BATHORY — Under the Sign of the Black Mark (review)

BATHORY — Under the Sign of the Black Mark album cover Album · 1987 · Black Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
5/5 ·
Wilytank
People attribute the formation of the first wave of black metal to Venom, Mercyful Fate, Celtic Frost, and Bathory. But of those four, Bathory is the only band that actually played black metal, and it is this band alone that should truly be credited for the start of this genre.

With their third album, Under the Sign of the Black Mark, Quorthon and his crew continue their storm of damnation that started with their monumental debut album and continued with their impressive though lacking second album. To many people elsewhere, Under the Sign of the Black Mark is the must have black metal Bathory album and rightly so.

The production here is better than the first two albums while still having that demented raw quality to it. The songs are still fast, furious and evil. There are some really insane guitar solos threw in here too, most notably in the outro to "Equimanthorn". Even the slower, longer song "Enter the Eternal Fire" is really awesome. In fact, I believe Darkthrone pay tribute to it (or rip it off >.> ) in their Under a Funeral Moon song "To Walk the Infernal Fields".

Of their pre-viking age era albums, Under the Sign of the Black Mark is Bathory's finest moment. Truly a pinnacle of the black metal genre.
Share this review

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Hin helga kvöl Atmospheric Sludge Metal
SÓLSTAFIR
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Cycles of Suffering Black Metal
BURIAL OATH
Buy this album from MMA partners
Facilis Descensus Averno Death Metal
SAEVUS FINIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Merciless Crossover Thrash
BODY COUNT
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us