Jomsviking Amon Amarth 2016 Metal Blade Records Amon Amarth are a Melodic Death Metal hailing from Sweden. The themes and sounds in which Amon Amarth base themselves on is the heathen Viking culture and are almost easily identifiable amongst their peers with their unique take on Melodic Death Metal. The way that Amon Amarth portray each song is like a Viking skald, gripping you and engrossing you within its story. Jomsviking is the 10th studio album by Amon Amarth and is the follow up to 2013’s Deceiver of the Gods. Jomsviking itself is a concept album, telling the story of a member of the Jomsvikings who loses his love and accidentally murders a man, leading our protagonist’s thoughts to be consumed by the echoes of the past. The idea of a concept album can be a dirty word, conjuring up overblown, odd Progressive Rock from the 70’s. However, that should not put you off as Jomsviking is a great new addition to the already large Amon Amarth repertoire. The production of Jomsviking has been handled by metal producer wizard, Andy Sneap. Once more, Sneap works his magic on Jomsviking and with Sneap being heavily involved in the metal world, he knows exactly the sound Amon Amarth are looking for. Jomsviking is heavy and brutal without managing to lose sight of the story of which Jomsviking tells. Sneap has done a fantastic job of getting the best out of Amon Amarth with every instrument being interesting, holding your attention throughout being able to be heard clearly in the mix. Amon Amarth is made up from the distinctive and instantly recognisable vocals of Johan Hegg, the twin guitar of assault of Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Söderberg are backed by the bass guitar of Ted Lundström with the vacant drum position being filled by Tobias Gustafsson after the departure of long time drummer, Fredrik Andersson. One thing that makes Amon Amarth different and sets them apart from other Melodic Death Metal bands is the way in which Hegg phrases the delivery of his lyrics. Hegg has a way of delivering the words as if he sat in a great hall telling you the story about everything he has seen and the skalds that he has learned in his youth. This delivery makes the likes of First Kill, Wanderer and One Thousand Burning Arrows feel so intense and an absolute pleasure to listen to. However, it is the one-two punch of Raise Your Horns and The Way of Vikings which make Jomsviking, the choruses are big and melodic, perfect for the live environment and it wouldn’t be a surprise if Amon Amarth wrote these with that in mind. The Queen of Metal, Doro Pesch, guests on the penultimate song on Jomsviking, A Dream That Cannot Be. Having Pesch guest on the album, gives A Dream That Cannot Be a completely different feel and the way that Hegg and Pesch’s vocals play off each other on works really well, giving A Dream That Cannot Be a yin and yang feel, their voice melding well when singing simultaneously. Jomsviking is a solid piece of Melodic Death Metal and whilst Jomsviking make feel a little dragged out at times it certainly doesn’t contain any filler. However, the better songs on Jomsviking manage to overshadow the weaker ones, but the underlying story throughout helps pull Jomsviking together into a decent album. 7/10 Adam At Dawn's First Light (Amon Amarth)
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