Amon Amarth had slipped beneath my radar after the less than stellar release of "Crusher". Aside from the opening track, I found the disc dull and redundant. I made a mental note to check out the much ballyhooed "Once Sent from the Golden Hall" and then proceeded to forget all about these guys. Then, when I saw their new CD "Versus the World" floating around the net, I decided to give them a second chance.
In a word, this CD is "crushing". If youre not a fan of Death Metal, but had been contemplating giving the genre a whirl, this is not the CD you want to start with. Repeat; don't buy this CD. There are no clean vocals. There are no acoustic interludes. There are no subtle keyboard passages. There is nothing but blazing, dual guitars, thunderous drums, and a low, rumbling voice, from the depths of hell, recounting tales of blood and war. This CD is simply awesome!
"Death in Fire" kicks this CD off and it's clear that Amon Amarth fully intends to leave the listener bloodied, beaten, lying in a fetal position, with only the strength to press play... yet again. The guitar work, reminiscent of Dark Tranquillity, is light years ahead of their previous disc. In the same vein, the drum work is just phenomenal. Clearly Fredrik Andersson is a bloodline descendant of Thor himself. However, rather than go through a track by track analysis of this CD, suffice it to say that all nine tracks are stellar. Some of my favorite tracks include Where Silent Gods Stand Guard, where Johan Heggs hellacious rumblings take center stage, the speaker-shattering Bloodshed, and the aforementioned Death in Fire.
If Death Metal is your thing, you need to own this CD.
GZ
In a word, this CD is "crushing". If youre not a fan of Death Metal, but had been contemplating giving the genre a whirl, this is not the CD you want to start with. Repeat; don't buy this CD. There are no clean vocals. There are no acoustic interludes. There are no subtle keyboard passages. There is nothing but blazing, dual guitars, thunderous drums, and a low, rumbling voice, from the depths of hell, recounting tales of blood and war. This CD is simply awesome!
"Death in Fire" kicks this CD off and it's clear that Amon Amarth fully intends to leave the listener bloodied, beaten, lying in a fetal position, with only the strength to press play... yet again. The guitar work, reminiscent of Dark Tranquillity, is light years ahead of their previous disc. In the same vein, the drum work is just phenomenal. Clearly Fredrik Andersson is a bloodline descendant of Thor himself. However, rather than go through a track by track analysis of this CD, suffice it to say that all nine tracks are stellar. Some of my favorite tracks include Where Silent Gods Stand Guard, where Johan Heggs hellacious rumblings take center stage, the speaker-shattering Bloodshed, and the aforementioned Death in Fire.
If Death Metal is your thing, you need to own this CD.
GZ
