Twilight of the Gods (album)

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 style, and also displays heavy epic doom and classical influences; it is titled after an opera by Wagner. It is a mid-tempo, more acoustic album than previous Bathory releases, though it follows on from Hammerheart. 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's The Planets; specifically, it is Quorthon's own rearrangement of the middle section of the fourth movement, Jupiter.

Twilight of the Gods
Studio album by Bathory
Released	29 June 1991
Recorded	April 1991 at Montezuma Studio, Stockholm, Sweden
Genre	Viking metal
Length	56:50
Label	Black Mark
Producer	Borje Forsberg, Quorthon
Bathory chronology
Hammerheart (1990) Twilight of the Gods (1991) Requiem (1994)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	7/10[2]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Quorthon, except "Hammerheart", music by Gustav Holst (excerpt of Jupiter, The Bringer of Jollity) with lyrics by Quorthon.

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Twilight of the Gods"	14:02
2.	"Through Blood by Thunder"	6:15
3.	"Blood and Iron"	10:25
4.	"Under the Runes"	5:56
5.	"To Enter Your Mountain"	7:34
6.	"Bond of Blood"	7:34
7.	"Hammerheart"	4:40
8.	"Outro"	0:23
Total length:		56:50

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

Personnel

• Quorthon – vocals, guitar, bass guitar, drums, production, engineering, mixing
• Boss Forsberg – production, engineering, mixing

References

1. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "Twilight of the Gods - Bathory : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
2. Popoff, Martin (1 August 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.