Countess Bathory
Countess Elisabeth Bathory - there you have a psycho. Made famous for her insanity built up around the nevrotic pursue of eternal beauty. In these modern times we might understand her better, and maybe if she had been born into such wealth and power as she was in middle aged eastern Europe, things would've ended up completly different. But sadly for her and her victims, that was not the case. She killed a considerable number of virgins so she could bath in their blood - it was supposed to have a healing effect on her skin. Crazy enough to be house arrested even in the middle ages.
But hell, that was centuries ago. Let's look at the bright side of this tradegy. A swedish kid, with a scillfull father in music, was somehow inspired by her and named his
band after her. And that is worth remembering, and give thanks to. The first album is one of the best LPs I have in the genre. And I dare say, it was very important for the first black metal bands in Norway. He probably came over the name through Venoms song on the subject, and I know many critics say that they can see the musical influence on the early work of this kid. But I say they miss the point. Yeah, Venom inspired us all - I will come back to that in my recommended album list - but Bathory took the music down deep, build it up with a compact and evil expression that inspired others even more.
So - the first album "Bathory" (with a black and white cover if you're a collector) is worth having in your collection. When I first listened to it I loved it so much I hardly listened to anything else for weeks. It was something so compact and indeed new, with the whole brand package of evil that it was never to be forgotten. Musically you can of course argue a lot around it - but it was the right product at the right time for a lot of us.
Later works did not have the same inpact on me, even though I also rank "the return" high. But i would've listened to this album before I went any further with the bands productions.
But hell, that was centuries ago. Let's look at the bright side of this tradegy. A swedish kid, with a scillfull father in music, was somehow inspired by her and named his
band after her. And that is worth remembering, and give thanks to. The first album is one of the best LPs I have in the genre. And I dare say, it was very important for the first black metal bands in Norway. He probably came over the name through Venoms song on the subject, and I know many critics say that they can see the musical influence on the early work of this kid. But I say they miss the point. Yeah, Venom inspired us all - I will come back to that in my recommended album list - but Bathory took the music down deep, build it up with a compact and evil expression that inspired others even more. So - the first album "Bathory" (with a black and white cover if you're a collector) is worth having in your collection. When I first listened to it I loved it so much I hardly listened to anything else for weeks. It was something so compact and indeed new, with the whole brand package of evil that it was never to be forgotten. Musically you can of course argue a lot around it - but it was the right product at the right time for a lot of us.
Later works did not have the same inpact on me, even though I also rank "the return" high. But i would've listened to this album before I went any further with the bands productions.