Bathory is a musical project based around the enigmatic Quorthon, previously known as 'Ace Shot'. Although denied officially it is widely believed that Tomas 'Quorthon' Forsberg is the son of Black Mark Records owner Börje Forsberg. "Runka Snorkråka" and "Pugh Rogefeldt" are definitely not Quorton's real name.



Formed in March 1983 by Quorthon, ex-guitarist of a Punk Band with fellow members Hanoi on bass, and Jonas 'Vans' Åkerlund on drums. They had started for fun and underwent several different name changes (Nosferatu, Natas, Countess Bathory) before finally settling on Bathory.



Quorthon knew the head of a Record Company, Black Mark Productions, whom he persuaded to record 2 tracks for a Scandinavian Metal Compilation LP. At this point he also started to call himself Quorthon, found from a list of Demons.



The band fell apart due to "musical differences" and Quorthon was going it alone when Black Mark got back in touch to ask him to record a full length album, resulting from continued interest in his earlier recordings. Since he was on his own at this point he recorded all the music himself. This self titled LP was released in `84. Followed by the second `The Return` which was also entirely recorded by Quorthon released in `85.



The third Lp `Under The Sign Of The Black Mark` was credited with having an `Unknown` drummer and was released in `87. The next three lp`s took a slighlty different line of music with the lyrics becoming involved with Viking Legends and stories of the coming of the Christians to Scandinavia.



A steady line up emerged from this era of Quorthon- guitar and Vocals, Vvornth - Drums and Kothaar - Bass. Bathory also played several live shows in Alvik and Stockholm.



`Requiem` and `Octagon` saw a return to Death/Black metal roots, whilst `Blood On Ice` saw the release of unused songs from the era of `Hammerheart` and `Twilight Of The Gods` along with some new songs reflecting Viking Metal.



According to informed sources that confirmed Blabbermout.net, Tomas "Quorthon" Forsberg was found dead in his apartment in Stockholm, Sweden on Monday, June 7, 2004. The 39-year-old son of Black Mark Records owner Börje Forsberg, widely considered to be one of black metal's founding fathers, died of an apparent heart failure.