Bathory were a black metal band from Vällingby, Sweden.

Frontman and main songwriter Quorthon (Tomas Forsberg) was born in Stockhom, Sweden on February 17, 1966 and was found dead in his apartment most likely due to heart failure. His presumed death date is June 3, 2004 (age 38). He was a multi-instrumentalist who wrote all of the music for Bathory and performed the vocals and guitars.

Bathory’s first four albums have been given the title of the “blueprints for Scandinavian Black metal” and it is Bathory who was responsible for the formation of the Viking metal genre. Their fourth album, Blood, Fire, Death, is considered the first example of Viking metal with the tracks A Fine Day to Die and Blood, Fire, Death.