In 1988 a grindcore band by the name of Scum was formed in the town of Tumba, Sweden by vocalist Paul "Themgoroth" Mäkitalo, guitarists Olavi Mikkonen and Vesa Meriläinen, and drummer Nico Mehra. Shortly after their formation, Johan Hegg replaced Mäkitalo on vocals, and the band we know today as Amon Amarth began to take shape.
After releasing a demo in 1991, Scum officially changed their name Amon Amarth, after the Sindarin translation of Mount Doom from J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, and recorded their first demo under the new moniker, entitled Thor Arise, in 1993. With the name change, the band began to change their sound to a more death metal approach consisting of Viking-inspired lyrics. At this time the band consisted of Ted Lundström on bass, Olavi Mikkonen on guitars, Anders Hansson also on guitars, and Nico Kaukinen on drums. After another demo (The Arrival of the Fimbul Winter) and an EP (Sorrow Throughout the Nine Worlds 1996), the band singed to the record label that would be home from this point on, Metal Blade, and released their debut full length, Once Sent from the Golden Hall.
In 1998, as Amon Amarth was readying for their largest tour to date, with Deicide, Six Feet Under, and Brutal Truth, guitarist Anders Hansson abruptly left the band and was replaced with Johan Soderberg. After the tour the band lost yet another member, Martin Lopez, to Opeth. Ex-A Canorous Quintet drummer Fredrik Andersson replaced him. These last two departures and replacements have been the bands only since then.
The band has since gone on to record and release albums The Avenger (1999), The Crusher (2001), Verses the World (2002), Fate of The Norns (2004), With Oden On Our Side (2006), Twilight of the Thunder God (2008) and most recently, Surtur Rising in 2011. The band has also toured the world alongside such acts as Himsa, Dimmu Borgir, Sonic Syndicate, Vomitory, Vader, Marduk and numerous others.
Perhaps the band's most critically and fan acclaimed record is 2006's With Oden on Our Side. This album was the band's first to enter the Billboard charts peaking at number 15 on the Top Heatseekers, and number 26 on the Independent Albums chart. The cover art for the record is somewhat of a departure for the band, where they usually have busy, painted covers with Vikings or Viking imagery, and instead features a simple rendering of the Norse God Odin riding on his horse, Sleipnir with the Valknut symbol in the background. The inspiration for the art comes from the legendary Tjängvide image stone. The band's most recent album, Surtur Rising, also showed the band taking something of a departure from their norm and covering a total of three songs from Accept (Balls to the Wall), Kiss (War Machine), and even System of A Down (Aerials). The last time the band featured a cover on one of their albums was on 2002's Verses the World, which featured a cover of Black Sabbath's Sabbath Bloody Sabbath on the bonus disc.
All of Amon Amarth's albums have strong Viking themes leading many to mis-categorize the band as Viking Metal. The band has refuted this claim many times stating that they do not see themselves as making pagan music or Viking metal, instead, they are a death metal band with Viking lyrics.
Amon Amarth's legacy is that of a hard-working, dedicated band that releases consistently great records and has influenced a generation of bands that followed them. With eight studio albums, seven music videos, numerous Canadian and US tours, appearances in over 100 metal magazines, Amon Amarth have fashioned a place for themselves in heavy metal history... and show no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Huzzah!
After releasing a demo in 1991, Scum officially changed their name Amon Amarth, after the Sindarin translation of Mount Doom from J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth, and recorded their first demo under the new moniker, entitled Thor Arise, in 1993. With the name change, the band began to change their sound to a more death metal approach consisting of Viking-inspired lyrics. At this time the band consisted of Ted Lundström on bass, Olavi Mikkonen on guitars, Anders Hansson also on guitars, and Nico Kaukinen on drums. After another demo (The Arrival of the Fimbul Winter) and an EP (Sorrow Throughout the Nine Worlds 1996), the band singed to the record label that would be home from this point on, Metal Blade, and released their debut full length, Once Sent from the Golden Hall.
In 1998, as Amon Amarth was readying for their largest tour to date, with Deicide, Six Feet Under, and Brutal Truth, guitarist Anders Hansson abruptly left the band and was replaced with Johan Soderberg. After the tour the band lost yet another member, Martin Lopez, to Opeth. Ex-A Canorous Quintet drummer Fredrik Andersson replaced him. These last two departures and replacements have been the bands only since then.
The band has since gone on to record and release albums The Avenger (1999), The Crusher (2001), Verses the World (2002), Fate of The Norns (2004), With Oden On Our Side (2006), Twilight of the Thunder God (2008) and most recently, Surtur Rising in 2011. The band has also toured the world alongside such acts as Himsa, Dimmu Borgir, Sonic Syndicate, Vomitory, Vader, Marduk and numerous others.
Perhaps the band's most critically and fan acclaimed record is 2006's With Oden on Our Side. This album was the band's first to enter the Billboard charts peaking at number 15 on the Top Heatseekers, and number 26 on the Independent Albums chart. The cover art for the record is somewhat of a departure for the band, where they usually have busy, painted covers with Vikings or Viking imagery, and instead features a simple rendering of the Norse God Odin riding on his horse, Sleipnir with the Valknut symbol in the background. The inspiration for the art comes from the legendary Tjängvide image stone. The band's most recent album, Surtur Rising, also showed the band taking something of a departure from their norm and covering a total of three songs from Accept (Balls to the Wall), Kiss (War Machine), and even System of A Down (Aerials). The last time the band featured a cover on one of their albums was on 2002's Verses the World, which featured a cover of Black Sabbath's Sabbath Bloody Sabbath on the bonus disc.
All of Amon Amarth's albums have strong Viking themes leading many to mis-categorize the band as Viking Metal. The band has refuted this claim many times stating that they do not see themselves as making pagan music or Viking metal, instead, they are a death metal band with Viking lyrics.
Amon Amarth's legacy is that of a hard-working, dedicated band that releases consistently great records and has influenced a generation of bands that followed them. With eight studio albums, seven music videos, numerous Canadian and US tours, appearances in over 100 metal magazines, Amon Amarth have fashioned a place for themselves in heavy metal history... and show no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Huzzah!
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