Bathory - Under The Sign Of The Black Mark (1986)

Another piece of black Hell on record, despite the leanings away from the caverns of Hades and diverting to a more mystical stance, this still reeks of evil fumes and dampness, pure Bathory.
'Under The Sign..., complete with full-on metal cover, is a heavy, grinding, churning, burning record of Nordic flame, Quorthon gurgling through the fuzzed speakers as the clanking drums rattle like the march of Tolkien's ugly orcs across the bleak wastes. This is still pitch black metal, a scary ride into the musty pits that descend into unthinkable quagmires of rancid, despicable cacophony.
Lyric wise it's less of the satanic and slightly more majestic, with only '13 Candles' delving into the darkness, elsewhere there is more of a battle cry, a call to arms, and in 'Of Doom' a hail to the fans, almost in Voivod fashion, but personal fave has to be the monstrous 'Equimathorn', a real spitting gargoyle of a track that crushes all in its wake.
Bathory prevail once again.
8/10