Here it is, the origin of BATHORY!!! The first appearance on record, released on his fathers label Tyfon/Wave in January 1984.
Surrounded by other Swedish heavy metal and hard rock bands only highlights BATHORY's impact. Not to dismiss the other bands (OZ, TRASH, SPITFIRE, and ZERO NINE), but while their SCORPIONS / DEEP PURPLE / JUDAS PRIEST influenced music can be good, BATHORY was creating something in a completely different realm! You've heard the BATHORY songs of course, but it's worth hearing them again in this context!
BATHORY's two songs were recorded on 23 January, 1984 - some of their earliest recordings after the June 1983 demo. The material was mixed, with extra recording for the double bass, guitar solos and effects recorded days later at Stockholm Recording Studio. In May '84 BATHORY would record Satan My Master and Witchcraft (unreleased until Jubileum Vol III) and then the debut album in June.
We were so proud holding that SCANDINAVIAN METAL ATTACK compilation album in our hands first time. We knew none of our friends in bands had ever even been close to record anything properly. There was this other band we knew somewhat that got a record contract around that time, and went on to record an album later. But all the other musicians and bands we knew or would meet up at parties or in clubs, were still mumbling about finding the right style some day, maybe getting a deal next week or boasting about getting to play the Budokan Hall any day now.
We remembered the many times people had come down our rehearsal place and basically told us what a load of crap and utter noise we were playing, and that we'd never get a contract or a gig. It's true we sucked as musicians, and nothing of what I had written up to that point was truly original but basically Motorhead styled material bordering to traditional Oi-punk.
And although we hadn't exactly made up a plan or were doing all the right things you were suppose to do in order to get somewhere, or were anyway near going anywhere anyway, those two tracks on that compilation album made quite a difference when we summarized BATHORY's first year of existence.
We couldn't have cared less though if people that heard us thought we actually sucked. And it mattered little that we didn't take the band too seriously at that point. We had a ball. We were the guy's with no ambitions and who didn't spend every evening at home rehearsing our instruments for hours. We were just meeting up two or three times a week playing for our own good fun, sometimes not even picking our instruments up but being quite happy to just kick back in the sofa all evening long, just talking and making jokes. And now we were the one's who could say that we were a recording band.
