Editing Bathory (band) (section)

=== Early years (1980s) ===
Bathory formed in [[Vällingby]] in March 1983.<ref name="lahtinen" /> [[Quorthon]], a 17-year-old guitarist (then known as "Ace Shoot", a name inspired by sex jokes, two [[Motörhead]] songs – "[[Ace of Spades (song)|Ace of Spades]]" and "Sharpshooter"<ref name="names-rumors-legends">{{Cite web|url=http://www.bathory.nu/htmlbathory/02_kap.htm|title=Bathory – Names rumors legends music and image|website=Bathory.nu|access-date=6 October 2020}}</ref> – and [[Ace Frehley]] of [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]]), was joined by bass guitarist Frederick Melander ("Hanoi"<ref name="names-rumors-legends" />) and drummer [[Jonas Åkerlund]] ("Vans McBurger"<ref name="names-rumors-legends" />). According to Quorthon, he settled on the name 'Bathory' after a visit to the [[London Dungeon]], although Jonas says that it was also inspired and taken from the [[Venom (band)|Venom]] song "[[Countess Bathory (song)|Countess Bathory]]".{{sfn|Johannesson|Klingberg|2011|pp=52–62}} The Venom song was based on the life of [[Elizabeth Báthory]] who is believed to be one of the most prolific female murderesses. Before settling on 'Bathory', the band considered several names; including Nosferatu, Natas, Mephisto, Elizabeth Bathory and Countess Bathory.<ref name=Santos>{{cite book |last=Santos |first=José Carlos |year=2009 |title=Terrorizer's Secret History of Black Metal |publisher=Dark Arts Ltd |pages=10–11}}</ref> Quorthon worked part-time at the small record label [[Tyfon Grammofon]], which was owned by his father, Börje Forsberg (1944-2017).{{sfn|Johannesson|Klingberg|2011|pp=52–62}} In late 1983, the label was putting together a compilation of songs by [[Scandinavia]]n metal bands.{{sfn|Ekeroth|2008|p=29}} However, at the last minute, one of the bands backed out. Tyfon agreed to let Bathory appear on the record as a replacement. The album, called ''[[:fi:Scandinavian Metal Attack|Scandinavian Metal Attack]]'', was released in March 1984 and was Bathory's first appearance on record.{{sfn|Ekeroth|2008|p=30}} Unexpectedly, the two Bathory tracks "Sacrifice" and "The Return of Darkness and Evil" drew a great deal of fan mail.<ref>{{cite web |last=McManus |first=Peter |date=1987 |title=Stranger than Strange – Quorthon Uncloacks His Secrets in an Exclusive Interview... |work=Power Metal |url=http://ritesoftheblackmoon.tripod.com/interview_bathory.html |access-date=8 September 2012 |archive-date=12 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112031552/http://ritesoftheblackmoon.tripod.com/interview_bathory.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Soon afterward, Tyfon asked Quorthon to record a full-length album.{{sfn|Ekeroth|2008|p=30}} His bandmates having moved away, Quorthon recruited Rickard Bergman from his former [[Oi Punk|oi-punk]] band [[Stridskuk]] as bassist and Stefan Larsson from punk band Obsklass as drummer.<ref name="Bathory – Bathory">{{Cite web|url=http://www.bathory.nu/htmlbathory/05_kap.htm|title=Bathory – Bathory|website=bathory.nu|access-date=2019-10-02}}</ref> On 22 May 1984, they had their first and only rehearsal together before recording the album.{{sfn|Ekeroth|2008|p=30}} Two songs were recorded at the 22 May rehearsal: "Witchcraft" and "Satan My Master" making it the first recording of the debut album line-up.<ref name="Bathory – Bathory"/> The debut album, ''[[Bathory (album)|Bathory]]'', was recorded in June at Heavenshore Studio (a converted garage) in [[Stockholm]]{{sfn|Ekeroth|2008|p=30}} and released in October that year. Over the next four years, Bathory released a further three albums: ''[[The Return……]]'' (1985), ''[[Under the Sign of the Black Mark]]'' (1987) and ''[[Blood Fire Death]]'' (1988).

Bathory's early work was dark, fast, heavily distorted and raw recording ([[lo-fi music|lo-fi]]). Quorthon's vocals were [[death growl|harsh]], high-pitched and raspy with occasional shrieks and screams. The band's lyrics focused on 'dark' topics and included anti-Christian and '[[Satanism|Satanic]]' references.<ref name=bathory-lyrics>{{cite web |url=http://bathory.nu/08/08_writing_the_deeds_of_darkness_and_evil.htm |title=Writing the deeds of Darkness and Evil |publisher=Official Bathory website |access-date=29 October 2012}}</ref> These traits came to define [[black metal]]<ref name=Santos/> and the band used this style on their first four albums. Quorthon said that the band were not Satanists but used 'Satanic' references to provoke and attack Christianity. With the third and fourth albums he began "attacking Christianity from a different angle", realizing that Satanism is a "Christian product" and seeing them both as "religious hocus-pocus".<ref name=bathory-lyrics/>

