Amon Amarth: Enemy At The Gates!
For any band hitting a landmark anniversary is an achievement in itself, especially in these times of turbulence. For Swedish Vikings AMON AMARTH, 2022 sees the band hit a major milestone in their long and decorated career: 30 years. Through blood, sweat, consistently strong studio records and a thundering live reputation, the Viking horde have poured every inch of effort into establishing themselves as one of 21st Century metal’s biggest players. Now, they are braced for battle once again with album number 12; The Great Heathen Army. Whilst they may be deep into their campaign for dominance after decades of toil, for frontman Johan Hegg, he is just as confident as ever.
“We feel confident about the album. I think every album is slightly different because it depends on where you come from and what ideas you have. For this album, I feel we had the opportunity to really take some time off before we started working on new material,” he says. “Normally, what you do is you write an album, then tour, then go straight back to writing the next one. Due to the pandemic, we were able to take some time off so once we got back into writing mode, I think we all had lot more inspiration and a lot of ideas floating around that we brought into the writing.”
Just like bands worldwide, The Great Heathen Army arrives to a post-pandemic landscape. Two years on since the COVID-19 virus emerged, and the very fabric of modern life has changed in numerous ways to the before times. Interestingly, one of the most curious aspects of post-pandemic life is the concept of time. The pandemic years felt a lifetime and as such, the three year gap from 2019’s Berserker to The Great Heathen Army feels awfully longer, even though in terms of the AMON AMARTH cycle: it’s very much business as as usual in terms of their album cycle. “Well Sweden didn’t shut down but we couldn’t tour because everywhere was shut down,” Johan reflects. “So we had a break for roughly a year, and for me, it was quite welcome. I wish that the break had come under different circumstances but you know, we made the best of the situation.”
With a refreshed mindset following the enforced downtime, The Great Heathen Army not only carries all the tropes of what we come to expect from AMON AMARTH, but it carries a sense of urgency, a direct assault to the eardrums as their booming brand of melodic death hits home; especially on the thumping album opener Get In The Ring. Inspired by the traditional Viking Holmgang (“that word is basically if someone was talking shit about you, you can challenge into Holmgang and you’d have to fight it out with weapons. The last man standing was in the right.”), the song is an anthemic opener which is destined to ignite live performances in the months ahead. The song’s themes might drenched in a dual from centuries prior, but in the here and now, the song accompanies the entrance for pro wrestler Eric Rowan. A rather fitting adaption in the modern era.
“So, he approached us and asked if we wanted to an entrance song for him but that was a couple of years ago, it was actually before the pandemic,” Johan recalls. “We felt that we didn’t want to just throw in any old song, we wanted to make a proper song that could be on an album. I felt that Holmgang was a perfect backdrop for a pro wrestler because anyone who has seen these events on TV, they see how they talk shit about each other and then fight it out in the ring. The song is a perfect match for that!”
AMON AMARTH‘s discography might be rich in tales of Norse mythology and Viking heritage, but history itself often runs in parallel with events and mood of the present. There’s no denying that we are living in the most trying of times and although The Great Heathen Army contains another collection of Viking heritage, the sense of determination that sits at the record’s beating heart can certainly be applied to the challenging climate we’re experiencing today.
“I think when you look at some of the songs, like Find A Way Or Make One, on the surface it’s about one man facing an army by himself. But its really like a metaphor about the fact it doesn’t matter what obstacle is in front of you. You have to keep going, you have to find a way or make a way because if you stop, what kind of life do you have then? I think that’s the kind of mentality the Vikings had, they were definitely trying to find a way to live better and become richer! It’s fascinating what lengths they would go to achieve their goal, like crossing the Atlantic Ocean in open wooden dingies basically! But when you draw parallels to this day, one of the things we fail to realise is that those people who lived back then were pretty much exactly like us. The only difference between us and them is our level of education. But when it comes to thriftiness and craftsmanship, they could do amazing things once they put their mind to it. In fact, I think in many ways they had more time to ponder their problems and find out ways to solve them than we do…”
A simpler time it might have been centuries ago, but AMON AMARTH are ensuring the stories of the Viking Age breathe and conquer in the 21st Century. Now, armed with their latest offering of battle anthems, with a world back and open for business, conquest looms on the horizon. Looking ahead, it won’t be too long until the great heathen horde arrive on UK shores to lay siege once again. AMON AMARTH have a long-standing affinity with our island and September sees their arrival alongside Bay Area titans MACHINE HEAD for a arena run that promises to shock and awe in equal measure. “We have some cards up our sleeves that we could pull out, it’s going to be a lot of fun! We’re really looking forward to the tour,” Johan says. “I think the billing is amazing with MACHINE HEAD and THE HALO EFFECT. It’s going to be a killer tour and we always want to bring good production and good entrainment value for the fans, so we’ll try to do our best!” Brace for battle, the enemy are at the gates.
The Great Heathen Army is out now via Metal Blade Records.
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