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AMG Goes Ranking – Amon Amarth
The decree sounded across the Ginnungagap. There was not yet time or space, nor were there menfolk to hear it… but still there was the decree. Amon Amarth is coming. They sing melodic death metal songs about Vikings. That’s what the frick they do, and don’t you question it or get tired of it or do anything but listen and pay fealty. For it is promised that if you give Amon Amarth ten dollars, they will give you ten killer songs about Vikings.
The decree held sway across all the joys and sorrows of man and throughout the Three Ages of Amon Amarth. The Bronze Age witnessed a talented group of musicians announce themselves with Once Sent from the Golden Hall, then hone their sound over three subsequent records. Versus the World was a pivot point that saw Amon Amarth lock into something everlasting. Fate of Norns ushered in the band’s Golden Age, a run that includes With Oden on Our Side, Twilight of the Thunder God, Surtur Rising, and Deceiver of the Gods.
Only now, in the Copper Age, does the promise waver. Jomsviking and Berserker were strong slabs that still lost devotees as the band leaned hard into the more accessible corners of their legend. The Great Heathen Army was Amon Amarth’s first dud-adjacent offering. What once was certain now lay in doubt; the gates buckled and Saxons frolicked on Northern shores. We gather in these twilight days to honor the long peak of Amon Amarth–but also to keep a signal fire alight for new record The Allfather Awakens.
– Ferox
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The Rankings
A Cherd Am I
You’ve perhaps noticed that I’ve been missing from these halls for the last year and a half. I’ve had a lot going on in my personal life, and I don’t mind telling you that a large part of that has been a journey into sobriety. This has come with a good deal of upheaval and a difficult learning curve of self regulation. One of the surprising by-products has been a decreased desire to listen to metal. When I do crave it, I’ve found myself again and again reaching for Amon Amarth. Maybe it’s their triumphant fighting spirit or the rousing repeatable choruses that my brain-in-recovery responds to. Whatever it is, they’ve been a welcome emotional comfort through a trying time and I’m happy to lend my list to this ranking.
#12: The Great Heathen Army (1998) – The band’s last outing finds the schtick wearing thin. Much like Taco Bell menu items, there are only so many ways you can arrange the same few ingredients to make a song about Viking warfare and still sound fresh. Tepid opener “Get In the Ring” is the perhaps inevitable song written specifically for a pro wrestler’s ring entrance, but the real-life inspiration doesn’t improve the outcome. “Oden Owns You All” shows there’s still some gas left in the tank (slaves left in the rowing galley?), and the record’s best song, “Saxons and Vikings,” is a touching reflection on how hard it is to make new friends over 40.
Rating: “I should never have left Brynhild and the farm to go on this raiding party.”
#11: The Crusher (2009) – The first in a long line of Amon Amarth albums to feature a mean mugging beefcake on the cover, The Crusher is both a transitional outing and a template. The charming rawness of the first two records is mostly gone, but that doesn’t mean all the songwriting hits the mark. At times it can be plodding (“Annihilation of Hammerfest”), generic (“Bastards of a Lying Breed”), or messy (“Risen From the Sea”), but at its most bruising (“Masters of War”) and rousing (“The Sound of Eight Hooves”), the record predicts future high points in the band’s oeuvre.
Rating: “Brynhild will be serving her special Korngrøt for náttverðr about now. All we have in camp is this thin Fiskgrøt and Stál Druhm is hogging all the fish.”
#10: Jomsviking (1996) – If Jomsviking had dropped earlier in the band’s discography with its beefy production and concept album scope, say just after Fate of Norns, it might warrant a different conversation. As it is, it came at the end of an ambitious run of records that, even if they weren’t purposefully reaching for more mainstream success, achieved some of it regardless. Sonically, Jomsviking sounds a lot like those preceding records rehashed, and its “big” hit, “Raise Your Horns,” takes the band’s penchant for follow-the-bouncing-ball singalongs too far in my opinion. So does “The Way of Vikings,” but I like that song better. The highlight here is “On a Sea of Blood.”
Rating: “This Pictish peasant I’m disemboweling has fine flaxen hair. Like my Brynhild…”
#9: Once Sent From the Golden Hall (2012) – It’s a bit strange listening to an Amon Amarth record on which Johan Hegg sounds like he could be some other random metal vocalist, but the band’s debut was born of a different time. It’s a late 90s blackened death metal record, and Hegg’s delivery range sounds like it, with higher register shrieks and less articulated lyrics, but these aren’t complaints. Overall, they fit the style and more ramshackle energy of Once Sent From the Golden Hall. It can get almost too loose, as when the music nearly falls out of time on parts of “Victorious March” and “Abandoned,” but it’s all held together by the excitement of a young band who know their own potential having a blast. It’s a fun record with a few hints at what was to come.
Rating: “Before burning the village, we found many sturdy iron scythes and hoes in the blacksmith forge. My farmhand Old Einar will be pleased.”
#8: The Avenger (2004) – The opening one-two punch of “Bleed for Ancient Gods” and “The Last With Pagan Blood” is killer, with the latter especially standing as an early example of the band hitting on their signature sound. It ends with another very Amon Amarth-ish melodic cut in “Legend of a Banished Man,” but the remaining songs still show them searching for their musical sweet spot. The title track aims for but misses the kind of stirring, majestic melody the band would one day be able to crank out in their sleep.
