BATHORY will be inducted into Swedish Music Hall Of Fame this year. Named after Hungarian countess Elizabeth Báthory, they are considered pioneers of black metal and Viking metal, and one of the most influential acts in heavy metal as a whole.
Official Swedish Music Hall Of Fame website states (as translated by Metal Addicts): “Long before Swedish heavy metal became a successful export, BATHORY existed. The band did not sell many records and was barely seen in newspapers or television. They were an underground band. Nevertheless, over time they gained a global impact that most Swedish musicians, regardless of genre, can only dream of.
“BATHORY was formed by Jonas Åkerlund, Frederick Melander and Thomas Börje Forsberg, better known by the stage name Quorthon, in 1983. With a punk rawness taken from MOTÖRHEAD, the group created a new kind of hard rock that came to be known as black metal.
“The name BATHORY was taken from Elizabeth Bathory, the Hungarian countess who murdered young women to bathe in their blood. The lyrics were about Satanism. And the yellow goat on the band’s first album became one of the most iconic hard rock symbols ever.
“It is sometimes said that everyone who bought the underground band Velvet Underground‘s records in the late sixties started their own bands. So it was with BATHORY. Black metal bands have been inspired by them all over the globe.
“In 2004, Quorthon died at the age of 38 due to heart problems. After the tragic end, the mythologization of him and BATHORY has only continued.”
