Black Mark Records
1987
Under The Sign Of The Black Mark
About This Album
With their third album, 1986's Under the Sign: The Sign of the Black Mark (which, as you may have guessed, provided the name for their future record label), Sweden's Bathory took a major step forward in their development -- most notably when it came to the improved quality of the actual recording. Whereas their first two, technically challenged efforts had benefited from all the class and precision of a plane crash, this album's clearer, more professional sound finally allowed Seth Quorthon's fast-maturing songwriting skills to shine through the murk. This did not, however, mean that Bathory was forgetting their roots. Quite the contrary, for, while original fans unwilling to let go of the band's inaccessible past could content themselves with full-throttle thrashers like "Massacre," the shrill "Equimanthorn," and the downright furious "Chariots of Fire," those willing to grow along with the group could appreciate less-frenetic, more diversified numbers such as "Call From the Grave" and "Enter the Eternal Fire." In the latter, Bathory achieved their first bona fide epic, and this more than any other track here suggests the future glories soon to come.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5 and 6)

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