When a band is named after the Mountain of Doom in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, you're pretty much guaranteed epic metal at its most extravagant.
But despite their lyrical bent (including Dungeons & Dragons titles like "Ride for Vengeance," "Victorious March," and "The Dragons' Flight Across the Waves"), Sweden's Amon Amarth eschews the expected Germanic power metal usually associated with such subject matter for brutally intense Scandinavian death metal.
Firmly rooted in the At the Gates school, the band doesn't really break any new ground here.
But they get the job done with plenty of spirit, more than competent songwriting, and excellent musicianship -- most notably from future Opeth drummer Martin Lopez.
The song that bears the group's namesake is probably the most memorable, as it contains the chaotic noises of battle, the screams of the dying, and much sword-clashing to boot.
Cool! Ultimately, Amon Amarth's war hymns often take themselves a bit too seriously and are bound to provoke either delirious head-banging or irresistible laughter, but what else would you expect from good heavy metal?.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ride for VengeanceJohan Hegg, Olavi Mikkonen | Amon Amarth | Play | 04:29 | 10 MB | 34 MB |
| 2 | The Dragons' Flight Across the WavesJohan Hegg, Olavi Mikkonen | Amon Amarth | Play | 04:33 | 10 MB | 33 MB |
| 3 | Without FearAnders Hansson, Johan Hegg, Olavi Mikkonen | Amon Amarth | Play | 04:50 | 11 MB | 36 MB |
| 4 | Victorious MarchJohan Hegg, Olavi Mikkonen | Amon Amarth | Play | 07:56 | 18 MB | 59 MB |
| 5 | Friends of the SuncrossJohan Hegg, Olavi Mikkonen | Amon Amarth | Play | 04:42 | 10 MB | 35 MB |
| 6 | AbandonedJohan Hegg, Olavi Mikkonen | Amon Amarth | Play | 06:00 | 13 MB | 45 MB |
| 7 | Amon AmarthJohan Hegg, Ted Lundström, Olavi Mikkonen | Amon Amarth | Play | 08:06 | 18 MB | 60 MB |
| 8 | Once Sent from the Golden HallJohan Hegg, Olavi Mikkonen | Amon Amarth | Play | 04:11 | 9 MB | 32 MB |
| 44 mins | 102 MB | |||||
| 44 mins | 338 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amon Amarth | Primary Artist, Producer |
| 2 | Anders Hansson | Composer, Guitar (Rhythm) |
| 3 | Johan Hegg | Composer |
| 4 | Martin Lopez | Drums |
| 5 | Ted Lundström | Bass, Composer |
| 6 | Olavi Mikkonen | Composer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |