Track Listing

1. Odens Ride Over Nordland
2. Golden Wall Of Heaven
3. Pace 'til Death
4. Dies Irae
5. Fine Day To Die
6. Holocaust
7. For All Those Who Died
8. Blood Fire Death

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #104854 in Music
• Released on: 2004-07-18
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import

Customer Reviews

Swedish Black Metal at it's best!
This is considered a milestone in Black Metal, and one of the Black Metal classics of all time. it is simply a superb album, with a raw sound no other band has ever managed to reach. BUY IT NOW!

Classic, and with good reason.
It's a hard job reviewing a classic and influencing album, but luckily when I first heard it I had seen none of the hype surrounding it so therefore I had an unbiased view. After hearing it I think it deserves to be called a classic. I will do a short track by track description to show what I thought of it:
1- A three minute long intro starts the album of and it really sets the mood, preparing you for the metal onslaught you are about to experience. 9/10
2- This song is mid-paced with grooving guitar riffs, black metal style vocals that reek with aggression and drums that complement it all perfectly. At 8.37 it feels like it's over very quickly it's so enjoyable. 10/10
3- This is where the true onslaught begins, everything speeds up on this song and it turns into a pretty damn intense song even compared to modern metal bands. 10/10
4- The song title says it all; it's another thrasher and doesn't relent until the end. It follows on nicely from the previous track. 10/10
5- This is the last complete thrash assault until track 7 and it makes its presence known with its sheer speed and intensity. 10/10
6- This song slows down a little to a crushing mid-paced groove, and if the riffs here don't get your head moving, I suggest you give up listening to metal. 10/10
7- Whoa is what I think after hearing this song, it's probably the fastest on the album and has one of the sweetest solos I've ever heard in any metal song. A gem among gems. I have to mention it slows down a bit a few minutes in and you can hear the vocals wailing clearly and despairingly before the storm begins again, a nice memorable part to the song. 10/10
8- The last full song on the album it starts with a sweet acoustic part with eerie chanting in the background before it explodes into another grooving, killer song. At 10 minutes long it never feels its length and stays interesting. 10/10
9- This is just what its title says- an outro, and you will need it to unwind after the assault that has been had on your ears. 9/10*

Well I hope that gave you some idea of what to expect, if you are a fan of bands like Kreator, Summon, Exodus, Immortal or just black/thrash metal I would definately buy it.
The production is clear and lets you hear the instruments and vocals in all their glory, but not so over produced it doesn't sound harsh. A must buy for any metal fan.
*This version doesn't seem to have the outro but my copy does so I'll leave it in. The order of the songs also seems different here's what my version has: Odens Ride Over Nordland, A Fine Day To Die, The Golden Walls Of Heaven, Pace 'till Death, Holocaust, For All Those Who Died, Dies Irae, Blood Fire Death, Outro.

Essential Extreme Metal
This was a monumental album at the time of its release and today, while the production is obviously not up to the standards of much of today's extreme metal, it stands up as a classic landmark. Quorthon was never more in tune with what worked than he was at this point...

The proper opening track (Fine Day to Die) is powerful and epic more than ever before for Bathory, but you are kept on your toes: Golden Walls that follows is one of the most effective speed metal tracks ever put on to plastic with relentless power and incredibly accute time changes accompanied by great lyrics. Holocaust contains one evil sounding riff with sledgehammer aggression throughout and the album concludes with something close to the direction he would take with Hammerheart, the epic and mid-paced title track utilising properly for the first time what would become a Bathory staple, the majestic choral background.

With a Viking atmosphere (although not strictly a Viking album in the lyrical sense), plenty of variety in the well-written song structures and a beautiful album cover Blood Fire Death is an essential album to own for anyone with a taste for extreme/black/viking/thrash metal.

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