Bathory were one of the pioneers of the first wave of both black metal and Viking metal.
Formed in 1983 by Quorthan, Jonas Akerlund, and Frederick Melander, but didn’t come up with the name of the band until the recording of Scandinavian Metal Attack.
When Quorthon formed the band in 1983, his nickname was originally Black Spade. He soon changed it to Ace Shoot, then finally to Quorthon, a name he found in a list of demons.
They played only a few live shows (probably between 6 and 8) in the early days. Quorthon refused to play live ever since.
Their first three albums were the foundation of the Black Metal imprint, cold harsh production, a wall of sound, and thin production. No other formation band captured the blueprint for the fledgling Black Metal genre…Bathory continued to produce albums of note right up until Quorthon’s death in 2004, but these albums were in the Viking Metal genre that Bathory helped to create…
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