “A Fine Day to Die” and a somewhat fantastic ten minutes with the title track “Blood Fire Death.” These are also two highlights of the album, where it’s really noticeable that a change is underway. However, overall, the album becomes somewhat monotonous, and the highest peaks fail to do justice to the deepest dives.