Bathory - Destroyer of Worlds

One of the BEST Bathory albums -- Believe it

Before I got this recording when it was released in 2001 I had heard a lot of so-so reviews. People were saying that there was definitely a lot of good material on it, but there was also a lot of bad. Many also derided the less-than-polished production.
When I finally heard it I loved it! After hearing it several times, I then read the lyrics while listening to it again. The lyrical themes are great. "Destroyer of Worlds" is an ominous song about the birth of the atomic bomb, "Pestilence" is about the black death pandemic, while "Liberty & Justice" is a scathing commentary on the negative elements of American society (although I could do without the hockey song "Sudden Death").

My favorite Bathory recording is, of course, HAMMERHEART. I would have to rank this as my second or third favorite. I didn't really know what to expect after the disappointing OCTAGON (Bathory's previous studio outing), so I was pleased when DESTROYER assaulted my ears.

I admit the production is raw, but it certainly won't detract from a person's enjoyment of the recording (besides it's far better than the production on, say, Emperor's IN THE NIGHTSIDE ECLIPSE). Rough production is a Bathory tradition anyway; in other words, it sounds like Bathory.

There are a lot of epic-style numbers and savage ominous songs in the manner of HAMMERHEART. "Lake of Tears," "Destroyer of Worlds," "Ode," "Pestilence," "Liberty & Justice," "White Bones" and "Wrath of God" are all excellent metal tunes of this sort. Quorthon also literally belts out a bunch of brief thrash/punk tunes as well like "Bleeding," "Kill, Kill, Kill" and "Death from Above." Heck, you even get a decent biker tune -- "Krom." These songs are short bursts of primal aggression, pure and simple, and are superior to the similar material on OCTAGON. Check out "Bleeding" -- it's so over the top it's GREAT. I love it!

So what we have with DESTROYER OF WORLDS is basically the best of Bathory's two worlds and Quorthon destroys in both (pun intended). This was evidently Quorthon's intention (to please fans of both styles), and he has succeeded quite well.

I would describe DESTROYER OF WORLDS as: aggressive, artistic, primal, epic, naked and unpretentious.

Here's my ranking of my favorite Bathory albums, all of which I highly recommend, starting at the top:

HAMMERHEART
DESTROYER OF WORLDS
NORDLAND I
NORDLAND II
TWILIGHT OF THE GODS
BLOOD, FIRE, DEATH

The rest I could take or (more likely) leave. But each of the above albums feature some of the greatest moments in metal and are mandatory listening for any true fan. June 3, 2008

Best of both Bathory worlds

This is one of my favorite Bathory albums. Good mix of slower, more doom like Viking metal songs and straight up thrash/hardcore style. Awesome lyrics and music as usual. October 2, 2004

Review

Bathory does it again with this ol skool sound...great for the Bathory collection and a little disappointed of the last few songs..... October 15, 2003

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