When I first heard ‘Blood on Ice’ by Bathory it captured my imagination fully. There’s no doubt that stepping into the story Quorthon created for that album flicked a switch in my mind which set me on the path towards one day creating something similarly ‘escapist’. ‘Man of Iron’ always stood out to me as such a pure example of Quorthon’s songwriting ability, and whenever I hear it I’m right there in that frozen forest with him. I wanted to pay tribute to Quorthon, but I also wanted to showcase ‘Man of Iron’ outside of the context of its album narrative, to highlight what a great song it is in its own right.
I’m grateful to the profoundly-talented Jo Quail for helping me to compose
the song that precedes the cover version, ‘Beholdinge, He...’; a passage of music which serves to honour and introduce The Man of Iron.