Bathory, Enslaved, Bathory, a little bit of Venom, motherfucking Vikings

Metal Night lays waste to your village!

We had the legendary Mick Kyle of Invisible Mansion up in the Westside Palace tonight for some Viking Metal Mayhem and some 7 Crown whiskey. We were all in the mood for some black metal, and Viking Metal, specifically. What the fuck is Viking Metal, you say? If your music contains an epic feel and has lyrics about Vikings and Odinism or Onanism or whatever, you have yourself a Viking Metal band. Go figure!

First up, we played Bathory's Blood Fire Death, which marks a musical departure from the previous fuckfests by slowing down and adding heavier parts to incorporate an epic feel. Lyrically, Satanism is replaced by tales of Viking onslaughts and such, and wah-lah....The first Viking metal album. Truth be known, this album is amazing, years ahead of its time. It is ferocious, tight, thrashy, and yes, epic in scope and feel. This album had much influence on the hordes that were to emerge from Norway in the early 90's.

But as good as that album is, few can compare with the majesty that is Enslaved's Vikingligr Veldi. This is one of my favorite albums and Chris and Mick hold it in high regard, too. Actually, it was Mick's first time hearing Enslaved. It is a classic fusion of metal and ambient progressive rock, a perfection of the Viking metal genre. 4 out of the 5 songs clock in at over 10 minutes, but never seem too long. This album has some of the most tasteful keyboards ever played on a metal album, keys that stay in the background and enhance the atmosphere and melodies. Oh yeah, melodies abound, if you learn to hear them through the din of white noise and obscure chording. This is an album that keeps giving and giving, as I notice little tidbits and subtleties everytime I listen to this album. What a pleasure it was to sit and listen to this album with friends, as my experiences with black metal has been mostly solitary. This is the meaning of Metal Night: Sitting around with your buds, drinking fine adult beverages, listening to and appreciating some great music.

Ok, not all of it was quite so great. We delved back into the Bathory discography and found a true stinker, Octagon. Released in 1995, this is basically a bad attempt at Pantera style Nu Metal. This quote from the review section on Encyclopedia Metallum sums it up pretty well:

"You see an album with good, interesting artwork and you think to yourself "Hey, maybe this isn't as bad as I may think. Maybe there is something worth listening to." But no."

We did not make it even halfway through. Chris chucked it and played some hilarious Venom stage banter instead. Chris and Mick traded war stories from the hipster days of yore. Then Audria came home, snapped some pics, and thus ended another fine Metal Night!!!!