http://www.amonamarth.com/
Since their humble start in
1992 as an underground band from
Tumba, a suburb in southern
Stockholm,
AMON AMARTH have managed to establish themselves as one of Europes top death metal acts through hard work, relentless touring, and consistently solid albums. What has set AMON AMARTH apart from the rest of the death metal scene since the very beginning, is their use of
Viking mythology and imagery in lyrics and artwork, as well as a talent for writing epic, memorable melodies, which underline their solemn yet barbaric approach to heavy music.
The band went through the usual demo recordings and line-up changes in the beginning stages, but soon made its first mark with the
MCD Sorrow Throughout
The Nine Worlds. A one-off affair with (of all places) Singapores Pulverized
Records, this MCD did not only plant AMON AMARTHs flag in the underground metal landscape, but also gained the band a multi-album deal with the renowned
Metal Blade Records.
Once Sent From The
Golden Hall, the groups
Metal Blade debut, was released in
1998, and saw the band touring with such genre greats as
Deicide,
Six Feet Under, and
Brutal Truth. The same year, drummer
Martin Lopez left the band to pursue a career with
Opeth, being replaced by
Fredrik Andersson (previously in
A Canorous Quintet). This would be the last line-up change in the bands career. With a steady formation and an admirable work ethic, AMON AMARTH went on to record and release the albums
The Avenger (
1999) and
The Crusher (
2001) within a time period of two years, touring the
European continent extensively in support of these releases.
Sharing the stage with the likes of
Morbid Angel,
Marduk, and
Vader, and touring the US for the first time in
2002, the band developed their live act into an unstoppable force, which by now has become one of the pillars of their ever-growing popularity.
In 2002, the band went into
Berno Studios to record
Versus The World, an
album where all the elements that comprise the bands style, sound, and essence fell right into place. AMON AMARTH toured incessantly to promote this album (3
American and 2
European tours, no less), the press woke up to their qualities, and legions of followers put the band on one level with those acts who had dominated the scene for years on end. This set the stage for
Fate Of Norns, AMON AMARTHs breakthrough album and highest charting release to date. Once again recorded at Berno Studios, Fate Of Norns saw the band touring
Europe and
America to ecstatic response from their fans, as well as conquering several new territories, such as
Iceland,
Mexico,
Ireland,
Poland,
Croatia, and
Norway. One of the highlights of the Fate touring cycle was undoubtedly when over 30,
000 rabid fans gathered in front of the stage at
2AM to celebrate their heroes at
Wacken Open Air 2004.
As a tribute to their loyal following, the band released a 3
DVD set entitled
Wrath Of
The Norsemen, comprised of five full shows, in May
2005. With no less than six weeks in the
German Music DVD Charts as we speak, the momentum gathered by the band by now is one that marketing strategists and industry people would kill to be able to reproduce.
Talent, perseverance, and hard work do pay off after all. Which brings us to With Oden On Our
Side
In
January 2006, the band started writing the follow-up to Fate Of Norns. Being able for the first time to concentrate
100% on the music, the sessions proved fruitful, as guitarist
Olavi Mikkonen confirms: We nailed down all ideas we had from the past year and we rehearsed 5 days a week,
9 to 5.
At the end of the month we had finished a 5 song demo. After a two-month break, the band returned to write the rest of the material: We started up where we had left off and began working on all new ideas we had.
Again 5 days a week, 9 to 5.
This time around we had 4 new songs and the album was written. We had never written an album under these intense circumstances, but we found out that this was totally right for us.
The new masterpiece With Oden On Our Side was born.
As if the norse deity had cast a blessing on AMON AMARTH, the band has emerged with an album that will define a before and after in their career for years to come. Recorded at
Fascination Street Studios with producer
Jens Bogren, the majestic riffs, thunderous drums and roaring vocals have never sounded better and more convincing. A match surely made in
Valhalla, Mikkonen comments on the collaboration as follows: We had never worked with a producer before the way it should be done. Jens Bogren took the band to a new level, both production- and sound-wise. Musically, this album is more worked through and, most important of all, we wrote it together as a unit. A most fearsome and deadly unit, that is now gearing up to crush audiences the world over once again!
- published: 15 May 2009
- views: 509441