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The
guitarists for Sweden’s best Viking metal band have a
lot of weight to carry on their shoulders. On the
dexterity of their fingers and the creativity of their
triumphal melodies lies the power of Amon Amarth. Let’s
have this clear, beyond my opinion of their latest album
this is perhaps the best Viking metal band in the world.
Sure, Unleashed have been at it for longer, but Amon
Amarth found a more palatable formula through the use of
dual guitar harmonics and sticky melodies and have run
with it for as long as they can. Also, they are far
more successful. A change in formula would be absurd so
Twilight of the Viking Gods is almost every bit
as uproarious and grand as any of their previous
outings.
Twilight of the
Viking Gods
is a solid album indeed. It shall quench the Amon Amarth fan’s
thirst for viking metal at least until they write another one a
couple of years down the road. It will even help them get bigger
as it is hard to find high caliber melodic death metal these
days. The sub genre has been watered down by extremely clean
production and virtuoso playing. That’s precisely where Amon
Amarth come to aid death metal; their formula has varied little
since they exchanged monikers from Scum to Amon Amarth back in
1992. Mostly, they have just perfected their craft through
immediate songwriting and more skilled playing.
Wisely, they
have kept the rough edge of their music, the brutal yet legit
well-pronounced growl of Johan Hegg is still unchanged and so is
the dirty crunch of the guitars. More refreshing is the fact
that for all the advancements in their playing, Amon Amarth
still sound primitive when compared to the ultra polished modern
melodic death metal sounding bands. Is Twilight of the
Thunder God an improvement over 2006’s With Oden On Our
Side? I think not. The songs are not as poignant nor as
effusive. But yes, they have the same epic spark. It is just as
powerful and catchy, which should be good enough for the already
converted.
Official Site
MySpace
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