When reading up on Bathory the last couple of days I was really impressed that this band or better Quorthon himself is said to have fathered not only one new subgenre of heavy metal (black metal) but two (Viking metal). After listeneing to Bathory's black metal debut a couple of days and writing my last blog article, I was really curious to find out which direction Quorthon took with his fifth album Hammerheart in 1990. This is the album that is said to be his first true Viking metal album and a tremendous influence for all the Viking metal bands to come. So, I picked out the album and started the first track and what welcomed me on my headphones was... yeah well... I guess epic is the word. Just listen to the intro from Shores in Flames.
You hear waves, you hear a simple but in its simplicity so beautiful acoustic guitar intro and then there in Quorthon's voice singing. Singing, not growling. This is far from the black metal Bathory style on their debut album. The song in its entirety is over 11 minutes long, so you have to take some time with it. Another crucial difference to early Bathory tracks. Where songs on their debut album where short and to the point, songs on Hammerheart are quite lenghty and the complete album duration of 55 minutes is divided on eight tracks.
With Hammerheart Quorthon managed to break out in a new direction. He left behind the satanic lyrics and images, the cropped leather pants and studs, blast beats, speed and demonic shrieks and changed it for epic, melodic songs telling stories about Vikings. The album covers several aspects of Viking life like warfare, child-birth, death or Christianisation and Quorthon is not shy to use sound effects like the sound of crashing waves, galloping hooves, clanging hammers or village noises which helps to create the overall atmosphere that makes this album so great. The tempo is slow to mid-paced, the music is trudging and heavy, the drums keeping a steady pace while the guitar is clearly taking lead in each song. I can imagine that die-hard Bathory fans bought this album in 1990 and did not really get what they felt they deserved. For me it was quite easy to get into this "other" Bathory style as I am not that biased.
Many people feel that Hammerheart has been groundbreaking for Viking metal, enabling bands to follow in this genre to perfect the style. Others though feel that Quorthon simply switched from Venom to Manowar and yet again took something that was already there, making it sound like his own creation. As with Venom, Quorthon has always refused to be influenced by Manowar in any way ever. Whichever way you see this might be in direct relation to how you feel towards Bathory. I myself came to like Quorthon and I have no reason to look for copied riffs or lyrical passages in his songs. I was also not bothered by Quorthon's not perfect singing voice. It has been pointed out by many critics that he had a very limited vocal range and even I heard several parts where his voice broke or was off-key. But this did not diminish the overall atmosphere. The whole production of the album is still lo-fi, Quorthon's singing fits the purpose. It is not supposed to be beautiful like Dio's or bardic like Blind Guardian, it is still gruff and gravelling, routing in thrash and black metal, fitting for a true Viking warrior depicted in the songs.
In Song to Hall up High Quorthon sings a 2:35 minutes acoustic piece and especially the last verse where he is accompanied by a choir, is really uplifting and beautiful.
Northern wind take my song up high
To the Hall of Glory in the sky
So its gates shall greet me open wide
When my time has come to die
Song to Hall up High is a like an acoustic intro to Home of the Brave which features an insanely intense riff. Yet again intense in its simplicity, creating a sense of epos.
It is difficult to pick a favourite for me on this album. I think when I first listened to it, Shores in Flames, Baptise in Fire and Ice and Father to Son stood out most to me. The first because of it's beautiful intro and the latter two because they have pretty thrashy riffs and a catchy chorus. The closing track and most popular song of the album One Rode to ASA Bay took a while before it got me. It features a really great guitar solo in the middle, I've set a time-mark to it in the video below.
I can easily put this album on my list of favourite albums and it will not be the last of Bathory on my headphones. I am looking forward to exploring more, already keeping in mind that Quorthon will yet again change tracks and revert back to thrash in Requiem (1994) and Octagon (1995).
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