Warthur
The two Nordland albums represent Bathory's late-career return to viking metal; having spent a few albums in a more thrash-oriented style, Quorthon picks up where he left off at 1991's Twilight of the Gods. (Remember, whilst Blood On Ice had come out in 1996, it was originally recorded in between Blood Fire Death and Hammerheart.) Whilst the first Nordland album isn't without its more raucous and extreme moments, such as some sections of Dragons' Breath, by and large the lo-fi evil of early Bathory is well and truly gone here, replaced with viking metal suitable for any Hollywood Norse saga soundtrack album. It's stirring enough in its own way, but plenty of bands had pushed this style of music further since Bathory wandered away from it, and this and its companion don't seem to offer that much new.