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David Gaskill
Mrs. Tranel
English IV/1
15 October 2014
In League With Satan
When presented with the unnerving, atmospheric, freezingly evil music that is black
metal, most people will scoff, citing church burnings and satanic rituals as both blasphemic and
ridiculous. The term black metal was first coined by the English band Venom in their 1982
sophomore album, Black Metal. Along with several other European bands, they were the first
wave of metal bands who developed a style and sound that created the now popular genre of
black metal. Gaining inspiration from heavy metal and punk bands like Black Sabbath,
Motorhead, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, GBH, Dead Kennedys, etc, these first wave bands sought
to create a sound that was as raw as punk and as heavy as metal, but without metals
commercialized aspects, especially that of the new wave of British heavy metal. (NWOBHM).
Venoms influence on the genre, and to all extreme metal bands today, cannot be
understated. The groups first three albums, Welcome to Hell, Black Metal, and At War with
Satan are widely acclaimed and referred to by many black metal bands as a large influence. The
album art for Welcome to Hell is both memorable and extremely prevalent in black metal today,
with a goats head inside a pentagram. With lyrics like
Rising from my deadly tomb I've got, Maddened eyes with fright, Fingers bleeding fast
heart beating, The moon's my only light, Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, If God won't have me, then
the Devil must (Raise the Dead, off of Black Metal.)


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The band used satanic themes to shock audiences. Both the goat and the pentagram have
remained standard images for black metal in general. Those three albums had Cronos (Conrad
Lent) on bass and vocals, Mantas (Jeff Dunn) on guitar, and Abbadon (Anthony Bray) on drums.
After At War with Satan, the band released Possessed, which was not as successful as previous
efforts. Mantas left to pursue a solo career after Possesed, and the band moved toward more
sword and sorcery imagery rather than satan and the occult. Although their music may not adhere
to what is considered Orthodox black metal, Venoms impact on all extreme metal, including
death metal and thrash metal is extraordinary. (Patterson)
Hailing from Sweden, first wave legends Bathory were most likely the most influential
band from the first wave. They set the stage both aesthetically and musically for what was to
come. Questions remain as to the influence of Venom on the band, although main member
Quorthon denies any. The name Bathory comes from the Hungarian countess Elizabeth Bathory,
who would bathe in the blood of virgins. Rumors also speculate that the name was taken from
the Venom track Countess Bathory, off of Black Metal. In 1983, three Swedes named Tomas
Forsberg (Quorthon) Jonas Akerlund and Fredrick Hanoi met through an ad at their local music
store. The band scored a spot on a compilation of Swedish metal, Scandinavian Metal Attack,
through one of Quorthons relatives. It is generally believed that this man, Borje Boss
Forsberg, is Quorthons father.(Patterson) After Scandinavian Metal Attack, Jonas and Frederick
began to drift from the bend, eventually leaving. Quorthon then hired Rickard Bergman and
Steffan Larson. Together, they released the bands debut album, Bathory (1984). Only Quorthon
and Boss were credited on the sleeve, and no band photos were included. This contributed to the
air of mystery and anonymity, crucial ingredients to the black metal mix. Quorthon wrote all of
the material, assuming a leading role in the band from the beginning. Without the accreditation

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of other members, it was largely assumed that Bathory only consisted of Quorthon, legitimizing
the concept of a one-man, studio only black metal band. (Patterson) The bands second album,
The Return released in 1985, would counter comparisons to Venom and Motorhead with a
more gruesome, punishing tracklist. While some consider this to be the first true black metal
album, Bathorys next album, 1987s Under the Sign of the Black Mark, definitively did. The
vocals, guitar tone, and overall aggressiveness of the album no longer sound like rock n roll, but
rather something colder, more evil.
Under the Sign of the Black Mark had such a cold atmosphere so (expletive deleted)-ing,
freezing cold. Of course you had the Satanic lyrics, but there was something within the music
that really captured me, something even scary, and it just nailed something in there with the
whole sound of it (...) it was like Quorthon actually managed to give sound to something inside
of you, in a very appropriate way. There was an eerie gloom there that was overwhelming.
-Mayhem ex-vocalist Maniac (Patterson)
Quorthon utilized elements like monotonous, mesmerizing riffs as well as subtle
keyboard use to create the atmospheric chill of the album, elements unheard of in the metal scene
of that time. The bands fourth album, released in 1988, moved away from Satanic lyrics and
unnerving atmosphere, combining elements of classical music and more majestic riffing to create
an entirely new sub genre, Viking metal. However, Blood Fire Death maintained the initial
aggressiveness and fast tempo of the previous three. With 1990s Hammerheart, Quorthon
transitioned fully into Viking metal, marking the end of Bathorys black metal days. (Patterson)
In the landscape of Switzerland in 1982, one of extreme metals greatest bands would
begin to take shape. Tom Warrior, AKA Thomas Gabriel Fischer, and Steve Warrior, AKA Urs
Sprenger formed Hammerhead, later rechristened Hellhammer, with drummer Pete Stratton.

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after a number of lineup changes, with Tom the only remaining founding member, the band
released a number of demos, all of which were passed around the underground metal tape trading
scene of the mid 80s. After these demos, Hellhammer officially disbanded, and out of the ashes
rose Celtic Frost. The lineup consisted of Tom, former Hellhammer bassist Martin Eric Ain, and
drummer Stephen Priestly. Released in 1984, the bands LP Morbid Tales featured many
black/death influenced songwriting, making it a landmark in extreme music. Their first full
album, To Mega Therion, which featured session bassist stand-in Dominic Steiner instead of Ain,
was majorly influential on both black and death metal. The album featured cover art by famous
swiss artist H.R. Giger. Celtic Frosts most influential works consisted of these two recordings as
well as 1987s Into the Pandemonium. The latter is largely considered to be an early example of
avant-garde metal.
These bands created the template for extreme music, inspiring countless youth to put a
guitar through a vox and howl agony into the night. Without them, there would be no black
metal, or at least not as it is known by the faithful few devotees of the modern era.


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