Review Summary: One can definitely tell Under the Sign of the Black Mark was one of the most spun albums by Norwegian metallers around '91-'94.
For those incredibly unfamiliar with black metal or just metal in general Bathory were a black, later folk or "viking", then proto St. Anger back to folk metal band, (though basically a one man project lead by Thomas Forsberg aka Quorthon.) Bathory have for many a year now been cited by countless black metal bands as a main source of inspiration, this album in particular being one of the most if not the most spoken about, and in my opinion clearly influential Bathory album to particularly the early to mid 90's Scandinavian black metal scene.
It's rather difficult to precisely articulate how much of a perfect black metal album UTSOTBM is. A brilliant combination of fast, blitzkrieg, shorter, blasters like Chariots of Fire and Massacre, and more doomy, groovy, headbanging mid paced tracks like Call From The Grave, or the truly epic, keyboard laden (clearly influential to the likes of Emperor, Cradle of Filth etc.) masterpiece Enter The Eternal Fire. I also love not only that this album includes songs with a variety of tempos but perfectly peppers them throughout the track listing creating a satisfying sense of variety and logical flow for Bathory's third opus.
Quorthon's vocal performance on this disc is another outstanding aspect. Clearly inspiring to the like's of Abbath, Nocturno Culto, Dead and myriads of other 90s and so on black metal "singers". Though by today's standards not the most unique black metal vocals one can still appreciate the tortured, anguishing screams on Call From The Grave, and the rambling, angry and frankly insane delivery on the faster tracks: Of Doom, Chariots of Fire etc. a listener has to simply marvel at.
The production here is also superb, not the cleanest most outstandingly produced albums ever, but it's not as raw and treble filled as say Transilvanian Hunger, or In The Nightside Eclipse, so this would definitely be an album I'd recommend to a newcomer of black metal who has been turned off by the sound of the 90's Norwegian scene. Reverb filled, doomy drums and metallic guitars and a crude yet not ultra lo-fi sound make Under the Sign of the Black Mark an accessible album to both newcomers and experienced black metal fans.
I also want to comment on the excellence of the guitar solos present here. For whatever reason a lack of guitar solos became a pretty big trend in black metal in the 90's and has been ever since. However, almost every track here features a solo. Tracks like Equimanthorn and Massacre include some of the most blistering, spell bindingly fast guitar solos that could speed and intensity wise go head to head with anything by the worlds greatest shredders, truly impressive. Not to mention the more melodic solos featured on Call From The Grave and Enter The Eternal Fire which add a level of variety to not just the supply of guitar solos on the album but the entirety of the album itself.
All in all, a well rounded, fantastic metal classic, highly influential for a reason. Under The Sign of The Black Mark still holds up 29 years later as one of black metals high points. If you want a primitive, raw extreme metal record but don't want something one dimensional, Under The Sign of The Black Mark I highly recommend to any metal fan.
