Bathory were a Swedish black metal band formed in Vällingby in March 1983. Named after Hungarian countess Elizabeth Báthory, they are considered pioneers of black metal and Viking metal. Lords of Chaos described Bathory’s first four albums[a] as “the blueprint for Scandinavian black metal
In June 2004, Quorthon was found dead in his home, apparently due to heart failure. He was known to suffer from heart problems in the past.
HISTORY/FUN FACTS
When Bathory formed in 1983 the line-up consisted of:
Black Spade (vocals and guitars)Hanoi (bass) and Vans (drums).
Black Spade is Quorthon, he changed name in 1984 to
Ace Shoot (which he is called on “Scandinavian Metal Attack”)
before he picked the name Quorthon from a list of demons.
The names Vvornth and Kothaar were supposedly also on that list.
Before Bathory, Quorthon played guitar in an oi-punk band.
Bathory played live a couple of times between 1983 and 1985 in Alvik, Stockholm.
In the beginning Bathory called themselves Nosferatu, Natas, Mephisto, Elizabeth Bathory and Countess Bathory before they finally went for Bathory.
The outro which appears on the first five albums had the meaning
`Bathory is crawling back under the rock but will be back`.
That is why the outro don´t appear on “Twilight Of The Gods” which was intended to be the last Bathory album.
The guy with the Bathory mask on the cover of “Under The Sign Of The Black Mark”,
Leif Ehrnborg, is a former Swedish bodybuilding champion.
“Under The Sign Of The Black Mark” was first called “Nocturnal “Obeisance”.
There are a secret message in “The Golden Walls Of Heaven” and another in “Dies Irae”.
In the late eighties Bathory planned to release a spectacular one hour long live video, but unfortunately nothing happened.
There are four versions of “the Return Of The Darkness And Evil”;
one on “Scandinavian Metal Attack” (and “Jubileum Volume II”), one on “The Return……”, one demo version and finally a two-channel rehearsal track.
In 1986 Witchhunter of Sodom came to Sweden and rehearsed with Bathory for two weeks for a planned tour with Celtic Frost and Destruction.
The monument on the back cover of “Twilight Of The Gods” was built by Quorthon.
It is ten meters tall and 5-6 meters wide. It depicts Yggdrasil, the world tree in old norse mythology.
Two songs on “Octagon”; “Genocide” and “Resolution Greed”, were censored the last minute because of the lyrics,
That´s why “Deuce” ended up on the album, which wasn´t the idea at all.
Look at the lyric sheet on”Octagon” and you´ll see that two songs are missing. These songs are now available on “Jubileum Volume III” .
On the 1989 “Requiem” there are supposedly songs called “Descend To Hell”, “Cry”, “Marching Off To War” and “Nine Lakes Of Fire”.
Carsten Nielsen, drummer in Danish Artillery, was supposed to join Bathory in 1985, but he choose to stay in Artillery a s he though they would become bigger.
The famous Swedish video director Jonas Åkerlund (who did Prodigy´s “Smack My Bitch Up”,
Madonna´s “Ray Of Light” and Metallica´s “Turn The Page” to name a few)played drums in the first Bathory line-up.
Another guy who played in Bathory is Cliff of Driller Killer, he handled the bass for a while.
In Sweden Cliff is known from popular Punk bands such as Black Uniformsand Anti Cimex.
According to rumours, a guy who played on “Bathory” or “The Return…..” called himself Chris, perhaps also Chris Kross, although that name is a bit more uncertain.
In the book
“Lords Of Chaos: The Bloody Rise Of The Satanic Metal underground” Quorthon´s real name is “revealed”, they claim it is Pugh Rogefeldt.
For those of you not living in Sweden; Pugh Rogefeldt is a 74 year old Swedish progressive Rock/Pop musician!
Another name which claimed to be Quorthon´s real name appeared in a German magazine.
They unmasked him and wrote that his name is “Runka Snorkråka”.
For those of you who aren´t familiar with the Swedish language, “runka” is Swedish for “jerk off” and “snorkråka” means “booger”.
On the New Renaissance version of “Under The Sign Of The Black Mark”, next to the matrix number on side one, it says
“!NATAS LIAH” and on side two “NEED A SWEDE”.
All Bathory albums:
