Customer Reviews

Twilight of the Gods

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Bathory is the first Viking metal band. However, not all songs deal with Viking culture on this great album. The title track is one of the greatest metal songs ever written. It is over ten minutes long, and has meaningful, well-thought lyrics. This album is worth purchasing for the title track alone. This is slow, heavy, and depressing. I haven't heard his "Satanic" albums, I was more interesting in the mature nature of his epic Viking albums.

This for me is the best Viking/Folk/Metal album ever. Not just because Quorthon created the musical genre Viking/Metal, I connect with this album more than any other. I have listened to Moonsorrow, Ensiferum, Thryfing, Enslaved(One of my favorite bands) to name a few and not one moves me like Quorthon's Twilight of the Gods. Even "Hammerheart" does not grab me like TOTG. And "Hammerheart" is an excellent album. Quorthon is not a great "clean" vocalist on this, but he does seem more confident. What impresses me is the song arrangements. Moving between acoustic and electric guitar, crushing drums and male Viking chants you can feel Quorthon's passion and emotion throughout. His arrangement of Hammerheart by Gustav Holst, with the wind blowing is simply brilliant. This piece of music has got a hold of my soul. (RIP) Quorthon.

Bathory's adventures into Viking culture began on 1988's "Blood Fire Death", eschewing scratchy production and the pseudo-Satanic and occult-influenced bashings of the first three albums. Here we see the formula of "Blood Fire Death" fully evolved. Lush acoustic guitars layered with larger-than-life melodies that give such an empowering atmosphere that it's nearly overwhelming. Just listening to this album makes you want to stand on the battlefield with sword in hand, ready to fight whatever life throws at you. The vast choirs give this album the true meaning of "Viking metal". Everything here from the lyrics to the album art is true Norse. The electric guitars are powerful and melodic, often looping in their mid-paced tempos to create an unbreakable and beautiful atmosphere with elaborate solos.

Quorthon's voice steadily improved on this album. He'll never be Hansi Kurch, but his voice is more well-rounded and fuller, and his range has improved greatly. He still struggles on a few parts, but his clean singing is nearly impeccable here. The album as a whole flows smoothly, some songs often trasitioning into one another. The majority of the tempos are slow to mid-paced, but never tires because of the sheer musical depth. This is fist-pumping, epic, true Viking metal. Highly reccommended along with Bathory's other albums, old or new. (But stay away from "Octagon"...) Also check out Borknagar, Summoning, Nokturnal Mortum, and Satyricon for more like this.

This is my first Bathory cd, and not the last. It's a very heavy album, nice acoustic solo's, that of which Eric Clapton or Santana would be proud of. Nicely done drum set up(someone knows how to play evedently, some drummers in this genre only pound their double bass drums and symbols w/out any rythem, except Nick Barker'Cradle of Filth,Dimmu Borgir,Old Man's Child). Only problem I had with this cd, is that the first three tracks are all compiled onto the first track, and Hammerheart splits into track 5 and 6, 6 being 23 seconds long. Not a problem, if I'm going to listen to this cd, it's either the whole thing through, or Hammerheart(superb song, with nice orchestral backing). If you are any type of fan of Bathory, this is a must for any fan. If you are just getting into them I would recommend this as well, I've heard pretty much all Bathory, but this is my first purchased cd. It's worth the money.

This is a essential atmospheric epic-progressive metal, with Quorthon's sung vocals (not screamed), with beautiful melodies and good lyrics. This late Bathroy's work (1991), together with "Blood on Ice", are the last good stuff of this swedish group. I think Quorthon has done himself everything at this album, but I am not sure, as my version just shows the lyrics and not so much about the credits... Don't expect to hear trendy black metal of the 90's here... Quorthon does what he wants and "Twilight..." is very well done... Just light a bit of incenses and get into this trip... It's very nice!!!

Twilight of the Gods was my first Bathory cd after hearing so much about them. I like sorts of black metal offshoots. This is Viking metal. There is also some Nietzsche thrown in- a quote and the title track, Twilight of the Gods, which I think is the high point. There is a classical influence. This is very heavy and slower with clean vocals and chanting. This is the last of the Asatru trilogy by Bathory. Truely, an enchanting album is Twilight of the Gods.

This is my second favorite album by Bathory, with Hammerheart being my first favorite. This album is a little slower than Hammerheart, but that doesn't mean the songs are aren't good. All the songs on the album are worth five stars. This is metal at its finest. Although it is a little expensive, the album is really worth it. Get aboard your Viking ships and get ready for Twilight of the Gods!

Also: Some versions of this album have the first three songs as one track on the CD. It doesn't really bother me that much, but sometimes if I want to listen to Track 2, I'll have skip forward through Track 1 to get to it. That can get annoying sometimes.

I found this CD to be pretty lacking in quality compared to all of the Bathory albums that come before it.

I won't complain about the singing, or the out-of-tune guitars, because that really doesn't bother me (I love Hammerheart!). I simply found this album to be quite boring. It's slower and more plodding than I've come to expect from most Bathory releases, and while I find that style quite enjoyable in most bands, it's simply not something that I appreciate Quorthon doing. It doesn't fit well with his strengths in musicianship and songwriting, and as a result, this album leaves me with little to look back and smile about.

The highlight of the album is the lyrics, plain and simple. They're well written, and they really convey what has been lost with the destruction of the old ways (always a favorite topic of Quorthon's, although this one delves more into Nietzsche's philosophy).

Over all, it's not bad, but dozens of other bands do this style of music much better. While every Bathory release previous to this is a "must own", this one is really only for the collectors.

I decided to check out Twilight of the Gods based on a previous Amazon reviewer. I am especially grateful to said reviewer. Twilight of the Gods is one of my favorite Viking-Metal, and Bathory, releases.

I enjoy the juxtaposition of the delicate acoustic passages with the hammering drums and driving electric guitar. The late Quorthon goes for clean vocals on this release, and I think that adds to the greatness of this album. Quorthon's vocals have a sense of urgency, especially on "Under the Runes," my favorite track. Other highlights for me are the songs "Through Blood by Thunder" and the Holst-inspired "Hammerheart."

Seldom have I heard an album that possesses the grandeur, power, and dignity of Twilight of the Gods. I highly recommend this album to anyone, metal fan or not. Yes, it's that good.

I recently started listening to Bathory after hearing a few songs online. I figured I'd buy, "Blood, Fire, Death," then, "Hammerheart," and so on chronologically. This album moves towards cleaner vocals, longer guitar chords/notes, and a slower drum beat. I personally prefer singing over screaming, and straight-ahead hard rock guitar sound as opposed to a speed metal guitar. Some of the music is sort-of filler, but even then it's not bad!