Loke's Treachery

[waif]

Just saying, but...shouldn't Hermod's Ride To Hell be pt 2 and Sorrow Throughout The Nine Worlds be pt 1?
Also, it would be pretty sweet if the next album was a concept album about this.
In all honesty they seem to be running out of ideas (how many times have they mentioned lying in your own blood, never mind dying in battle?) and this is basically a gimme.
On a totally unrelated note, I dig the trilogy at the end of The Crusher. It'll be cool to see it played live in it's entirety in order at Bochum. Or rather, on the Bochum DVD for me . In general I've been reflecting on how awesome it is that they're playing the first four in their entirety. They also really ought to play Arson-Once Sealed In Blood straight through, just for kicks.

 

[spiritcrusher583]

Running out of ideas? I think it's more that there weren't too many to begin with. As far as lyrical content goes, if they want to keep it similar to what it has been, they're going to be pretty restricted with things to write about. I agree that a lot of the same concepts seem to show up pretty consistently, but they're still writing almost completely solid material after all these years, which is a lot more than you can say for some other bands that have been around as long as AA have.

 

[theguywiththedrinkinghorn]

theres many stories in mythology they can write about, or even the sagas...

 

[Metal Ambition]

I would like to claim that you are wrong guys. There are almost an unlimited amount of subjects and perspectives to growl about within the norse world and mythology. Granted that peoples interest in it might vary and that as a swede with a knowledge of history one might be pretty biased. I wouldn't mind songs about totally different subjects, eras or people though but on the other hand I know so many uncovered bits of vikings history and mythology that It would almost be a shame if they were not told about in an Amon Amarth song. Since I'm also interested in the idea of weaving a narrative around the songs that speaks against spreading the songs on to many subjects but sure it would be great with an amon album about other stuff as well.

 

[Shadowalker]

Are we talking about the Viking themed band that wrote an incredibly powerful and touching song about the anguish and suffering of a father who lost his six year old son without stepping outside of their chosen theme?

There's no lack of ideas. Really look at the words to The Hero. I see this as a song about self-realization and acceptance of one's true nature. In the end, as Swain Wodening has said, we are our deeds. Look past the surface stuff, the blood and gore, and look to the emotional and psychological avenues Johan lays bare in his lyrics which usually blend perfectly with what the rest of the band is doing musically.

One of things that I really love about Amon Amarth is that there music can be enjoyed on different levels. Valhall Awaits is simultaneously a song about a bloody battle and a song about irony and the fundamentally uncaring nature of life when the hero dies in the end exactly as he kills in the beginning. You can bang your head and get your adrenaline flowing, or you can contemplate the human implications of the story being told. Amon Amarth's music really speaks to me on a spiritual level. It rarely fails to stir my soul regardless of what the song's story is literally about.

 

[waif]

I think you're reading too much into it. Vahall Awaits Me is about fucking killing dudes.

Anyhow, there may be more topics but they don't seem to be using them. Lyrical topics aren't that important as long as it's about vikings, though. Gotta be vikings.

 

[VinlandViking]

I think you're reading too much into it. Vahall Awaits Me is about fucking killing dudes.

Valhall Awaits Me is about a berserker.

But a lot of their songs can piece together. There are a lot of pieces of Ragnarok that fit together and various other parts of the myths. I saw an interview with Johan and he said that some of the newer songs have been written just as long as the older ones have, but they release them when they get the right sound they're looking for.

 

[Twiz]

Next album needs to bring back anti-Christian themes.

 

[VinlandViking]

Next album needs to bring back anti-Christian themes.

Where is your God?

 

[Bates]

What's the point of being against something that's irrelevant?

 

[Twiz]

Where is your God?

Story there is so generic, need something along the lines of sound of eight hooves.

 

[Twiz]

What's the point of being against something that's irrelevant?

Am not anti-religious or something, I just find the story telling interesting.

 

[GuitarRage99]

Am not anti-religious or something, I just find the story telling interesting.

Thousand Years does it the best.

 

[Shadowalker]

I think you're reading too much into it. Vahall Awaits Me is about fucking killing dudes.

And about dying.

And I think you're skimming the surface and not seeing the depths that can be explored if you want to.

Just because I can find more significance in the song than slaughter doesn't mean you can't just bang your head and growl along, either.

One of the beauties of truly great music is that it can affect each of us differently, or the same person in different ways at different times. And Amon Amarth make great music.

 

[waif]

But a lot of their songs can piece together. There are a lot of pieces of Ragnarok that fit together and various other parts of the myths. I saw an interview with Johan and he said that some of the newer songs have been written just as long as the older ones have, but they release them when they get the right sound they're looking for.

Kinda reminds me of how some of the riffs on Iron Maiden's Brave New World (2002 iirc) date back to the mid-80s...

Where is your God?

