June 3rd marked the anniversary of Quorthon’s death. Back in
2004 I was shocked to hear of his passing. It seemed like blasphemy that such an
iconic cult figure had died at such an early age.
As with many, Bathory played an integral in many music enthusiasts.
For me, I still clearly remember when first hearing Bathory’s music. I was
about 16 or somewhere around that age. A friend of mine had a recorded cassette
of Under the Sign of the Black Mark.
Since it was a recorded cassette, I had no artwork to reference and back then
there was no internet to just look it up. So my virgin ears had only the music
itself to feed on. The music was so dark, heavy and atmospheric.
At that point in time I was already into death metal and
hardcore, but Bathory’s sound was much different. My imagination created an
image of the band as something truly evil and mysterious. No other band had
such an impact on me. In my mind I painted a picture of some faceless sinister
force. Of course being younger definitely played a part on creating such
thoughts.
Another interesting way Bathory melded into my life was
Blood, Fire, Death is what I had in the tape deck when having my first wreck. I
took a curve too fast and wound up in a ditch. The situation wasn’t funny, but
I do remember it happening rather quickly then having my car almost on its
side. On impact the engine was immediately killed, but the radio continued
blaring Bathory…… Quorthon’s music is timeless.
No comments:
Post a Comment