- published: 15 Mar 2016
- views: 986252
Amon Amarth is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Tumba, Sweden founded in 1992, and takes its name from the Sindarin translation of Mount Doom, a location in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Their lyrics mostly deal with the Vikings, their mythology and their history. The band comprises vocalist Johan Hegg, guitarists Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Söderberg, bassist Ted Lundström and drummer Fredrik Andersson. Amon Amarth has released eight studio albums, one EP, one DVD, and seven music videos.
Formed in 1988 as Scum by Paul "Themgoroth" Mäkitalo (Dark Funeral) on vocals, Olavi Mikkonen on guitar, Nico Mehra on drums and Vesa Meriläinen guitar, the band originally played grindcore based on "jagged riffs, dark atmospheres, untethered vitriol and copious amounts of mead". Scum made no impression upon the burgeoning Stockholm metal scene, but then Johan Hegg came in: it was his "imposing stature [and] [Thor]-like growl" that were beginning to shape the image and the sound of the band which now started to incorporate Viking-related themes.
They came riding down the slopes
Five fearless men prepared to fight
We heard with fear the rumbling earth
In the mid-day light
Surprised we saw all terrified
The brave northmen's run
The fearless five with power ride
Attacking us in the mid-day sun
Their charge was fast, no alarm was sound
They broke right through our lines
I felt the cut it threw me to the ground
And now I feel has come my time
I lie here in my blood
And see my family get killed
I feel abandoned by my god
I fear death's chill
I see Hel's gates
Towering high
And dark are they
I don't want to die
Oh no! I was wrong
Denied the true Gods
And now I'm doomed
I trusted foreign men
And their god's son
But now when I need them
They are gone
I see Hel's gates
Towering high
And dark are they
I die!
They ride across the planes
And punish those of false belief
All resistance is in vain
As they caress them with cold steel
They are the punishers
And they will never bend
They are power the five of them
From Asgard they are sent
The power they have in all they do
The Christians non will feel
No one can escape them no
Them will make them kneel
Their fight is through, they must return
No one here survived
And as the blood red sky begins to burn