Review by SilentScream213 for Bathory - Nordland I (2002)

The first of Bathory’s Nordland duo, which closed out the band’s career. I believe it was supposed to be a saga of 4 before Quarthon tragically passed. At this point in the band’s career, Bathory has had some crazy highs and lows, so how does their penultimate effort pan out?

Of all Bathory’s previous albums, I would say Nordland I sounds closest to Blood on Ice. Unfortunately, that’s not a high compliment from me, as that album is one of my less-favored from the band’s catalogue. Blood Fire Death is fantastic in its dark, evil, and aggressively heavy take on the genre, melding Blackened Thrash with the epic atmospheres and thematics of what became Viking Metal. Hammerheart leaned full-on into the grand, epic atmospheres and passionate storytelling of the genre, and who could forgot the doomy masterpiece One Rode to Asa Bay?

Nordland I doesn’t do any of those things. It’s not dark, angry, or evil. It’s not very passionate nor does it have any masterpiece tracks. The whole thing is entirely reliant on epic descriptions of nature and adventure, although unfortunately it’s an adventure where very little happens aside from looking at the scenery. Now, that would be fine if the music matched up; layers of strings and folky flutes to accentuate the Nordic and mythological imagery of grand nature and high fantasy… but no. We get a very lo-fi, stripped back performance that would sound much more appropriate playing straight Black Metal. There are nature sounds and some Dungeon Synth-y type soundscapes, but unfortunately they are relegated to being placed between Metal tracks rather than accompanying them. The sound and thematics just don’t align, and the music by itself is not very evocative of anything really.

The album does pick up near the end. “Great Hall Awaits a Fallen Brother” is a more captivating track as it mixes Power Metal and Epic Doom influence into the Viking sound and details the tragic loss of a brother in arms. The music and themes come together nicely on this one, a mix of courage, valor and grief captured well by the surprising mix of genres. “Mother Earth Father Thunder” is once again displaying the band’s doomier side and delivering a heavy, triumphant closer (aside from the outro “Heimfard,” which is a decent mix of Dungeon Synth and nature sounds).

The album seems to be well-received by fans, but I was hoping for more in the ways of instrumentation and songwriting. I do hope Nordland II can reach a bit closer to Bathory’s incredible potential and serve as an appropriate send off to one of the most influential bands in all of Extreme Metal.