Bathory T Shirt, T Shirts and Tee Shirts
Bathory was a pioneering invention, some herald as the creation of Black Metal designed and imagine by the late and great Thomas Broje Forsberg commonly known as ‘Quorthon’ and became something of legend fro metal fans.
Almost all black metal bands to follow speak of the influence Bathory laid down before them, the name for the band was taken from Erzsebet or Elizabeth Bathory who was a 17th century noblewoman who lived in Slovakia and who was accused of torturing and killing hundreds of girls and young women.
Formed in Stockholm in 1983 by founder Quorthon who at the time was a mere 17 year old teenage guitarist? He was soon joined by Hanoi and Vans; they gave themselves many names before settling on the beautifully chilling Bathory.
The first record deal came in the year they adopted the name when Quorthon secured the contract to record two tracks with Scandinavian Metal Attack. The tracks themselves with little promotion gained attention and adulation from fans and soon after they asked Quorthon would he like to record a full length album but by which time the original band had split.
A new line up emerged and though Venom’s Black Metal was the first to coin the term most believe it was Bathory’s early albums with their satanic lyrics and growling vocals that defined the term. Often thought they followed Venom’s lead it became clear the band had never heard of Venom by the time they had finished recording.
They had an intense dislike for some of the more popular metal bands such as Judas Priest and Iron Maiden and often talked about the likes of Motorhead, Black Sabbath and Oi! Punk being more influential.
Bathory’s self titled album and the following The Return and Sign of the Black Mark are now the major influences in the extension of black metal to what is now regarded as Viking Metal, the adoption of metal as the popular music in Scandinavia.
Their sound evolved as many bands to as the get older and the release of Hammerheart shocked many fans. Whilst alienating some with this new less aggressive and more epic sound it brought a whole new array of fans. It was this epic mythology that really brought the shift from black metal of Viking metal which became infinitely more popular.
Scandinavia has such a huge and rich history of stories and mythology that this was now a music embedded already in the psyche of the people living there. Bathory were legends and still are to this day but with Quorthon now passed away they remain a hit with fans but no longer a living work