h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Yesterday I found a brilliant shop which sold old LPs. Amongst the masses of old Iron Maiden singles (which I shall buy as soon as I've bought my ticket for the Birmingham gig) there were BATHORY albums! And, like, the only other places I know to get these are in Australia, or by snail mailing the record company in Germany!
So, enthusiastically, I bought Hammerheart, the first of the Viking-themed albums. Today I listened to it.

I was slightly disappointed. I didn't expect great things of it, but of seven songs, two turned me off and four are good, but suffer from the poor production that Heavenshore Studio (read: Quorthon's garage) offers. However, song #7 justified my £8 spending and vindicated the whole album.
That song is One Rode To Asa Bay.
A poignant tale of Christianity's arrival in Viking land, and the beginning of it's destruction of Viking culture. The song would bring tears to my eyes if I wasn't so hard, like. Starting off with what sounds like a digeridoo (Vikings with dijeridoos?), the song slowly seams into the heavily distorted guitar and Quorthon's lovingly Swedish vocals. After two verses (I think I remember), the guitar steps on up and decides to tear you in half with it's engery. Quorthon Satanically screams and wails about strange men in armour smelling not of beer but flowers and with no hair on face.

Those who did not pay the one coin of four to man of new God
Whipped was times twenty and put in chains then locked by their neck to the log
To the log
And so all of Asa Bay did build a house of the cross
Every hour of daylight they did sweat limbs ached because faith must cost

Seeing as the song is 10 and a half minutes long, there's plenty of poignant singing about the beginning of the end of Asa Bay. Right up until the end, where old Crow announces
"People of Asa land, it's only just begun..."

A classic.