Bathory - Bathory

I'm pretty sure Bathory are my favourite black metal band. I was trying to put my finger on what it is about them, but I can't really fathom it. They were the first black metal band I heard, I think. I don't know, man… when you listen to Bathory, it's like someone's taken Venom and taken Sabbath and they've locked them in a garage in the middle of Sweden and starved them for a week and then they've been told, 'Right, make a record NOW.' It's got all of these elements like thrash and party metal, but all the positivity has been sapped out of it. It's so cold and so brutal and so bleak. Look at the sleeve. It just sums up everything that's great about black metal: massive old English font, massive evil horned goat… What else do you need?