US-based Hammer scribe Chaos is out with his pals Amon Amarth, and here’s what they had to say about the acoustic guitars and synthesizers…
Well it is that time once again when the long ships of the Viking – Death – metal Kings, [Amon Amarth] have set sail to crash the UK and North American shores, for highly anticipated tours. Their newest offering ‘Surtur Rising’ is with out a doubt at or above par with the quality of the crushing Viking inspired death metal we have come to know, love and expect from these Swedish metal masters.
I received a call from Johan .S the other day to chat a bit about the new album and upcoming tours…
Over the years, Johan .S and Olavi .M have become renowned for their ability to fuse such beautiful melodies with truly brutal music. With this in mind, I asked Johan what his writing credits consisted of on ‘Surtur Rising’. ‘We don’t believe in giving credit to individual band members. They are the bands songs so the whole band receives the credit. It doesn’t matter who did what.’. I thought to myself, maybe this has some merit regarding the bands longevity.
Amon Amarth worked with producer Jens Bogren on 2008’s epic album ‘Twilight of the Thunder God’, where he [Bogren] was able to convince the band to step out of their comfort zone, which met with astounding results. Why fix something that isn’t broken…right?
‘Yeah…but we were thinking about working with a different producer because we were interested in a new sound and again wanted to challenge ourselves not to resort to what we know and are familiar with. We [Amon Amarth] had a meeting with Jens where he assured us that it would not be a clone of the last album. It was cool that we got to record at numerous different studios at many diverse locations. The drums were recorded in Stockholm for instance. I do love working with Jens. It makes it a smoother process when you get to know someone and forge a friendship…makes it much easier I think.’.
When I first spun ‘Surtur Rising’ and heard ‘For Victory or Death’, it was like déjà vu. Remember when Iron Maiden’s ‘Seventh Son’ first came out?[or the first time you heard it] I don’t know about you, but me and my mates were almost reduced to tears when we heard keyboards on this album. Low and behold, what I thought would be the bane of Maiden, instead became one of their most beloved albums and still my favorite if I have to chose. Needless to say after a few listens, I came to terms with the fact that I may still be the same idiot I was when I was 15, but could not resist asking Johan ‘What’s up with the keyboard intro on ‘For Victory or Death?’
‘I think it was Jens idea…but it’s a guitar run through a chorus pedal, or something like that.’ I mention how different it is for AA. ‘Yes, and another thing we have never done until now is use acoustic guitars.’
So now all doubt has been removed, I am still the same idiot I was when I was 15… there is much to be said for maintaining an open mind.
It appears that more and more metal bands are including bonus tracks on albums. Some will say that it’s to help procure record sales, but for some it’s more an opportunity to pay homage to bands and songs that made a significant impact on the music they make and lives in general.
The ‘deluxe’ version of ‘Surtur Rising’ has the bonus tracks: ‘War Machine’[KISS] and ‘Balls to the Wall’[Accept], with the itunes version adding ‘Aerials’[System of a Down]. Who chose these songs?
‘I chose the ‘Balls to the Wall’ cover. ‘Aerials’ is a song that we [Amon Amarth] like to sing on the tour bus when we drink, also when we were in Japan, the whole band went up and sang it for Karaoke. It’s such a fun song, that’s why we chose it.’ I asked if there was any footage available. [Laughs] ‘Yeah, I actually have some really good footage of it on my laptop. I’ll show you when I see you on tour. We put all of our efforts into our new songs first. We knew we had to do three bonus tracks, but to be honest not much planning went into it.’
As of yet, only the US is slated to witness the band perform ‘Surtur Rising’ in it’s entirety. By Odin’s beard, there must be plans to do the same throughout the rest of the world?!?
‘No solid plans yet…following the US tour we have our European tour which we will have support acts. We will play some songs off the new album but not the whole thing. If it feels great in America, we’ll do it again. ‘
Amon Amarth will be pillaging Norwich April 1st. What can UK fans expect in contrast? ‘Children of Bodom’ are headlining and we are support. Our set will be forty-five minutes and we’ll include some songs off the new album, but it will be a totally different set.’
Before you hack off your battle-beards, burn your long ships, and toss all battle garb into the ocean in haste…remember: the US has NEVER seen a true ‘Full’ Amon Amarth spectacle with long ships on stage along with fire-breathing dragons and of course full on battle re-enactments in tow.
Don’t miss the bos tear up one of these venues as they provide direct support for Children of Bodom. [also with support from Ensiferum & Machinae Supremacy]
01.04.2011 (UK) NORWICH / UEA
02.04.2011 (UK) MANCHESTER / Academy 1
03.04.2011 (UK) GLASGOW / ABC
05.04.2011 (IRE) DUBLIN / Vicar Street
07.04.2011 (UK) NOTTINGHAM / Rock City
08.04.2011 (UK) BIRMINGHAM / Academy
09.04.2011 (UK) LONDON / Forum
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