The Yellow Goat and the Missing C: Behind the 1984 Debut
Two small details from the 1984 debut, Bathory, are the reason a lot of people remember it. Here they are.
Why is it called the yellow goat?
The cover goat was meant to be gold, but gold was too expensive, so it came out bright yellow. After the first 1000 pressings the cover switched to black and white. That yellow cover is still called the yellow goat.
In the shop: 1984 Goat shows the goat and the blackletter logo in pale cream, and Goat Red Logo has it in black and white with red eyes.
Why is Necromansy spelled that way?
Quorthon ran out of the letter C in his rub-on lettering, so the song title came out as "Necromansy", and it kept that spelling on the record.
In the shop: the back of 1984 Goat lists the songs with the album's own spellings.
What are Darkness and Evil?
The album has two sides, named Darkness and Evil. Side Darkness holds "Hades", "Reaper", "Necromansy" and "Sacrifice", and Side Evil "In Conspirasy with Satan", "Armageddon", "Raise the Dead" and "War".
In the shop: the back of 1984 Goat sets both sides in a white pentagram.
Who made it?
The album was released in October 1984 and produced by Quorthon and The Boss, Börje Forsberg, his father.