In mid-April Amon Amarth brought us a stream and a free download of the title track to their forthcoming album Deceiver of the Gods, which I duly reported here. At that point, I wrote this:
With this band, here in 2013, you know with a high degree of certainty what will lie within. Both thematically and musically, the band have settled on a formula that has made them exceedingly popular. It’s a formula that happens to appeal to me, though I must admit that I would love it if the band broke their own mold every now and then and fired something different in the kiln.
Today brought us a stream — and a free download — of the new album’s title track. It’s a thrashier attack than much of what was to be found on 2011′s Surtur Rising, but no less catchy than what you would expect from this band, and with an appealing dual-guitar melody in the mid-part. As my NCS colleagues have pointed out, it also includes a key change!
Have Amon Amarth broken the mold with this song? Nope — it will not throw the Amon Amarth faithful for a loop, nor will it change the minds of those listeners who aren’t impressed with this brand of Viking-themed melodic death metal. But it’s only one song. We may still hear something we aren’t expecting.
Today, Stereogum has exclusively premiered a second song from the album by the name of “Shape Shifter”. I give up. I abandon all semblance of analytical objectivity. The song drives me into 100% fanboy mode. There is only one word for this, no matter how overused that word is: EPIC.
The music is epic, the lyrics are epic, it’s just fuckin’ epic. It’s another fast-paced rush — for Amon Amarth, they really fly on this song — and the melody is (no surprise) damned catchy. And the chorus! I AM THE EAGLE IN THE SKY! I AM THE WALKER ON THE WIND!
Oh hell, just go listen to it HERE.
Deceiver Of The Gods will be out on June 25 via Metal Blade. Stereogum reports that after its release, the band will embark on a North American tour. Here are the dates:
06/29 San Bernardino, CA @ San Manuel Amphitheater
06/30 Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
07/02 Nampa, ID @ Idaho Center Amphitheatre
07/03 Auburn, WA @ White River Amphitheatre
07/05 Phoenix, AZ @ Desert Sky Pavilion
07/06 Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheatre
07/07 Englewood, CO @ Fiddler’s Green Ampitheatre
07/09 Grand Rapids, MI w/ Children of Bodom, Job for a Cowboy, Battlecross, Huntress @ The Intersection
07/10 Toronto, ON @ Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
07/12 Burgettstown, PA @ First Niagara Pavilion
07/13 Scranton, PA @ Toyota Pavilion
07/14 Darien Center, NY @ Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
07/16 Mansfield, MA @ Comcast Center
07/17 Bangor, ME @ Bangor Waterfront
07/19 Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center
07/20 Saratoga Springs, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center
07/21 Hartford, CT @ The Comcast Theatre
07/23 Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
07/24 Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live
07/26 Noblesville, IN @ Klipsch Music Center
07/27 Tinley Park, IL @ First Midwest Bank Ampitheatre
07/28 Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre
07/29 Louisville, KY w/ Children of Bodom, Behemoth, Emmure, Motionless In White, Born of Osiris, Job for a Cowboy, Battlecross, Huntress @ Expo Five
07/30 Atlanta, GA @ Lakewood Amphitheatre
07/31 Tampa, FL @ Live Nation Amphitheatre
08/02 Austin, TX @ Austin 360 Ampitheatre
08/03 The Woodlands, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
08/04 Dallas, TX @ Gexa Energy Pavilion
08/05 Kansas City, MO w/ Rob Zombie, Machine Head & Children Of Bodom @ Cricket Wireless Ampitheater
08/07 Sauget, IL w/ Children of Bodom, Battlecross, Huntress @ Pop’s
08/08 Nashville, TN w/ Children of Bodom, Battlecross, Huntress @ Marathon Music Works
08/09 Cleveland, OH w/ Children of Bodom, Battlecross, Huntress @ Peabody’s
08/11 Montreal, QC @ Heavy MTL Festival
13 Responses to “NEW MUSIC FROM AMON AMARTH: “SHAPE SHIFTER””
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That North American tour is part of the Rockstar Mayhem Fest, alongside Mastodon, Behemoth, and other bands ranging from bad to decent, but that aren’t as good as these three.
That was insane… It’s not possible for me to be more jacked up about this album.
I couldn’t agree more. ‘Surtur Rising’ was by no means a bad album, but it was a bit of a step down from ‘Twilight’. The two songs released for this new album are definitely more on par with ‘Twilight’, or dare I say even the mighty ‘With Oden on Our Side’. I’m excited!
the new stuff sounds so badass! i want to see these guys with Machine Head and Children of Bodom really, really bad, but the tickets are $50. add ticketmaster fees to that and double it (my son is my loyal concert buddy), throw in tshirts, food and parking, and i’m crying like a little girl over my wallet’s corpse. kick Rob Zombie off the tour and i bet the ticket price would drop by half.
The ticket price would drop by half and the quality would improve too. 🙂
i know, right? 🙂 and as a bonus Amon Amarth would get to play a longer set 🙂
I can feel the gallop of Sleipnir’s mighty hooves as bang my head to this.
This song has finally convinced One to listen to Amon Amarth’s music. [No, One has not listened to any of Amon Amarth’s albums before.]
That’s actually pretty stunning. I think you’re the first metal lover I’ve come across who’s never heard even one Amon Amarth song. Have you heard of Metallica? 🙂
[Parent Comment #6 goes here.]
I have listened to a couple of Among Amarth songs before. But, I’ve never taken the time to listen through a whole album of theirs.
I have never listened to any In Flames, Dark Tranquility or At the Gates either; well, except the latest one by In Flames.
But, I do know Metallica. I’m not too fond of their music though.
You are a man of mystery.
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