Blood Fire Death
Blood Fire Death is the fourth studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Bathory. It was released in October 1988, through Music for Nations sublabel, Under One Flag.
This is the first Bathory album that would use anonymous session musicians until Blood on Ice released in 1996.
The album, although mostly black metal, includes some of the first examples of Viking metal. According to the book Black Metal: Evolution of the Cult by Dayal Patterson, Blood Fire Death began a second trilogy, an era Quorthon described as the "pre-Christian Swedish Viking Era".
Background and recording
The lyrics to "For All Those Who Died" were taken from a poem by Erica Jong, first published in her book Witches, while the first three verses of "A Fine Day to Die" are taken from "Cassilda's Song" of Robert W. Chambers' The King in Yellow.The front cover comes from the painting The Wild Hunt of Odin by Peter Nicolai Arbo. The painting as well as the opening track "Oden's Ride Over Nordland" use the Wild Hunt motif from folklore. Blood Fire Death established this motif in metal culture, where it since has become popular with a number of bands and event organizers.
Critical reception
Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic gave the album a score of four stars out of five. He wrote: "Simply put, Blood Fire DeathIn 2023, Rolling Stone listed "A Fine Day to Die" as the 76th-best metal song of all time.
Track listing
Note: The "Outro" is not listed on the cover and is not included on the cassette release.Personnel
;Bathory- Quorthon – guitars, vocals, percussion, effects, producer, engineer, mixing
- Vvornth – drums
- Kothaar – bass
- Boss – producer, engineer, mixing
- Peter Nicolai Arbo – album cover painting, The Wild Hunt of Odin
- Pelle Matteus – sleeve photography