The many ideas explored as far as sounds and styles were concerned - certainly once the hellish paced material and occult topics had been dropped - resulted in a myriad of sessions. During several of these sessions, material was experimented with which dealt in one form or another with a theme based on a story by Quorthon entitled ?Blood on Ice?.
This story was loosely based on the ancient Germanic Siegfried-saga, which also inspired to such masterpieces as the Nibelungen Ring by Richard Wagner. Not being sure exactly how the fans would position themselves towards a theme album, particularly with the split up of the fan base into two camps - a ?Death? metal camp and a ?Viking? metal camp - in fresh memory.
Throughout the years though, the rumour of the existence of these recorded sessions would spread among the fans and the demand for the release of this theme album was aired through endless flows of fan mail. The whole idea behind this theme album, why it was never completed and how eventually it was brought back to life using modern studio technology, was well explained for in the lavish booklet, which followed with the CD.
Tracks such as ?Man of Iron? and ?Gods of Thunder of Wind and of Rain? stands out in a blizzard of tracks soaked in Scandinavian magic and frozen blood. Odin would have been a fan!
Recorded in February 1988, October 1988, June 1989 and June 1995. Released in May 1996.
