Undeniably, The Return will always remain BATHORY`s most powerful album…yet, Under the Sign of the Black is very important as well; for thousands of black metal hordes, thisfull-time recordinghas become, in many ways, the blueprint for how black metal music ought to be performed.

Side A (Darkness Side) starts off with a dark intro called Nocturnal Obeisance. This traditional Quorthon`sway of opening of each and every album of BATHORY is what we`ve already gotten used to. The songintroduceslistenersinto album`s dark, ghastly atmosphere. A howling winter gale, accompanied by the wailing of tormented creatures…These yells of frightdo give you goosebumps... Quorthon, definitely on purpose, creates thismeek, quietatmospherein order to smoothly change this peacefulness into Massacre, which is a very speedy and intensive song; sheer aggressiveness and jaw-dropping music shock the listener. The drums in this track overshadow the guitars, that’s for sure, unless, of course you crank up the volume (and this should be done!). The vocals are rabid and evil, much more rabid than any other metal bands had at the time. Including the debut and The Return albums by BATHORY ,too, no joke! The sound is totally minimalistic, the very featurewhich will become of utmost importance and a true blueprint forall the future bands willing to deal with similar kind of music. On Under the Sign of the Black, BATHORY has gotten rid ofall the VENOM influences we could still find on their early recordings and thus created a completely new, darker quality of music.

Woman of Dark Desiresis another song which deals with Elisabeth Bathory herself. Musically quite similar to the previous song, until we get to its mid-paced refrain – a very good and very memorable one. This track has got a good keyboardsectionwhich strengthens up the obscure and dark atmosphere of the music. The aura this album gives off isn’t cold…it is hot as hell itself!

The sound of an awakenedcorpsescratching the lid of his own coffin and desperatelytrying to gasp for air is an introduction to Call from the Grave. Just the very first seconds of this song are enough for us to experience this unpleasant, claustrophobic feeling of being unable to breathe. Chords are just pounded like there is no tomorrow, fast riffs build up a truly epic atmosphere. Dark and tormented vocals paint the picture of utter desperation.The lyrical content of this trackmakes medoubt whether the same person was responsible for such cuts asBestial LustorTotal Destruction. Yeah, how about these words:God of heaven / Hear my cries of anguish, I'm in pain / I've suffered a thousand deaths but I live on in vain. […] I scream for mercy / Hear my cries / Oh, Lord don't abandon me / I'm so tired / Grant me the eternal sleep…Does it suggest Quorthonwas suffering from low mood or depression at the time, huh? So different from that strong personality created by Quorthonhimself on his first two albums. And so different from the image of a “tough viking guy” from later releases.Fortunately, there are no more lyrics like this and the music itself isn’t that bad at all. Just the very opposite. It whips the listener with a storm of bloody strikes. Tonation and harmony of the solos are perfect and suffused with sorrow. This song is this album`s best and also one ofthe most outstanding in BATHORY`s discography.

The next song is immortal Equimanthron. It starts off witha riff which creeps over alistener right from soggy darkness to explode in full fury and anger. This song stands for the slow change inBATHORY`s lyrics. Here, Quorthonshows his interest in Nordic mythology; yet the title of this track is totally made up. A truly possessed speedy race after infernal gale destroys all that’s in its path. Words are spitted out so vehemently that it is not possible to decipher what this song is all about. After a couple of minutes, the music slows down to transform into a medley of mid-paced thrash riffs. The epic atmosphere lasts almost to the end of the track when the wild solos take over, cutting through bones and flesh.

Under the Sign of the Black is, when talking about particular song structures, different from previous albums, that’s for sure. This is explicitly visible when listening to the first track on B side:Enter the Eternal Fire. It is mid-paced and has truly epic atmosphere. It starts with slow and heavy riffs accompanied with tolling of cemetery bells and short acoustic parts,mixed with misty keyboard passages; thusprovidingthe song with an atmospheric background. This slow, loaded with destructiveatmosphere music, takes upexactly where HELLHAMMER left off with their Triumph of Death. And this worksreally great to re-define what black metal is all about. Although lyrics don’t deal with Nordic mythology, the musicstyleappears transitional between older albums and what will be found on band`sfuturereleases. Similar to Call from the Grave, the lyricsare full of anxiety, deal withhopelessness of a human being in his journey to the bottom of hell:And he calls my name / First a whispering then louder / And he wants me to follow / And to enter the eternal fire......This song`s atmosphere is indeed suffused with lethal and obscure fear. Somewhere in the middle of it, the track slows down to give way to acoustic guitars anda truly grim solo which drills deeply into listener’s brain, pressing the air out of his lungs. This track builds up suspension all the way to the end,whenQuorthon screams, in a cold voice, so cold that listeners frost on the inside:This can't be / Raging flames all over me / Inferno of heat / Oh no, oh no, oh noooooo, noooooo, noooooo......

Chariots of Fireis preceded by a short keyboard horror movie-styledintro. This intro then transforms into anultra-fastassault. Different from the previous track, together withMassacreand Equimanthron,this onedestroys our sense ofhearing. Bestial murdering tempos, all the way.No more, no less.

13 Candles opens up with some weird whisperings that then morph into exploding, mid-paced riffs. Very catchy, this one, especially the refrain – a bit similar to another song from the same release:Woman of Dark Desires. This song treats about the birth of Satan’s son. Resemblesthe stuff we know from band`s first two albums, no doubt about it. In many interviews, Quorthon explained that this track had,in fact, been written long before Under the Sign and finally recorded for and released on the above-mentioned album. This song soundsvery sick, grim and evil especially when we listen to the demonic vocals. Quorthon seems to be possessed with some devilish power when performing this track.

Of doom is album`s last song. It deals with BATHORY hordes. Fast as hell…Quorthon amazesus with the sheer speed of this song; even today, it seemsso furiously rabid that one cannot release himself from the grip of imminent, impendingdeath. Towards the track`s end,the music gradually slows down and becomes somehow similar to SLAYER`s Hell Awaits– atmosphere-wise, of course...The sounds slowly fade away into the abyss, leaving a dark mark on everyone who`s just listened to this album. A standard, dark intro finishes the album.

Under the Sign of the Blackis the culmination of evil and satanic black metal, served in the unique BATHORY style. Their next full-lengther is a transitional album between the mentioned genre and epic viking metal. Anyhow, this album seems most influential. Allegedly,DARKTHRONE had brought this album to their studio beforethey started recording their Under a Funeral Moon sothat the producer would know what kind of sound the band intended to achieve. Yes, VENOMstarted black metal, that’s true, but that was BATHORY that started the Black Metal evolution and, in result, thousands of bands have been following BATHORY ever since. This album still holds up and ages really well.Under the Sign of the Black is one of the stones which the altar of classic underground metal music is built on.