Bathory "Blood Fire Death"

Blood Fire Death is the fourth studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Bathory. It was released on 8 October 1988, through Music for Nations sublabel, Under One Flag. The album, although mostly black metal, includes some of the first examples of Viking metal. According to the book Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult by Dayal Patterson, Blood Fire Death began a second trilogy, an era Quorthon described as the “pre-Christian Swedish Viking Era”.

The lyrics to “For All Those Who Died” were taken from a poem by Erica Jong, first published in her book Witches (1981), while first three verses of “A Fine Day to Die” are taken from “Cassilda’s Song” of Robert W. Chambers’ The King in Yellow.

The front cover comes from the painting Asgårdsreien (1872) by Peter Nicolai Arbo. The painting as well as the opening track "Oden's Ride Over Nordland" use the Wild Hunt motif from folklore. Blood Fire Death established this motif in metal culture, where it since has become popular with a number of bands and event organizers.

In 2009, IGN included Blood Fire Death in their “10 Great Black Metal Albums” list.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Quorthon.

Side one

1. "Odens Ride Over Nordland" 2:59
2. "A Fine Day to Die" 8:35
3. "The Golden Walls of Heaven" 5:22
4. "Pace 'Till Death" 3:39
5. "Holocaust" 3:25

Side two

1. "For All Those Who Died" 4:57
2. "Dies Irae" 5:11
3. "Blood Fire Death" 10:28
4. "Outro" 0:58

Note: The "Outro" is not listed on the cover and is not included on the cassette release.

Includes 10" printed lyrics insert.

Oden is Swedish for ''Odin''.

The first letters of each line of "The Golden Walls of Heaven" form the word: 'SATAN'. Also, the first letters of each line of "Dies Irae" form the sentence: 'CHRIST THE BASTARD SON OF HEAVEN'.

This is the first of the band's experiments with heroic and epic songwriting and Viking-related themes.

Recording information:

Recorded at Heavenshore Studio, Stockholm, Sweden in February 1988.