Amon Amarth is a Viking-themed melodic death metal band from Tumba, Sweden, founded in 1988 (current name since 1992), and named after an alternative name for Mount Doom, a location in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. As of 2009, the band is signed with Metal Blade Records and has released seven studio albums, one EP, one DVD, and seven music videos.
History
Formed under the name Scum in 1988, the band was originally a grindcore group formed by Paul "Themgoroth" M?kitalo (Dark Funeral) on vocals, Olavi Mikkonen on guitar, and Ted Lundstr?m on bass. When Johan Hegg joined the band, their music changed towards melodic death metal. After a 1991 demo, they changed the band's name to Amon Amarth in 1992, then recorded their first demo Thor Arise under the name in 1993 followed by another demo in 1994 entitled The Arrival of the Fimbul Winter. In 1996, they signed with Pulverised Records, on which they released their first MCD, Sorrow Throughout the Nine Worlds, which sold 6000 copies. They then signed with Metal Blade Records, and with the release of the album Once Sent from the Golden Hall in 1998, their popularity rose internationally. Since then they have done multiple Canada and US tours, festival appearances, seven music videos, and appearances in over 100 metal magazines. In early January 2008, their first tour of Australia and New Zealand took place, along with supporting Dimmu Borgir, after finishing a US and Canadian tour with Sonic Syndicate and Himsa.
Amon Amarth extended their record deal with Metal Blade Records for three more albums. After extending their record deal, the band released Twilight of the Thunder God, which featured guest appearances by Lars G?ran Petrov of Entombed, Roope Latvala of Children of Bodom, and the cello metal band Apocalyptica. Accompanying the release of the album was an eight-page comic strip based on Norse mythology which was released by magazines from all over Europe.
Amon Amarth has embarked on a North American headlining tour in October 2008, with support from Ensiferum, Belphegor, and a melodic death metal band from Tampa named The Absence. The band are also touring as support for the thrash metal band Slayer throughout Europe on the Unholy Alliance Chapter III.
Musical style and lyrical themes
The band bases most of their songs on Norse mythology, the Viking Age, and the pre-Christian world. This mythology is an element that originally emerged as an ideological off-shoot of black metal in a genre known as Viking metal in the early 1990s, made popular by such bands as Bathory and Enslaved. Lead singer Johan Hegg's sister has once contributed lyrics for the band for the song ?A Thousand Years of Oppression? on Versus the World.
When asked to comment on the band's genre, vocalist Johan Hegg remarked:
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We play death metal. We write about vikings so, therefore, some refer us to viking metal, but I have no idea what that is. I can't imagine the viking?s veer into metal at all except on the swords and stuff. And musically, I guess they only played these strange lip instruments and some bongos or whatever.
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?The Metal Web's interview with Johan Hegg
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Original Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amon Amarth
Original Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amon Amarth