Quorthon described Bathory's early sound as a "mixture" of [[Black Sabbath]], [[Motörhead]] and [[GBH (band)|GBH]],<ref name="lahtinen" /> singling out GBH's album ''[[City Baby Attacked by Rats]]'' and Motörhead's ''[[Ace of Spades (Motörhead album)|Ace of Spades]]'' and ''[[Iron Fist (album)|Iron Fist]]'',<ref name="death-metal-org">DeathMetal.org: [http://www.deathmetal.org/interview/quorthon-bathory/ Interview: Quorthon (Bathory)]</ref> and was also influenced by [[the Exploited]],<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=jRRvfWp95FIC&pg=PA27 Swedish Death Metal]'': "If I hadn't started to play in punk bands around '79–80 I could have ended up on the streets, with a needle in my arm. Luckily, I didn't have any such friends, so I got involved with the punk movement, and was inspired by bands like Exploited and GBH."</ref> [[Sex Pistols]], [[Disorder (band)|Disorder]], Riot/Clone, [[Anti-Nowhere League]], [[Kiss (band)|Kiss]],<ref>[http://www.bathory.nu/htmlbathory/01kap_b.htm "Birth of a Legend"]. ''Bathory.nu''.</ref> [[Anti Cimex]], Asocial, [[Mob 47]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mudrian |first1=Albert |last2=Peel |first2=John |last3=Carlson |first3=Scott |title=Choosing death: the improbable history of death metal & grindcore |date=2016 |publisher=Bazillion Points Books |location=New York |isbn=978-1935950165 |pages=23–27 |edition=Revised and expanded death-luxe |quote=Near the end of 1983, a young punk shaped the extreme ideas of crust into metallic form. He was Tomas Forsberg, better known as Quorthon of the band Bathory... The most extreme music Sweden produced-crust punk bands like Asocial, Anti Cimex, and Mob 47-were completely unknown to most people, even to fans of extreme music. Out of this environment of nothingness, the mighty Bathory emerged.}}</ref> and [[Exciter (band)|Exciter]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bathory.nu/htmlbathory/06_kap.htm|title=Bathory – The Return|website=Bathory.nu|access-date=6 October 2020}}</ref> The term 'black metal' came from Venom's 1982 [[Black Metal (Venom album)|album of that name]]. Many fans and reviewers have claimed Venom was an influence on Bathory,<ref>{{cite book |author=Moynihan, Michael |author2=Søderlind, Didrik |title=Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground |url=https://archive.org/details/lordsofchaosbloo00moyn |url-access=registration |edition=first |location=Venice |publisher=Feral House |year=1998 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/lordsofchaosbloo00moyn/page/16 16–18]|isbn=9780922915484 }}</ref> or even accused Bathory of copying Venom.<ref>Götz Kühnemund: ''»Heavy Metal ist was für Weicheier!«''. ''Die erste Generation des Black Metal''. In: ''Rock Hard'', no. 269, October 2009, p. 72.</ref><ref name=lahtinen>Luxi Lahtinen: [http://www.metal-rules.com/interviews/Bathory.htm ''BATHORY – An Epic Interview with Quorthon''], Metal-rules.com, accessed on 28 December 2012.</ref> Quorthon often denied being influenced by Venom and claimed that he "heard Venom for the first time in late 1984 or early 1985" and never owned a Venom album.<ref name=lahtinen/> However, he admitted in an interview for ''[[Metal Forces]]'' that he first listened to Venom's ''Black Metal'' in 1983 and considered it "one of the best albums ever made."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.metalforcesmagazine.com/site/feature-bathory-mf24/|title=BATHORY – Out Of The Black Hole (MF24, 1987) &#124; Features / Interviews |website=Metalforcesmagazine.com|access-date=6 October 2020}}</ref> Bathory's early sound has always been associated with [[Slayer]] but Quorthon denied being influenced by them.<ref name="anus">{{cite web |url=http://www.anus.com/metal/about/interviews/quorthon/ |title=Quorthorn (Bathory) Interview at anus.com – Death/Black Metal Interviews Section |work=anus.com |access-date=8 September 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728052812/http://www.anus.com/metal/about/interviews/quorthon/ |archive-date=28 July 2012 }}</ref>

Bathory stopped performing live in 1985, with Quorthon viewing organizing concerts as too much hassle.<ref name=Santos/>

Although Bathory's fourth album, ''Blood Fire Death'' (1988), largely followed in the style of the albums before it, some songs had a very different style. These songs have a much slower tempo, acoustic passages, choral background singing, and lyrics about [[Vikings]] and [[Norse mythology]]. Music critic Eduardo Rivadavia of [[AllMusic]] describes this 'epic' style as "possibly the first true example" of [[Viking metal]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Rivadavia |first=Eduardo |title=Blood Fire Death – Bathory : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=blood-fire-death-mw0000171761|pure_url=yes}} |access-date=16 February 2013}}</ref>