GMD Poll: Bathory's Discography Ranked

1. Norland I (This left quite an impression on me during my teenage years and totally influenced my first musician crush).

2. Twilight of the Gods (This is a perfect blend of talent meets emotion).

3. Hammerheart (Who hasn't had a screen name based on this album? Idk how many times I used "One Rode to Asa Bay" in chatrooms.

4. Under the Sign of the Black Mark (The older I get the more I like shitty production and doosh-doosh-doosh drums lol).

5. Bathory S/T (Had to switch this with Blood Fire Death. Though I think Blood Fire Death has some really stand out tracks, I listen to this album as a whole more).

6.Blood Fire Death (This album actually has my favorite Bathory track ever, but I think it's quite difficult to go through it in it's entirety without skipping to your favorite tracks. Also, I'm pretty sure if I ever needed to kill someone it would be to A Fine Day to Die. Anyone ever tried playing that shit on guitar? It's nuts. It convinced my stupid high school friends that metal actually took talent).

7. Blood on Ice

8. Norland II

9.
10.
11.
12,

I'll come back because I really don't remember Requiem, Octagon, and Destroyer of Worlds. So I'll listen to them again. Also I'm pretty satisfied with top 6 but I may move the others around after revisiting. Also need to revisit The Return...
 
Last edited:
Still working on familiarizing myself with their last four albums, but some thoughts so far:

Hammerheart is musically Bathory's best work, but god, Quorthon is a really bad singer. It's really hard to rank this album for that reason. Had he gotten a legit singer to do the vocals, this would be one of the all time greatest metal albums.

The Return is way better than I remember. I love how filthy it is.

For a long time I held the opinion that the middle of Blood Fire Death was mediocre, but honestly it's a lot better than I remember. Maybe it's listening to 10,000 thrash albums for these threads, but there's a lot to appreciate throughout the album.

Requiem and Octagon are as shit as people suggested.

Lastly, I'm super excited to tally up this thread. Usually, the rankings are fairly consistent with only a few people offering outliers making the results pretty easy to predict. However, this time, there's no coherence in the rankings at all. I really don't know which albums will end up at top.
 
I love Quorthon’s vocals, but I think he radically improved by the time of Nordland I and II. The notes he hits on “death and resurrection of a northern son” are pretty damn accurate.
 
1. Under the Sign of the Black Mark-I remember being terrified and confused the first time i listened to this one. About halfway through i got completely lost in it, and i forgot where i was in the room. I looked up to realize where i was and that really freaked me the fuck out for some reason. The weird thing is that i had this album on my phone for like a year before i finally listened in full

2. Hammerheart-I like how its totally different yet not totally different from Bathory's early shit at the same time. All of the songs are standout

3. Nordland 1-I never really listen to it anymore cuz its long as fuck but i remember it having a lot of really good songs, though a little less consistent than Hmmerheart. Im pretty sure this is the one with the title track, Broken Sword, and Foreverdark Woods on it

4. Nordland 2-I wouldnt say its any worse than the first one but it struck me as a little less consistent and towards the end it got pretty bring. But it does have Sea Wolf and Vinland which i like just as much if not more as the standouts on Nordland 1

5. Blood Fire Death-Forgot this one for a second, not much to say but its probably the most intense album on this list

6. Bathory-the atmosphere is up there with under the sign but its a way less developed album

7. Blood on Ice-It feels thrown together (and it kinda is) but it has a few really great songs. Its a litle lower down because of the production, it doesnt feel like a real album

8. The Return-basically the same deal, but it falls a little behind because it doesnt have Necromansy on it

9. Twilight of the Gods-I love this album, and while its heavy as fuck, it sort of drags

10. Destroyer of Worlds-middle of the road...some really good moments but again a lot of it is filler and it drags

11. Octagon-would be the last one on the list if it werent for a few really fun moments

12. Requiem-not a horrible album, but its still pretty bad. songs are about as bland and devoid of color as the album cover
 
  • Like
Reactions: CiG
I’m saying I think his vocals are best on NL I and II.

yeah his voice hits hard on those albums. on the first one he really captured an epic power metal sort of feel. he sounds a bit more raspy on the second on but it sounds cool, like a warrior who's seen some shit.



he really puts it all into this one

That said i think his black metal vocals cant compete in the same arena as his power metal one
 
  • Like
Reactions: CiG
Complaining about Quorthon's (yes, obviously amateur) clean vocals is such a low IQ move. Totally missing the point of what he was trying to achieve with his Odinist devotee material. Bringing in a professional singer would have very likely robbed that stuff of its charm, passion and personality, as it's pretty obvious that material was deeply personal to the artist himself and that passion shines through in his performances.

I can't even imagine what they would have been like with some generic trained vocalist.
 
  • Like
Reactions: PrincessHades
tumblr_mrlfpjBlcD1rwj0u6o1_250.gif

Hammerhearth (1990)
Under the Black Sign of the Mark (1987)
The Twilight of Gods (1991)
Nordicland II (2003)
Blood and Ice (1996)
Blood Flame Death (1988)
Bathory (1984)
The Returned... (1985)
Nordicland I (2002)
Octogon (1995)
Destroyer of the Worlds (2001)
Reqeium (1994)
 
View attachment 20049

Hammerhearth (1990)
Under the Black Sign of the Mark (1987)
The Twilight of Gods (1991)
Nordicland II (2003)
Blood and Ice (1996)
Blood Flame Death (1988)
Bathory (1984)
The Returned... (1985)
Nordicland I (2002)
Octogon (1995)
Destroyer of the Worlds (2001)
Reqeium (1994)

why are the two nordlands so far apart?

also it bothers me that the debut is spelled correctly
 
Oof, fucking terrible opinion.

You’re telling my
Complaining about Quorthon's (yes, obviously amateur) clean vocals is such a low IQ move. Totally missing the point of what he was trying to achieve with his Odinist devotee material. Bringing in a professional singer would have very likely robbed that stuff of its charm, passion and personality, as it's pretty obvious that material was deeply personal to the artist himself and that passion shines through in his performances.

I can't even imagine what they would have been like with some generic trained vocalist.

Strawman. Who said the vocalist would have to be generic? I heart the heart, but he is so fucking bad. And look, I push through it and listen to the album a lot, but it’s one of the most fatal flaws I can think of on any metal album.
 
You’re telling my

?

Who said the vocalist would have to be generic?

Generic in comparison to Quorthon. His vocals completely add to the overall originality of the music.

I heart the heart

?

And look, I push through it and listen to the album a lot, but it’s one of the most fatal flaws I can think of on any metal album.

You said the same about Voivod lol.

Strawman.

Which bit is a strawman?
 
The guitars are totally drowned out by the absolutely clunky sounding drums and the vocals are ridiculously loud in the mix, that's just off the top of my head without giving it a refresher first.