''Hammerheart'' is the fifth studio album by Swedish

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

band Bathory. It continued the previous album '' Blood Fire Death'''s transition away from

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

to what became recognized as

Viking metal Viking metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by a lyrical and thematic focus on Norse mythology, Norse paganism, and the Viking Age. Viking metal is quite diverse as a musical style, to the point where some consider it more a cr ...

, and is considered a cornerstone work of the genre. A music video was made for "One Rode to Asa Bay."

Background and composition

Quorthon Thomas Börje Forsberg (17 February 1966 – 3 June 2004),Date stated in the death notice for Ace Börje Forsberg that his family put in the swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter on 23 June 2004, the death notice also included the lyrics to the Batho ...

dedicated the song ''One Rode to Asa Bay'', about the

Christianization of Scandinavia The Christianization of Scandinavia, as well as other Nordic countries and the Baltic countries, took place between the 8th and the 12th centuries. The realms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden established their own Archdioceses, responsible directly ...

, to C. Dean Andersson, who had earlier sent some of his books to Quorthon. The village's name in the song, Asa Bay, comes from pseudonym Asa Drake which Andersson used in some of his books.

Track listing

The 2003 remastered edition combines tracks 5 and 6.

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

called the album an "unqualified triumph for the pioneering Swedish act."

Personnel

Bathory *

– lead and backing vocals, electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, special effects *Kothaar - bass guitar *Vvornth - drums, percussion Production *Black Mark Production - executive production *Quorthon - arrangement *Quorthon and Tomas "Boss" Forsberg - production, recording, mixing *Black Mark Production - publishing *Julia Schechner – album design *

Sir Frank Dicksee Sir Francis Bernard Dicksee (27 November 1853 – 17 October 1928) was an English Victorian painter and illustrator, best known for his pictures of dramatic literary, historical, and legendary scenes. He also was a noted painter of portra ...

– cover artwork, ''The Funeral of a Viking'' (provided by Manchester City Art Gallery)

Cultural impact

HammerHeart Brewing Co. is a brewery located in

Lino Lakes, Minnesota Lino Lakes is a city in Anoka County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 21,399 at the 2020 census. Interstates 35W and 35E are two of Lino Lakes's main routes. It is an outer suburb north of the Twin Cities. History When European s ...

whose name and branding was influenced by the album. According to co-founder Nathaniel Chapman, “All of our beer names are inspired by Norwegian lore and we want to keep that attitude.” The themes of the brewery and its beer are focused on Norse and Celtic mythology, and

heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With roots in blues rock, psychedelic rock and acid rock, heavy metal bands developed a ...

.Zach McCormick
"Norwegian Nights: HammerHeart Brewing Company is an oasis of heavy beers and heavier metal in Lino Lakes"
''The Growler'', March 26th 2019

References

External links

* {{Authority control Bathory (band) albums 1990 albums Viking metal albums Noise Records albums