Twilight of the Gods is the sixth album by Bathory

Bathory (band)

Bathory was a Swedish heavy metal band, formed by Quorthon in 1983. They are regarded as pioneers of both black metal and viking metal. Quorthon remained the main songwriter and member of Bathory for more than two decades. Bathory was permanently ended after Quorthon's death in 2004...

. It continues the exploration of the newly created Viking metal

Viking metal

Viking metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its galloping pace, keyboard-rich anthemic sound, bleakness and dramatic emphasis on lyrical themes of Norse mythology, Norse paganism, and the Viking Age...

 style, and also displays heavy Epic doom and classical influences; it is titled after an opera

Götterdämmerung

is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four operas titled Der Ring des Nibelungen...

 by Wagner

Richard Wagner

Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...

, and the melody of "Hammerheart" (titled as such despite Bathory's previous album of the same name

Hammerheart

Hammerheart is the fifth album released by Bathory. It continued Blood Fire Deaths transition away from black metal to what would become recognized as Viking metal, and is considered a cornerstone work of the genre.-Track listing:...

) is lifted from Gustav Holst

Gustav Holst

Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....

's The Planets

The Planets

The Planets, Op. 32, is a seven-movement orchestral suite by the English composer Gustav Holst, written between 1914 and 1916. Each movement of the suite is named after a planet of the Solar System and its corresponding astrological character as defined by Holst...

(more specifically, from the fourth movement, Jupiter). Originally this was to be the final Bathory album.

Track listing

All lyrics and music by Quorthon, except Hammerheart, music by Gustav Holst, rearranged by Quorthon

1. "Prologue - Twilight of the Gods - Epilogue" – 14:02
2. "Through Blood by Thunder" – 6:15
3. "Blood and Iron" – 10:25
4. "Under the Runes" – 5:59
5. "To Enter Your Mountain" – 7:37
6. "Bond of Blood" – 7:35
7. "Hammerheart" – 4:57

Some versions of this album have songs 1-3 as one track on the CD.

Credits

• Quorthon
  Quorthon
  Tomas Forsberg, better known as "Quorthon" , was a multi-instrumentalist and the founder and songwriter of the pioneering Swedish black metal band Bathory. He is also credited with creating the Viking metal genre...
  
   - guitars
  Guitar
  The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
  
  , vocals, bass
  Bass guitar
  The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
  
  , drums
  Drum kit
  A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
  
  
• Produced
  Record producer
  A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
  
  , engineered
  Audio engineering
  An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...
  
   and mixed
  Audio mixing (recorded music)
  In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
  
  by Quorthon and Boss Forsberg