Reviews list for Bathory - Under the Sign of the Black Mark (1987)

I actually use this album as one of many black metal albums that help drown out sound when doing... believe it or not... goat farming chores.  A couple of screams from specific goats give me headaches, but black metal, for whatever reason, does not.  Maybe because I'm use to it?  Anyway, I've heard this album a few times by this point, and I have to say, I was totally overrating it when I first heard it and gave it a 91/100, but it's still not bad at all.  Many of the songs share ideas, but they also go quickly enough to justify their short length.  Everything is very catchy while still feeling a little undercooked, as Quorthon still had a little growing to do before his magnificent masterwork, Blood Fire Death.  This one's more punkish, standard thrash and simplistic, but self-aware for the most part, and highly catchy.  As well, even longer songs like ENter the Eternal Fire, landing just below the 7-minute mark, manage to justify the length with a properly epic slow pace and some wonderful rhythmic riffage.  In fact, the major riffs of the album are probably the stronges points.  But some songs, notably Massacre and Equimanthorn, share some very similar ideas.  So while this album isn't the most origjnal of Bathory's works, it's quite a bit of fun and its quickness gives it good replay value.

84

Aggressively Flawed Perfection

If I had to pick one album that defines early Black Metal for me, Under the Sign of the Black Mark would be the one. There are absolutely better Black Metal albums than this, even in Bathory's own discography, but the furious lo-fi aggressiveness sucks me back in every single time. The rawness and speed of the riffs and Quorthon's ragged but somehow endearing voice creates the perfect representation of what classic Black Metal was and how it should be done even to this day.

Bathory are the masters of lo-fi and it especially shows on this album. While the mix and production is dirty and almost amateurish at times with clipping and imperfections coming through, their style of playing and overall tone of all the instruments makes these imperfections just part of the performance. Every time I come back to this album I'm instantly reminded of how bad it initially sounds, but as I sit through "Massacre" and "Woman of Dark Desires" I realign my production expectations and always think that this just sounds precisely what classic Black Metal should sound like. "Enter the Eternal Flames" is easily the highlight, with a massive Black Metal chug riff that never gets old for me. 

Blood Fire Death would be the pivot point for Bathory's career, and I very much prefer that album to Under the Sign of the Black Mark, but this album just has such an evil character about it that isn't completely overshadowed by Bathory's other two monumental releases. 

This is the album where Quorthon really hit his straps. The debut album, while being fairly raw, was pretty much the first real black metal album. The Return took things to an even dirtier, darker sound but I feel it lost out on the song writing side with much out it failing to hold my attention. But Under the Sign of the Black Mark turned everything up a notch.

The production is much better, the song writing has more variety and is much more memorable, and the level of aggression of tracks like Equimanthorn, Chariots of Fire and Of Doom... had simply not been reached before. Even the slower tracks such as Enter the Eternal Fire and 13 Candles are dripping with venom. Literally hundreds of black metal bands owe their existence to this period of Bathory's career.

I can't give it full marks as the album does have its flaws (Quorthon's leads still a bit dodgy, but at least they're short and sweet this time, and Bathory's finest moment is still yet to come.