GMD Poll: Top Ten Albums of 1981

[HamburgerBoy]

You're obviously not intellectual enough to understand that a song Reaper is the pinnacle of true evil. I'll penetrate you / Every virgin needs a rape, that is the kind of nihilistic statement describing the essence of man that will be discovered under tons of post-apocalyptic ruins circa 10000 AD and will lead to Quorthon being hailed as the greatest philosopher of the our time.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

I fucking love early Venom, but they didn't record anything as great as Under the Sign of the Black Mark. But yeah, that comment seems to be rather misguided since the first Bathory is basically pure Venom worship.

Yet Bathory, a literal rip-off of Venom's early material, was so not-mediocre that it rendered Venom as a musical entity obsolete upon release?

C'mon now...

I'll grant that stylistically the first Bathory album follows the formula of the first two Venom albums fairly closely (though calling it a rip-off is hyperbole), but it is darker, rawer, more extreme and more authentic. Venom sounds like some British bros chugging some brews and deciding to "chant about Satan" to see their parents' eyebrows rise, while Bathory's S/T creates a legitimately dark and evil atmosphere that embodies the lyrical themes without the sonic winks and fist-bumps of Venom. Furthermore, we're contrasting one of the greatest black metal vocalists of all time with one of the poorer well-known singers of the NWOBHM. So yes, Bathory created a great album by pulling out the best elements from a few mediocre albums and purifying them. The result is a far superior work. The worst song on Bathory's S/T is better than the best song on Venom's first two albums, and by a fairly wide margin. Thus, Venom is revealed to be a historical footnote between Motorhead and Bathory with nothing of intrinsic value to justify repeat listens.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

>Quorthon on the S/T
>quality vocals
Choose one. He just sort of goblin-mutters, like a far inferior version of young Dave Mustaine (who at least had some harsh shrieks at the time).

And at least Cronos and the rest got their parents' eyebrows to rise, Quorthon's daddy just said "That's cute, why don't I set up a recording studio for you in the basement, precious?"

 

[CiG]

Dude, Bathory is just a demo version of early Venom, hell even The Return isn't that far removed and might I remind you, Venom were making this kind of music in the NWOBHM era when metal bands were still writing half arena rock half heavy metal albums.

Granted, Venom didn't really ever move up from that, but it stinks of hypocrisy to put the first two Bathory albums on some kind of pedastal while you also dismiss Venom entirely.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

To be fair, Quorthon had already moved on to copying Slayer and hardcore bands by the time of The Return, I don't think there's that much Venom on it.

 

[CiG]

Are you a fan of Bathory, at all?

 

[HamburgerBoy]

Raise the Dead and Necromansy are cool songs (but not black metal). I enjoy half of Blood Fire Death. Requiem is some good ugly thrash. That's about it.

 

[CiG]

I think both bands rule so I guess I'm stuck between the black metal bourgeoisie and an autist.

 

[crimsonfloyd]

Dude, Bathory is just a demo version of early Venom, hell even The Return isn't that far removed and might I remind you, Venom were making this kind of music in the NWOBHM era when metal bands were still writing half arena rock half heavy metal albums.

Granted, Venom didn't really ever move up from that, but it stinks of hypocrisy to put the first two Bathory albums on some kind of pedastal while you also dismiss Venom entirely.

It's not hypocritical at all. I just identified a number of differences that lead me to hold that position. You're more than welcome to disagree that those differences result in the chasm in quality that I see, but from that it doesn't follow that I'm a hypocrite.

 

[no country for old wainds]

i'm kind of in between on this argument; on the one hand bathory's s/t is nowhere near as steeped in NWOBHM clichés as venom, especially if we're talking about WELCOME TO HELL here, and it's further (and more consistently) along the path toward brooding BM ambience. it's also fair to say that venom were probably just as unusual if not moreso for their own time, and wrote some tunes that were more evocative or memorable than some stuff on bathory's s/t; your comprehensive bias seems a bit excessive. either way, arguing with hbb about fucking bathory is about as enjoyable and productive as applying a cheese grater to your foreskin so i probably wouldn't bother.

 

[-CC-]

I wouldn't be so quick to assume that he has his foreskin. Americans have this weird habit of chopping it off.

 

[no country for old wainds]

not to mention he's a massive kike.

 

[HamburgerBoy]

not to mention he's a massive kike.

I wish.

 

[CiG]

He's a tiny kike.

 

[Talos of Atmora]

Side A of At War with Satan demolishes the first Bathory album alone.
20 minutes of British superiority released in the same year that Euronymous was pretending to not rip off Venom.

I was going back through this year to see some of the discussion I missed and I'd absolutely agree with that. Those first 20 minutes are utterly monstrous. Frankly, I find Bathory's debut to be somewhat lacking in comparison to Venom's discography and a lot of what would follow in Bathory's black metal era. It's just no contest.

 

[Mort Divine]

 

[HamburgerBoy]

So fucked up that the guy was badly hurt because of a drunk driver. DUIs should be grounds for public lynching.

 

[TechnicalBarbarity]

Its a damn shame you weren't sitting next to him.

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

At first I was thinking "What does Mario have to do with metal albums from 1981?" Then I saw all those other Mort posts, so I guess it all makes perfect sense when you're tweaked out of your mind.

 

[The Ozzman]

DUIs should be grounds for public lynching

Come lynch me bro