Review Summary: Another great album
I fail to understand what it is about Amon Amarth the keeps me coming back, technically I should be sick to death of them, their albums do not differ that much, they seem to keep the same formula, they tend not to experiment that much. Hence rationality would suggest their newest album Surtur Rising should be tedious, but this is not the case. Amon’s overall Viking theme, of Nordic gods, war, raping, pilageing, is still present within the atmosphere of the music. They still fuse heaviness with melody, and create some great shreds. So why has their formula worked for so long? Well their fun, they provide great metal tunes, and their combination of Nordic-Viking mythological, historical, and cultural elements, with melodic death metal compliment each other.
The album begins with War of the Gods, the song gets straight to the point, the riff begins, we hear Johan Hegg’s introduction of a powerful guttural growl, and this comes into sync with the music. The song has your basic Amon Amarth structure, the simplistic yet effective power cords, melody, great double bass drums, and in conjunction with Hegg’s vocals, it presents a powerful theme. But their strong points are in their solos, its starts of with a Swedish style dual guitar, then begins the melodic harmony, climaxes into shred style, and amazing finishes with more melody. This is the style that is used throughout the album, but every individual get those “stand out” songs, the ones the have something special to them, for example The Last Stand of Frej. It begins with a melodic intro, I challenge anyone to listen to this and not get Goosebumps, then begins the death metal style vocal’s of Heggs, and with the sluggish, groove, orientated guitar the begins, it’s a great way to start the song, but eventually this leads to their more traditional style , yet incorporates the factors I just described, which makes the song interesting. We get small amounts of surprise, like For Victory or Death, that begins with a more death metal feel, the blast beat, and the fasted paced riffs, yet any musical changes seem to lead into their conventional style, so the listener may think their trying something new, yet the song will remain “Amon Amarth”, and it’s strange, but it works, if I put this into context correctly.
Overall I do not think there’s much else that can be said, Surtur Rising sounds like Amon Amarth, yet new and refreshed, I don’t know how they do it, it just does not make sense. But regardless of this , if you want great Melodic-Death metal, that’s fun, has a great theme, and musically talented, the this will appease one’s desire. Although it’s a great listen, I believe it can only be taken in small doses, to really appreciate the band, and as I said, they have not changed their formula, because of this I can see this becoming boring if a listener over indulges, but no band is flawless. A good album by Amon Amarth, fans of heavy metal well be happy, and a great 2011 release.
Recommended Tracks
War of the Gods
The Last Stand of Frej
For Victory or Death
