Bathory - The Return (1985)

Gloomier than a cess-pit in a witches cavern, this is blacker than black, with the production values of a bathtub, yet somehow remains one of the most evil sounding records of all time. It's Bathory at their most hideous, from the eerie cover of a glowing moon being caressed by brooding clouds, the album opens with a crackling tundra effect which melts into a boggy riff and a drum sound that hardly rises above a tinny echo, but it works. It's bleak, grim and definitely from the colder parts of Europe.
There are grim metal anthems a plenty here to be played in the murky hue of many a black candle waiting for the dark lord himself to appear in the centre of a pentagram. 'Total Destruction' sees Quorthon sneering, gurgling and choking (probably on chicken blood), whilst 'Born For Burning' sweeps into the night sky like embers from a flickering fire, and there are no-holds barred lyrics aplenty on here, especially on the distorted mayhem of 'Bestial Lust' and 'Sadist'.
This was the beginning of evil, the dawn of a new era where bands, in order to create their very own Hell on record opted for a minimalist cover art, minimalist production, and a concept from the dark recesses of the mind.
Of course, a majority of bands failed to succeed in shocking the holy community because they tried to be sinister. In the case of Bathory however, the true sons of the damned.
8.5/10