[Review] Amon Amarth - Twighlight of the Thundergod

[Grim]

Tracklist:

1. Twilight of the Thunder God
   
2. Free Will Sacrifice
   
3. Guardians of Asgaard
   
4. Where is your God
   
5. Varyags of Miklagaard
   
6. Tattered Banners and Bloody Flags
   
7. No Fear for the Setting Sun
   
8. The Heroe
   
9. Live for the Kill
   
10. Embrace of the Endless Ocean
    

Review I

On my buddy Jesse”s birthday this year we took him to Duff”s Brooklyn metal bar. I don”t drink, so I don”t give a crap about hanging out in bars. In fact, it”s usually a painful event for me. Though as soon as we walked in, I had a feeling that Duff”s might actually be an enjoyable experience because they were blasting Amon Amarth”s new album Twilight of the Thunder God (Metal Blade).

As the night went on Twilight of the Thunder God kept playing”¦and I kept enjoying it. It wasn”t long before I found out the name of the man I needed to thank””it was none other than Richard Christy of Death/Iced Earth/Howard Stern fame. Christy just happened to be drinking there that night, and he was the architect behind this nonstop Viking assault.

My buddy ended up doing shots with Christy, and after said shots, Christy proceeded to praise Amon Amarth for being “the greatest band playing right now.” Well Mr. Christy, while I don”t know if I want to commit to dubbing them the “greatest,” there”s one thing we can certainly agree on: Amon Amarth destroy!

If you don”t know, Amon Amarth are mid-paced, melodic death metal from Sweden with Viking lyrical themes and rousing choruses. There is a lot of the older Swedish/Gothenburg sound in them, which was my bread and butter until it became diluted by the hair metal of our generation: faceless metalcore bands.

If you were familiar with the band and you”d ask me to describe the sound of their seventh and latest record, Twilight of the Thunder God, I would say, “Yep, it sounds like Amon Amarth. And, yep, it”s great.” Amon Amarth realized a long time ago that the key to their success is to stick to the program. When you have a sound that is working for you, you gotta go with it. And go with it. And go with it.

So where to start? How about on the outside and work our way in. Twilight of the Thunder God might feature Amon Amarth”s best artwork ever. Clearly someone should pick up the slack and make a God of War–style game starring Thor.

Historically, each Amon Amarth album sounds like the guys””Ted Lundström (bass), Fredrik Andersson (drums), Johan Hegg (vocals), Johan Söderberg (guitar) and Olavi Mikkonen (guitar)””work really hard at distilling the core elements of what they play, and then wielding them with stunning precision.




Like I said, you aren”t going to find anything drastically new from the band on Twilight, but I didn”t come to the Amon Amarth party to hear the brand new hep sound. I came to hear mid-paced single-note riffs and tales about winning Viking wars!

The thing that always comes across on Amon Amarth records is that they are a band. While this may seem like a ridiculous (and ridiculously obvious) statement, it”s not. Many bands can fall into the trap where they sound like a collection of random metal dudes showing off their skills. When listening to Amon Amarth, the feeling is conveyed that these dudes are one for all and all for one. There is no single metal dictator in the band calling the shots around a revolving cast of minions, rather each musician is working to create the best possible Amon Amarth song yet.

This unified approach really helps make Twilight sound good all the way through, which is a rare thing in today”s world where albums consist of a couple “hot” singles padded by a bunch of throwaways. Amon Amarth keep the energy up through the entire record, while adding enough variation to prevent the album from becoming dull.

Take a song like “Free Will Sacrifice,” which has a surprisingly upbeat, borderline peppy drum intro before it kicks into a classic Amon Amarth twin-guitar part. They also up the ante by inserting a little bit of a thrashier, speed metal vibe into songs like “Where is Your God?” and the title track.

One of my personal favorites about Amon Amarth are Hegg”s vocals and lyrics, which fall in that distinct category of bands (like Cannibal Corpse and Bolt Thrower) that decided a long time ago “Hey we are going to write about one topic over and over again. But we will make it interesting every time.” But without fail, when Hegg”s gravelly voice starts to spin a Viking tale I get all emotional.

Honestly, I feel like a sap getting worked up, but as soon as he starts weaving a tale I just open up the waterworks. I think on this record the song “The Hero” is going to be the one that gets me, as the main character gets all introspective about being a mercenary and tells you to “Shed no tears for me. I know who I am. I am an evil man.” What can I say? I”m a sucker.

Twilight of the Thunder God also has some great guest appearances, which I think is a first for Amon Amarth. When I think of Amon Amarth, I never really think of sick guitar solos. Soderberg and Mikkonens”s guitar lines are always fairly tasteful, but they are certainly not shredders. So it was probably a good idea to bring in Roope Latvala from Children of Bodom for a guest shred on the title track.

