Bathory - Bathory
Review: A blistering halo of noise accompanies atmospheric riffing in a Venom/Slayer hybrid style which develops melodic complexity while maintaining continuity within the framework of constant driving tempo with few fills or variations, wrapping the core of this virus in an aesthetic of chaos coming into focus before vanishing. The voice of Quorthon carries the essential melody of each song, and changes with the riffs to indicate structural alteration. Guitars seethe at raw intensity of dynamic noise, hissing and screaming through speed riffs and powerful tone-centric drives which use power chords as the basis for phrases emphasizing fundamental differences in harmonic relevance of notes to a central structure.
In this, the music brings forth its lineage of Venom in circular riff/chorus structures centered around a tone and a rhythmic motion to note progressions shaped for its return and emphasis, countering that tendency with a Slayeresque expansion of riff through transition and layers of textural and arrangement inflections mapping the growth of basic components of theme. The tendency inherited from rock to use advancing cyclic structures of verse increments concluding in a transition to the next segment of song allows melodic continuity through reference and implication, providing a labyrinthine but clear navigation. Guitar solos and offset structural insertions serve where in future albums narrative will expand.
Rising from the midst of this bulk are tendrils of delicate melody leaning toward statements in the classical style which summarize the developments in phrasing so far and resolve to a fusion, fission or restatement of major theme. These moments of enlightenment occur as product of the rudimentary power chord riffing building atmosphere to a point; for this reason this album like most of the Bathory works diverges from a mainstream view of music by using dynamic consistency to serve goals of dramatic revelation to the piece. In this raw poetry the fusion of the lowest and highest in popular music dove underground with a chaotic and powerful album.