Amon Amarth

First off, for those of you that said yesterday's band was too heavy, I may have some bad news....This is another melodic death metal band. But this post was already written, so it's not getting deleted. I will however say that with *possibly* one exception (There's a couple posts for this week that I haven't written.) We are leaving death metal behind us after today.


Amon Amarth is a Swiss melodic death metal group from Sweden (Thanks for the correction Arcee!) that, because of their lyrical themes, is often referred to as "viking metal". There are really only three things you should know about this band: 1) All they sing about are vikings and viking lore. 2) The name Amon Amarth translates to "Mt. Doom" in one of the Elvish dialects. And 3) The lead singer is Sabertooth from the X-Men comics. (Not really, BUT LOOK AT HIM!)

If that doesn't already pique your interest, I don't know what will. I will say that unless you're a blackened death metal fan and think shitty production value is "cool", start off with one of their latest three albums. (Fate of Norns, With Oden on Our Side, and Twilight of the Thunder God.) Prior to these releases, their sound is quite harsh. With every release however, it has become better, and more melodic.

They have a new album coming out next month called "Surtur Rising". From what I've heard, they are keeping the production value the same, but using harsher vocals. Personally, I wish they kept the vocals where they were for WOOOS and TWOTTG, but I'm just happy that I'm getting me some new Amon Amarth.

This song is from the album The Fate of Norns, which is when their music really started becoming melodic. It's about the battle of Foteviken. Where Magnus The Strong, prince of Denmark, retreated in a battle, and got 2,000 of his men killed. Mangus was captured, and held for a high ransom, which his father paid. When his son was returned, the king took his head.

Next, a sample from With Oden on Our Side. There's not much to this one. It's just about an army prepping for battle. Notice though how the vocals are clearer than in The Beheading of a King. Also, brace for epic unison windmills.

Lastly, is a track taken from Twilight of the Thunder God. I chose to post Live For the Kill here, simply because I LOVE the surprise guest solo at the end. (Hint: This song is also a good segway to tomorrow's post.) However, lyrically, there's no grand story. Which is a shame, because this album is full of them. If you listen to only one song today, make it this one.

Also, I know this post is already pretty long for a band post, but I figured this was relevant enough.

I made that a couple years ago, when Amon Amarth came to play in Atlanta. I tried to get it signed, but my friend that I brought had to get up at the ass crack of dawn, and couldn't wait 2-3 hours after the show in the cold so I could get some signatures. The horn is a bull's horn that was bought online. I boiled it, removed the core, and  cleaned it. I forget where I got the skull, but I put some home made lead musket balls in the back of the nostril and sealed that off with Mighty Putty to act as a counter weight for the drinking horn.