Amon Amarth
Amon Amarth |
|---|
Amon Amarth is a Swedish death metal band from Tumba, Sweden founded in 1992,[1] and takes its name for the Sindarin translation of Mount Doom, a location in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. The band comprises vocalist Johan Hegg, guitarists Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Söderberg, bassist Ted Lundström and drummer Fredrik Andersson. Amon Amarth has released seven studio albums, one EP, one DVD, and six music videos.
History
Formed under the name Scum in 1988, the band was originally a grindcore group formed by Paul "Themgoroth" Mäkitalo (Dark Funeral) on vocals, Olavi Mikkonen on guitar, Nico Mehra on drums and Vesa Meriläinen guitar. When Johan Hegg joined the band, the band started to incorporate Viking-related themes. After a 1991 demo, they changed the band's name to Amon Amarth in 1992, then recorded their first demo Thor Arise under the name in 1993 followed by another demo in 1994 entitled The Arrival of the Fimbul Winter. In 1996, they signed with Pulverised Records, on which they released their first MCD, Sorrow Throughout the Nine Worlds, which sold 6000 copies.[2] They then signed with Metal Blade Records, and with the release of the album Once Sent from the Golden Hall in 1998, their popularity rose internationally. Since then they have done multiple Canada and US tours, festival appearances, seven music videos, and appearances in over 100 metal magazines.[2] In early January 2008, their first tour of Australia and New Zealand took place, along with supporting Dimmu Borgir, after finishing a US and Canadian tour with Sonic Syndicate and Himsa.
Amon Amarth extended their record deal with Metal Blade Records for three more albums.[3] After extending their record deal, the band released Twilight of the Thunder God, which featured guest appearances by Lars Göran Petrov of Entombed, Roope Latvala of Children of Bodom, and the cello metal band Apocalyptica. Accompanying the release of the album was an eight-page comic strip based on Norse mythology which was released by magazines in Europe.
Amon Amarth embarked on a North American headlining tour in October 2008, with support from Ensiferum, Belphegor, and The Absence.[4] The band are also toured as support for the thrash metal band Slayer throughout Europe on the Unholy Alliance Chapter III. The band played their first show in India, headlining the Deccan Rock Festival in Bangalore on 5 December 2009.[5]
On November 30, 2010, Amon Amarth confirmed their next album would be titled Surtur Rising and will see a Spring of 2011 release date.[6] The drums have been recorded at Park Studios, while bass and guitars have been recorded at Fascination Street Studios.[7] According to the band's website, a release date has been set for March 29 in the U.S.
On January 27, 2011, Metal Blade Records released the first single off of the new album entitled "War Of The Gods" on YouTube.
Musical style and lyrical themes
The band bases most of their songs on Norse mythology, the Viking Age, and the pre-Christian world. This mythology is an element that originally emerged as an ideological off-shoot of black metal in a genre known as Viking metal in the early 1990s, made popular by such bands as Bathory and Enslaved.[8]
When asked to comment on the band's genre, vocalist Johan Hegg remarked:
We play death metal. We write about vikings so, therefore, some refer us to viking metal, but I have no idea what that is. I can't imagine the vikings veer into metal at all except on the swords and stuff. And musically, I guess they only played these strange lip instruments and some bongos or whatever.
Discography
Studio Albums
- Once Sent from the Golden Hall (1998)
- The Avenger (1999)
- The Crusher (2001)
- Versus the World (2002)
- Fate of Norns (2004)
- With Oden on Our Side (2006)
- Twilight of the Thunder God (2008)
- Surtur Rising (2011)
Demos
- Thor Arise
Thor Arise is a demo recorded in 1993. The album was never initially released due to its low production standards. The album features "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath", a cover of the Black Sabbath song. The song "Thor Arise" was re-recorded as a bonus track on the Digipak version of The Avenger. "Risen from the Sea" was re-recorded on The Crusher. The entire album was re-released with the "Viking Edition" of Versus the World.
|
|
- The Arrival of the Fimbul Winter
The Arrival of the Fimbul Winter is a demo self-released in 1994. Its original release was limited and consisted of 1000 copies. The demo was released on three different colour tapes with different styles. The "labels" for the demo are not professionally-made, and were created by the band for the release of the demo.
|
|
Videography
- Video albums
| Year | Video details | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SWE[9] | GER[10] | |||
| 2006 | Wrath of the Norsemen
|
2 | 91 | US & CAN: Gold[11] |
- Music videos
| Year | Title | Director |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | "Death in Fire" | |
| 2004 | "The Pursuit of Vikings" | Heiko Tippelt, Phillip Hirsch[12] |
| 2006 | "Runes to My Memory" | Bill Schacht[13][14] |
| 2007 | "Cry of the Black Birds" | |
| 2008 | "Twilight of the Thunder God" | Dariusz Szermanowicz[15] |
| 2009 | "Guardians of Asgaard" | Dariusz Szermanowicz, Pawel Krawczyk[16] |
Members
|
|
References
- ^ "Biography at amonamarth.com". Retrieved 2007-02-27.
- ^ a b "Amon Amarth Biography". Retrieved 2007-11-14.
- ^ Amon Amarth Extend Deal With Metal Blade Records Feb 10 2008
- ^ Amon Amarth - Tentative N. American Tour Routing: News @ metalstorm.ee
- ^ Amon Amarth Headline Deccan Rock 09.
- ^ "Amon Amarth: Title, Release Date Of Forthcoming Album". Metal CallOut. Retrieved 2010-12-01.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ Amon Amarth Working On New Full-Length Album metalunderground.com. 2010-11-15. Retrieved on 2010-12-02.
- ^ Interview with Johan Hegg Nov 19 2008
- ^ "Veckolista DVD Album - Vecka 24". Sverigetopplistan (in Swedish). Grammofon Leverantörernas Förening. June 15, 2006. Retrieved February 25, 2009.
- ^ "Chartverfolgung / Amon Amarth / longplay" (in German). musicline.de. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
- ^ "Gold and Platinum - Searchable database". RIAA. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
- ^ "Music Video | The Pursuit of Vikings". MTV. MTV Networks. 2005-03-24. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ^ "Music Video | Runes to My Memory". MTV. MTV Networks. 2006-10-06. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ^ "Music Video | Cry of the Black Birds". MTV. MTV Networks. 2007-03-23. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ^ "Music Video | Twilight of the Thunder God". MTV. MTV Networks. 2008-10-02. Retrieved 2008-12-28.
- ^ "Music Video | Guardians of Asgaard". MTV. MTV Networks. 2009-05-14. Retrieved 2009-05-19.