Bathory, 1984-1987, The Beast…

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…

Black Masses

The role call of Black Metal groups, they have fallen in the name of the cvlt, they will not be forgotten & they may yet return:-

First Wave of Black Metal:

• Mercyful Fate, 1981-1984, Satan…disbanded…
• Venom, 1981-1987, False Prophet…
• Bathory, 1984-1987, The Beast…
• Slayer, 1981-1985, fell from the cvlt…
• Hellhammer, 1982-1984, bastard child…
• Possessed, 1984-1985, Death Metal pioneers…
• Destruction, 1983-1986, one of the ‘Big Four’ of German Thrash…
• Onslaught, 1983-1986, pioneers of UK Thrash…
• Sodom, 1983-1986, obsessed by cruelty…
• Kreator, 1984-1986, Blackened Death Metal…
• Vulcano, 1983-1986, Devil on my roof…
• Sarcófago, 1986-1987, split…

Venom, 1980-1987, The False Prophet…

Venom…where to start, the inventors of the term Black Metal. The band that laid the footprint with their blasphemous lyrics and their mission to shock. But their deception was it being only a gimmick to sell records, so we shall deem them The False Prophet as they deceived us all…

Still, ask many a Black Metal band to name their influence and they will list Venom as a major player…

With Venom’s split the First Wave was coming to an end.

Sarcófago, 1986-1987, split…

From 1986 when their Satanic Lust demo exploded into the underground in 1986 until their Christ’s Death demo in 1987, Sarcófago spewed their blasphemous black vomit into the scene…their intense sound encompassed a true black metal sound, yet their unholy flame burnt to quickly. Sarcófago split in 1987…but would their undead corpse rise again…?

Vulcano, 1983-1986, Bloody Vengeance…

“many believe that Vulcano not only kick-started musical blasphemy in Brazil, but throughout the whole of Latin America”…

Vulcano is a part of the Brazilian Unholy Trinity (together with Sarcófago and Sepultura). In fact, it was the first of the three bands to release a studio album, back in 1986

“Vulcano is one of the bands that still holds the torch of extreme metal of the 80’s – raw, undisputed, honest. It’s an honour and a pleasure to work with these Brazilian brothers and help show the metalheads – old school and new school – how authentic extreme music sounds like” – Fernando Reis

Kreator, 1984-1986, Blackened Death Metal…

Tormentor and the two demos released under that moniker, followed by the two albums and an EP released as Kreator were arguably the most extreme of the Blackened Thrash era of Black Metal, more extreme than anything by Sodom or Destruction, only Slayer were able to match their intensity…Eventually like all the Blackened Thrash bands Kreator developed into a more pure thrash sound…

Sodom, 1983-1986, Obsessed By Cruelty…

Sodom, like the other three titans of Germanic Thrash; Destruction and Kreator, exploded out of the proto-Black Metal scene and turned up the hellish heat, both in terms of intensity and extreme lyrics…but like those other bands Sodom soon morphed into a pure thrash metal band and started exploring other tropes that included more mainstream political, social and psychological influences, dropping the Satanic and Death Metal influences…

 

Onslaught, 1983-1986, Punk to Blackened Death to Thrash Titans…

Pioneers of the British thrash metal scene, Onslaught have been referred to as one of the country’s so-called “big four”, along with Sabbat, Xentrix and Acid Reign. Starting as a hardcore punk band and evolving into a Blackened Death Metal band before eventually becoming  pure UK thrash titans.

Destruction, 1983-1986, Big Four Of German Thrash…

Inspired by Iron Maiden, Mercyful Fate, Motörhead and Venom, Destruction were formed as Knight of Demon in 1982. They are often credited as one of the “Big Four” of the German thrash metal scene, the others being Kreator, Sodom and Tankard. In addition to helping pioneer black metal by containing several elements of what was to become the genre, Destruction was part of the second wave of thrash metal in the late 1980’s…

Possessed, 1984-1985, Death Metal…

The first Death Metal band has its roots firmly in the Black Metal genre, the harsh thrashing and Black Metal vocals sit easily among the other First Wave bands. Just two demos and one full length make up their contribution. Hailed as the Godfathers of Death Metal their influence was to become legendary…

“Possessed was different from all the other bands who were coming out at that time. They weren’t pure noise, and they attempted to incorporate a lot of different musical ideas into their songwriting, not just rehash the same thing. They were into progressing as a band, which paved the way for other groups to expand their sound and do different things.” Chuck Schuldiner, Death.