Artist: Bathory
Album: The Return……
Released: 1985
Type: Full-length
Origin: Sweden
Genre: Black Metal
Lyrical themes: Satanism, Evil
The Return…… (full title The Return of the
Darkness and Evil) is the second studio album by Swedish extreme
metal band Bathory. Released in 1985, the album had a significant influence
on the then-emerging death metal and black
metal genres. In various interviews, Fenriz of Darkthrone praised the
album and defined it as "the essence of black metal".
Quorthon explained
the album title as such:
We wanted people to just read out The
Return…… – as in a second album or a follow-up – and then flip the
album over to look for a tracking list. Not finding one, what they got was this
apocalyptic poem with the song titles woven into it. Only after listening
through the album to the end would you get the full title of the album, The
Return of the Darkness and Evil.
Bathory was an extreme
metal band formed in Vällingby,
Sweden, in 1983 named for Hungarian countess Elizabeth Báthory. The band's frontman and main
songwriter was Quorthon (Tomas Forsberg). Considered to be one of the
most influential acts in heavy
metal, Bathory's first four albums are considered to be "the blueprint
for Scandinavian black metal".
Bathory's
early work was dark, fast, heavily distorted and raw recording (lo-fi). Quorthon's
vocals were harsh, high-pitched and raspy with occasional shrieks
and screams. The band's lyrics focused on 'dark' topics and included
anti-Christian and 'Satanic' references. These
traits came to define black metal and the band used this style on their
first four albums. Quorthon said that the band were not Satanists but used
'Satanic' references to provoke and attack Christianity. With the third and
fourth albums he began "attacking Christianity from a different angle",
realizing that Satanism is a "Christian product" and seeing them both
as "religious hocus-pocus". The
term 'black metal' came from Venom's 1982 album of that name. Many fans and reviewers
have claimed Venom was an influence on Bathory, or even accused Bathory of
copying Venom; however, Quorthon said that the band's early work was
influenced primarily by Black
Sabbath, Motörhead and GBH,
and that he "heard Venom for the first time in late 1984 or early
1985" and never owned a Venom album. Bathory's early sound also have
always been associated with Slayer but Quorthon denied to be influenced by them.
Bathory were one of the pioneers of the first wave of Black Metal as well as Viking Metal.
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 on a list of demons.
Track
List:
1. Revelation of Doom 03:27 instrumental
2. Total Destruction 03:51
3. Born for Burning 05:14
4. The Wind of Mayhem 03:13
5. Bestial Lust (Bitch) 02:42
6. Possessed 02:42
7. The Rite of Darkness 02:06
8. Reap of Evil 03:29
9. Son of the Damned 02:48
10. Sadist (Tormentor) 03:00
11. The Return of the Darkness and Evil 04:25
Total
Playing Time 6:57
Listen:
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