Although I will say that one of my few minor complaints on the record comes from the little noodle that happens before the solo kicks in. In a weird way it sounds like Dragonforce to me and always throws me off when I hear it. There are also guest vocals from Lars Göran Petrov from Entombed on “Guardians of Asgaard,” while Apocalyptica add their talents for the requisite metal string spot on “Live for the Kill.”

So in case you haven”t realized, I think this is one fantastic record. Possibly Amon Amarth at their best. Get it. Listen to it. Love it. Go see them live and raise a horn full of mead in honor of this great band. I still don”t think there is actually anything in that horn when they play, but raise it anyway.

And now that I”ve thought about it some more, Richard Christy you just may be right”¦ ””Geoff Garlock

Quelle Review I

Review II:

The band from Sweden with the J. R. Tolkien inspired moniker has been making slow but steady steps in establishing the name AMON AMARTH in the Metal scene. So, after six albums I think we all know what to expect when these gentlemen take over the stage and start telling stories about Vikings, wars and Norse gods. Indeed, their synchronized headbanging the bone crushing riffs and the ton-heavy rhythms are parts of the trademark music genre called Viking Metal.

After the excellent "With Oden on Our Side" in 2006 AMON AMARTH challenge themselves with the seven full length album under the fitting title "Twilight Of The Thunder God." And I say challenge because I thought that album was meant to be their best; fortunately I was wrong since the new release will once again snap our necks, keep us company in beer drinking while preparing for war!

The albums take you to the pre Christian Scandinavian landscapes with "Twilight Of The Thunder God." The main riff sounds familiar to previous albums and maybe it is but AMON AMARTH manage to create something fresh without escaping their own music boundaries. The new album brings for the first time some guest appearances; the first is Roope Latvala from CHILDREN OF BODOM who lays a guitar solo here. One think that I really love with the Swedes is that they manage to sound even more heavier in the slow tempo tracks; like "Free Will Sacrifice" where the down tuned almost muffled guitars and the steady drumming create a impenetrable concrete sound wall! "Guardians Of Asgaard" is an ultra classic AMON AMARTH war hymn! The main guitar riff and the the tormenting pace will make your neck snap while singing along ENTOMBED”s L.G. Petrov the chorus lines.

If you are writing music inspired by the Norse mythology you are a genuine failure if you don”t bring some Epic atmosphere in your songs. AMON AMARTH are now experts in this and prove it in "Tattered Banners And Bloody Flags" (listen to the keyboards in the background) or in the almost seven minutes of the epos "Embrace Of The Endless Ocean" that will take you upon a Drakard in a stormy sea through the smooth opening legato. The last (but not least) guest appearance happens in "Live For The Kill" where the cellos of APOCALYPTICA build the tension with the melodic break near the end.

I think you got my point that AMON AMARTH added another weapon in their arsenal marking their own space in the Metal scene. If you believe that they are just repeating themselves think of MOTORHEAD to realize that it is extremely difficult to write good music without escaping your own sound. Nothing needs to be said; this is another excellent release from the Swedes that will travel us upon forgotten times and territories fighting unknown gods and monsters. So fill up your tankards with beer and let the war begin!

Quelle Review II


Persönlicher Nachtrag:
Eigentlich wollte ich ja selbst ein Review schreiben, aber leider hab ich da momentan keine Zeit für und wenn ich mal Zeit hab, habe ich keine Lust. Darum hab ich mal ein bisschen nach Reviews gesucht die meine Meinung zu diesem Album wiederspiegeln. Und die ist mehr als positiv!
Ich hab ja viel von dem neuen Amon Amarth Album erwartet, aber nich das hier. Diese Langrille ist das mit Abstand beste Album der Schweden, kein einziger schwacher Song, geniale Riffs, ein mörder Sound und ein Johan Hegg der besser klingt als je zuvor. Manche mögen Amon Amarth zwar vorwerfen sie wären in ihrem Songwriting und in ihrer Songthematik festgefahren, aber mal ganz ehrlich, Technical - Odin - Mathcore mit sozialkritischen Texten will von den Jungs doch auch keiner hören, oder? Und sowieso, wenn sowas dabei rumkommt wie hier, dann zeigt sich das man manchmal doch lieber das was man wirklich kann zur Perfektion bringen sollte als sich ständig selbst neu zu erfinden. Genau das machen die 5 christenjagenden Heiden hier und das Ergebniss ist nicht als zufriedenstellend sondern eher als göttlich zu bezeichnen.
Odin wäre stolz !
Anspieltips: Alles! Aber auf jeden Fall Guardians of Asgaard, Varyags of Miklagaard und Tattered Banners Bloody Flags.

Persönliche Wertung: 9,5/10 unter vorbehalt nochmal 0,5 draufzupacken wenn das Ganze in nem Jahr immernoch so knallt.

Myspace - Amon Amarth