Countess Bathory (song)

"Countess Bathory", like all songs on the album were written by vocalist and bassist Conrad "Cronos" Lant and guitarist Jeffrey "Mantas" Dunn.

It was written when band drummer Tony "Abaddon" Bray was late for a session, so Dunn began jamming some new riffs while Lant would work the lyrics out.

[3] The song tells of the ominous deeds and crimes of the Hungarian noblewoman Countess Elizabeth Báthory, the most prolific female murderer.

Stories began circulating of her vampiric tendencies including tales of her bathing in the blood of the virgin girls and women she murdered to retain her youth.

[5] The final verse of the song describes Elizabeth at the end of her life and that there is "no blood to turn time back" as she is "crippled now with age".

Elizabeth Báthory from Zay artist. Probably a copy of the other painting which is at the Hungarian National Museum in Budapest (also made by Zay). Mentioned in the Magyar Várak book, page 34.