Cost: $2.00
For whatever dumb reason, until 2003 all CD versions of the first 3 Bathory albums had very plain tracklistings on the back cover, with none of the rear artwork from the original albums. I was quite happy to get this one in particular--one of my favorite metal demo tapes of all time opens with an intro of The Return back cover text being recited in heavily-accented English (I'm sure the aficianados of evil speed metal among you know exactly who I'm talking about). Otherwise, this CD version is unfortunately very cheap looking, even taking into consideration the poor cover art quality of older pressings. I always found it kind of ironic that out of all the different Black Mark CDs I have, some of the cheapest looking in terms of layout were for the flagship band that started the label off in the first place! I'm confident that official CDs with better quality layouts and audio closer to the sound of the original LPs will eventually come, although probably from a licensee...
As for the actual album, this is probably my least favorite of the first 3 Bathorys (although to be honest, for me, Under the Sign... is more or less "Call from the Grave" plus some additional songs rather than a consistently great album). I've learned to appreciate it more than I did initially, but I still have to be in the right mood to want to listen to it. It's certainly a bestial and brutal release, but feels a bit lacking in songwriting strength and musical subtleties compared to the other two albums. "Born for Burning" has always been the one standout track for me. The debut is what almost always gets compared to Venom musically, but under the distortion, "Bestial Lust" is the most blatant Venom worship Bathory has ever done (which is by no means a bad thing). The re-recording of "The Return of the Darkness and Evil" is, sadly, nowhere near as good as the earlier compilation version.
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