''Twilight of the Gods'' is the sixth studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Bathory. It continues the exploration of the newly created

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 ...

style, and also displays heavy epic doom and classical influences; it is titled after an opera by

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

. It is a mid-tempo, more acoustic album than previous Bathory releases, though it follows on from ''

Hammerheart ''Hammerheart'' is the fifth studio album by Swedish extreme metal band Bathory. It continued the previous album ''Blood Fire Deaths transition away from black metal to what became recognized as Viking metal, and is considered a cornerstone wo ...

''. Of significance is Quorthon's total control of the album, playing all electric and acoustic guitar, keyboards, bass, and drum programming. The background vocals are a particular feature of the album, with Quorthon multi-tracking himself, as he did on ''Hammerheart'', though on this album he sounds more like a chorus than previously. The song "Hammerheart" is based on a melody from

Gustav Holst Gustav Theodore Holst (born Gustavus Theodore von Holst; 21 September 1874 – 25 May 1934) was an English composer, arranger and teacher. Best known for his orchestral suite ''The Planets'', he composed many other works across a range ...

's ''

The Planets ''The Planets'', Op. 32, is a seven- movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1917. In the last movement the orchestra is joined by a wordless female chorus. Each movement of the suite is name ...

''; specifically, it is Quorthon's own rearrangement of the middle section of the fourth movement, ''Jupiter''.

Track listing

The 2003 remastered edition combines tracks 1–3 as one track.

Personnel

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 ...

– vocals, guitar, bass guitar, drums,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

, mixing * Boss Forsberg – production, engineering, mixing

References

Bathory (band) albums 1991 albums Viking metal albums Folk metal albums {{1990s-metal-album-stub