Not very anti-Christian tbh. How about some fucking Masters Of War or God, His Son, And Holy Whore, or The Sound of Eight Hooves, or Thousand Years Of Oppression, or Abandoned, or even just incorporate general themes like on The Annihilation of Hammerfest or Victorious March?
Just sayin'. Personally, I dig the stories of Vikings battling Christians. For some reason it has more authenticity than just generic Vikings Fight And Now I Lay In My Own Blood (tm) on the last couple. I mean, The Sound Of Eight Hooves is a lyrical masterpiece ; it tells a reasonably complex story elegantly, with appropriate tone, good grammar, and sufficient brievery (no 2 minute narrated sections like certain bands called Bal-Sagoth would use).

Of course it should be noted that we are critiquing lyrics, which are probably the least important aspect. If the music and vocals are good it doesn't matter what Johan says as long as it's about vikings.
The next album could be just "THOOOOOOOR! THOR THOR THOR THOOOOOR! THTHTHTHTHTHTHOR!" for 45 minutes.

And I think you're skimming the surface and not seeing the depths that can be explored if you want to.

Just because I can find more significance in the song than slaughter doesn't mean you can't just bang your head and growl along, either.

One of the beauties of truly great music is that it can affect each of us differently, or the same person in different ways at different times. And Amon Amarth make great music.

I mean, yeah, I just don't consider Valhall awaits me to be very deep - the end is Johann's irony, I suspect. The Hero is actually pretty interesting - it's about a guy who's a badass mercenary but winds up fighting and dying "protecting old and weak" (and then Lying In A Pool Of His Own Blood (tm)), and is praised as a hero. He doesn't want to be seen as a hero, which suggests that he's not such an asshole after all even though he insists that he is.
But to me I never saw anything in Valhall Awaits Me except fucking killing dudes.
As for great music I shudder to think of the floodgates of hell this is going to unleash but while they're my favorite band I don't really think Amon Amarth make "great" music.

 

[Shadowalker]

As for great music I shudder to think of the floodgates of hell this is going to unleash but while they're my favorite band I don't really think Amon Amarth make "great" music.

Fair enough.

That just opens up the discussion of what constitutes great music, which is every bit as subjective as what constitutes greatness in any art. Something tells me that you and I have different ideas about what makes music great.

For me it's music that is memorable and affects me on different levels. There is something unquantifiable about it that makes it stand out from other works when I listen to it. It's music I can listen to over and over without getting bored with it. Sometimes that comes with technical expertise, like Gorguts' Obscura album or JS Bach's Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor which fully engage me on an intellectual level. Sometimes its music that just shows a group of musicians coming together in a way that they will simply never equal, like The Who's Quadrophenia where Entwhistle and Moon proved that they were one of the best rhythm sections ever or The Clash's London Calling which coalesces so many diverse influences into a coherent whole.

With Amon Amarth it's the way all of the elements come together so consistently to generate amazing atmosphere and lyrical themes that really resonate with me. Every aspect of their music compliments every other aspect. It makes me feel. It makes me think. It makes me bang my head. It makes me growl along.

 

[waif]

I think of greatness as a sort of ambition and vision that is lacking in AA's music. They want to make awesome songs about vikings. They do that perfectly. But they aren't ambitious. Emperor's Prometheus is ambitious. Mayhem's A Grand Declaration Of War is ambitious. Metallica's ...And Justice For All is ambitious. And Once Sent From The Golden Hall kicks the crap out of all those albums, but anyhow. Being ambitious is only part of it. You also have to pull it off correctly. And even then you've made great music, but it's not necessarily better than good music. "Great" albums like Orphaned Land - Mabool and Dark Tranquility - The Gallery are among my favorites, but so are "good" albums like Once Sent From The Golden Hall and Hall Of The Mountain King.

 

[VinlandViking]

Is Ride For Vengeance a prelude to Fate of Norns? They both talk about the death of a son but the burial is only mentioned in Fate of Norns. There might be a middle part too, since Ride For Vengeance ends without the father avenging his son.

 

[waif]

Fate of Norns: "death smiled it's deadly grin/there is noone for me to blame"
Ride For Vengeance: "slain by men of the single god"
So no.

Also Ride For Vengeance is the beginning of the Once Sent From The Golden Hall story. And at the end he kills some dude.

 

[FriendOfTheSuncross89]

back on topic hahah

Sorrow through the nine worlds was about Balder dying and his death

Hermonds ride to hell was about Hermond trying to get Balder out from the underworld (hel) asked Hel if he can set balder free, and Hel said only if the whole world weeps...

the rest of the story goes (and maybe this will be part 2 one day (or well part 3 if you see it that way)) that the whole world does weep except, Loke is dressed up as an old lady and does not weep and fools Hel, because of this Balder doesnt get set free and is trapped in hel until Ragnarok ends and helps start the new world.