Children of Bodom - Amon Amarth - 9 Apr 11 (The Forum)

The bill for tonight's show was excitingly promising with two giants(literally for one, not so literally for the other) of Scandinavian metal and with the sun shining high, the metalheads came in numbers for it. With the release of Surtur Rising and Relentless, Reckless Forever everybody was quite eager to hear the new material! First to showcase their might were our favourite Vikings: Amon Amarth. With eight studio albums in their bag and with a very small set time to fill, the band had to chose the songs to perform carefully and I am a bit disappointed from the choice. Would had definitely liked to hear more new songs and in general more Amon Amarth. The sound was quite bad which is something surprising since I remember that in general the sound in the Forum is quite good, even for support bands. However the band was up there and seemed to be in a very good shape and this is definitely a great warm-up for the big US tour they're heading of to. Amon Amarth are said to be coming back to do a headline tour here in the UK, so all we have to do in order to hear some new material live is just wait a few more months! Up next: Children of Bodom who attacked the stage with great might and aggression. These guys really know how to give a show although sometimes Janne Wirman(Keyboards) seemed a little bit bored. Alexi Laiho(Guitar,Vocals) proved once again that he is a great front-man and a great shredder. Once again however the sound was not that great. Better than Amon Amarth but it seems as if some speaker blew out at some point and the sound was really unworthy of a venue such as the Forum. Overall a very nice gig with a good atmosphere but unfortunately not a great sound.

Children of Bodom: 17/20 

Sound: 4/5

Ambience: 4/5 
Presentation: 5/5 
Performance: 4/5

Amon Amarth: 15/20 
Sound: 3/5 
Ambience: 4/5 
Presentation: 4/5 
Performance: 4/5

Posted by Nick 

Surtur Rising - Amon Amarth (2011)

ALBUM REVIEW

It feels that every time Amon Amarth gets in the studio they have to come out with an opus of viking inspired metal! After the success of Twilight of the Thunder God, Surtur Rising is the newest album from the Swedish metalers and the eight studio album of the band. For starters: this album is great! The melodies, the heaviness, the feelings, everything is there. I have been a fan of Amon Amarth for almost 10 years and I can definitely say that this is their best work so far. The songs are beautifully constructed and they are heavy as fuck! Johan Hegg really did a great work with the vocals and the guitars of Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Soderberg switch from fast, aggressive riffs to exquisite solos and melodic lines. The Amon Amarth feeling is well represented in the whole album with melodies that may remind earlier works of the band but in no way are tiring or repetitive. In general the album is HEAVY! I’m pretty sure that if they had the appropriate equipment in the 8^th century this would be the album by default to blast out of every drakkar when the Vikings were burning and looting villages. And just to help you imagine it as I do, take the helicopter attack scene from Apocalypse Now, replace the helicopters with drakkars and Ride of the Valkyries with Surtur Rising. Press PLAY! Cool isn’t it? I will dare and call Surtur Rising a battle anthem since this album generates some kind of courage and willingness to face the world, take a look in its eyes and spit in its face! The songs are most likely to be killers live and in combination with the other songs from the band we can only imagine how good the Amon Amarth set can be. This album is a must for all Amon Amarth fans and if you are looking for something new to listen to and you’ve never heard of Amon Amarth then give this a listen. You won’t be disappointed!

Best track for us is The Last Stand of Frej. This song expresses all the aspects that Amon Amarth has explored through the years. The death metal touch is very dominant while the melodies and the riffs along with the lyrics really make this a song full of power and courage which explodes into a pre-chorus, which could remind Black Sabbath to some, only to find home in a combination of all the best things about Amon Amarth in the chorus.

Surtur Rising: 10/10

Posted by Nick