Under the Sign of the Black Mark

Under the Sign of the Black Mark is the third album by Swedish Heavy metal bandBathory. It was a milestone for the entire black metal genre and continues to be influential to extreme underground metal. The style of music on this album became the blueprint for the Norwegian black metal scene that emerged in the early 1990s.

The song "Woman of Dark Desires" is a tribute to the band's namesake, Elizabeth Báthory, and has become one of their most recognized early tracks. "Enter the Eternal Fire" was the band's first epic, reaching nearly seven minutes in length which was unheard of for a band of this style at the time this was recorded. The album also became a turning point for the music of Bathory, and presaged the turn towards what would become known as Viking metal, which Bathory would then take on their next three records.

Lyrically, the song "Equimanthorn" makes several references to Norse mythology, but this is often misconstrued as specifically about Odin's "eight legged black stallion" Sleipnir as it is mentioned in the lyrics of the song, however the lyrics are more specifically about the entire norse mythology and the approach to life taken by the norsemen.

The painting on the cover was shot by Gunnar Silins from a painting in the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm. The model used was Leif Ehrnborg, a then top class Swedish bodybuilder.

"Call from the Grave" was featured in the 2009 video game Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned on the station Liberty City Hardcore.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Quorthon. 

Credits

• Quorthon – guitar, vocals, bass, synthesizer
• Paul Pålle Lundburg – drums
• Christer Sandström – additional bass

References

External links

• Entry at Metal Archives
• Entry at Metal Kids (french article)