Welcome back everybody to another episode of the great metal debate podcast. My name is Xander and I am a Die Hard fan of the Swedish melodic death metal band called Amon Amarth.
I have been a super fan since the Year 2006 when I first discovered them on their album with Odin On Our Side. I remember the very first song I ever heard from these guys, it was "Runes To My Memory". I was pretty much sold on these guys after I heard their second single from that album called "Cry of the Blackbirds".
But today we will be talking about the brand new album called the Great Heathen Army. This is the band's 12th studio album and I have pretty much concluded with their previous record that this band gets better and better each time they release a new album.
Having said that, Berserker is one of my favorite albums from them despite it being very recent. To me, this new album hasn't exactly dethroned Berserker but it still ranks very high to me.
I am one of those rare type of metalheads who can learn to appreciate new material from a well-established band. Most people lose interest in bands after they release their third to fifth album.
In fact, I have a friend on Facebook who told me a few days ago that he stopped listening to them after the versus The World album in 2004 which I find completely shocking.
Several months ago Metal Blade Records treated us all to a new music video for a song called "Put Your Back Into The Ore". It was a fantastic song but I think that all of us Amon Amarth fans were disappointed to find out that the song was only released as a single and not a part of the brand new album.
With that being said it is time for us to talk about each of the brand new songs track by track. Starting off strong we have a song called "Get in the Ring". This is a very unusual title for a song from a Viking metal band but once you read the lyrics you'll understand that it is indeed about Vikings and not about a modernized blood sport.
Next up we have the album title track "The Great Heathen Army". This band continues to impress me with their guitar riffs that always sounds fresh and groovy. And then we have my personal favorite song on the album "Heidrun" which is definitely one of the catchier tracks and the main riff sounds very folky, almost Fintroll-ish.
"Odin Owns You All" is another stand out followed by "Find A Way Or Make One". "Dawn of the Norsemen" makes you feel like you're riding on a horse Galloping into a battle ready to die in a fight to be granted passage into Valhalla. The song itself is a very typical formula for the band with its long-standing Viking theme.
"Saxons And Vikings" is definitely one of my most favorite songs on the entire album with the opening chug riff in the rhythmic drumming to kick things off. This song features the lead singer of the power metal band known as Saxon. It is really neat to mix power metal vocals with death metal vocals. Surprisingly it is a fantastic combination with a super melodic riff and a face melting guitar solo.
"Skagul Rides With Me" seems like a very forgettable fuller track and things really slow down both musically and vocally for the final song "The Serpent's Trail".
Overall this is another great album but do I consider it the best? No I do not. But it is still definitely Worthy of the box set that I got for this album which includes a poster, a puzzle, trading cards, a bottle topper, a patch and the CD. It is a good collector's item to own if you are a die-hard fan of Amon Amarth! So how would I rate this album? It is really good but far from perfection, so with that being said I have to give this an 8.5 out of 10.
Be sure to check out Amon Amarth's music videos on YouTube and you can listen to their music anywhere else. I'm on Amarth is signed with metal blade records so if you would like to support them by buying their merch you can do that website as well as indiemerch.com.