"The avenger" LP by Amon Amarth

by Patrick Schmidt (null) "Once sent from the golden hall" was the name of the '98 masterpiece of these Swedish hooligans which in an impressive manner united hymn-like black/viking metal with the brutality of death metal to a genre highlight of the past year. With "The avenger" Amon Amarth follow this tradition and deliver a record which in terms of aggression even tops the predecessor. After the very brutal opener "Bleed for ancient gods" you'll already listen to the first seconds of the first album highlight "The last with pagan blood" - a hymn! Amon Amarth understand it perfectly how to get a lot of pressure out of their guitars which you cannot resist. In addition to that the diabolic vocals which are ultra brutal and very individual. For the reason that the CD contains 35 minutes of excellent material I do not get around a recommendation.

by Björn Thorsten Jaschinski (29.04.2009) When drummer Frederik Andersson and second guitarist Johan Söderberg had joined the band (and therfore had completed a line-up still standing today) in March 1999, Amon Amarth chose Peter Tägtren's Abyss studio to record their next album after the disappointing Sunlight debut - with Tägtren, the blokes would even share their beer although they're known for being very egotistic in that department... Impressive result of the session at the lake in Pärlby: seven mighty pieces brimming with "Metal wrath". The bonus CD proves that the opening track "Bleed for ancient gods" still is a brilliant live smasher. As offered on "Once sent from the golden hall", the double digipak contains a pop up figure and a live CD, recorded in December 2008. "The last with pagan blood" is the epitome of a stately epic Viking anthem. You heard a whiff of Katatonia on "Versus the world"? Well, do check out the thythm and the guitar structure on "North sea storm", then...