Rating: “I hope I don’t regret sparing this tow-headed lad from the sword. He could make a fine farm laborer but seems too spirited. Perhaps Old Einar can break him.”
#7: Berserker (2020) – After the disappointment of The Great Heathen Army, it’s fair to wonder if this is the ceiling for late career Amon Amarth. There’s an 80s melodrama at times, strongest on opener “Fafner’s Gold” but present at other points as well, that adds some fun spice to the stew. “Shield Wall” is a blackened melodeath tough guy stroke of genius, but it’s so much better than the rest of the material here (“Raven’s Flight” comes closest) that it could very well be the band’s last great song. Also, there’s no reason for any Amon Amarth record to push an hour in length.
Rating: “Sól’s radiant visage shone down on us from her great chariot as we hacked our way through a Gaelic monastery. Still, as night draws on my thoughts return to Brynhild…”
#6: Fate of Norns (2006) – This is the warmup to the band’s run of greatness, but it’s also a fine album in itself. “Pursuit of Vikings” is the live staple here, and for good reason, but the title track proved they could write a sad song and still sound awesome (though it’s not their saddest, which is “Hermod’s Ride to Hel”). I love it, and so does our very own GardensTale, who once lost a hamster under similar circumstances and in a fit of grief nearly joined it on its tiny funeral pyre. Perhaps more of a “grower” than many of their other records.
Rating: “Seeing Ivar’s son in our ranks makes me think I shall bring Ragnar on next summer’s raid. He is small for his age and sickly, but I sense he shares my fighting spirit. I see no way this could go ill.”
#5: Surtur Rising (1995) – This is where the band shrugged and said “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Surtur Rising is anchored by hard charging cuts like “War of the Gods,” “Destroyer of the Universe,” and “A Beast Am I,” but everything here is reliably enjoyable. It’s hard not to hear them repeating themselves when a song like “Destroyer of the Universe” asks the question “What if ‘Twilight of the Thunder God,’ but for bag guy?” but if the biggest knock on the album is that it sounds too much like another that happens to be one of the band’s best, I call that a win.
Rating: “I overexerted myself cutting through a party of Saxon merchants. I may need an herbal poultice for my aching muscles tomorrow.”
#4: Versus the World (1992) – Versus the World is the high water mark of the band’s early era. There’s still a blackened bent to their sound, and a clear maturity to the songwriting. Certified ragers like “Death In Fire” and “Bloodshed” should land on any respectable playlist of the band’s output, while “Versus the World” finds Amon Amarth fully arriving in a way they hadn’t before. It strikes the perfect balance between stomping grooves and blackened fire with lyrics that will make you want to take up arms against your city council over their lawn watering restrictions. It also features “Across the Rainbow Bridge,” which is a pensive ode to GardensTale’s hamster.
Rating: “Tonight we sang songs of victory and drank mead from an English thane’s silver cups. He won’t miss them in the grave.”
#3: Deceiver of the Gods (2015) – This is the closest the band comes to a significant shift in sound, which is just to say they took everything they were already doing and added harmonized traditional heavy metal guitar work to it, but it works a treat. Maybe that’s why they went with a blue color palate for the album art instead of their (up until then) mandatory reds, browns, and oranges. Add Messiah Marcolin’s guest spot and there’s a clear throwback quality to Deceiver of the Gods, but it’s all unmistakably Amon Amarth firing on all cylinders. The opening title track through “Under Siege” is as strong a run of songs as you’ll get on any of their records.
Rating: “In today’s fighting some níðingr cut off my right hand and with it my sword. I was able to pick up an axe with my left and open his ribcage. Our party’s healer says my hand will not grow back, but I remain hopeful.”
#2: Twilight of the Thunder God (1999) – A very close second for me, this is the album I reach for most often thanks to the famous title track and the incredible “Tattered Banners and Bloody Flags” with its bouncing main riff and air of melancholy. I get chills at “Nowhere is longer safe, the earth moves under our feet…” but these are far from the only highlights. “Where Is Your God?,” “No Fear For the Setting Sun,” “Varyags of Miklagaard,” “Guardians of Asgaard,” top shelf Viking melodeath songs, the lot of them. By underground metal standards, this is the record that turned them into a “stadium” band, but instead of selling out their sound, they simply honed it to its finest point.
Rating: “Ivar gave me a strange mushroom and I feel a powerful rage rising in me. I bite at my shield like a hound worries a bone. I look to my mangled wrist but see a great cudgel with which to brain my enemies! THE BATTLE IS AT HAND!”
#1: With Oden On Our Side (2001) – This is when Amon Amarth cemented their status as the house band for Ragnarak. They’d never sounded this scorching (“Asator”), this defiant (“Runes to My Memory”), this majestic (“Under the Northern Star”). And how about heartbreaking? I can’t listen to “Hermod’s Ride to Hel – Lokes Treachery Part 1” without chills from beginning to end. This was the perfecting of their sound, the proof of concept. Never mind Viking metal, it’s one of my very favorite death metal records, period.
Rating: “THE BLOODLUST IS UPON ME! I JUST KILLED FIVE VILLAGERS AND MAYBE IVAR WITH A SINGLE AXE STROKE! I’LL STORM THE GATES OF VALHALLA! I’LL KILL THE GODS THEMSELVES!”
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Mark Z., Twilight of the Thunder Dog
Amon Amarth were an important band in my metal journey. Twilight of the Thunder God came out right when I started college and quickly captivated me and my metal-loving friends, making these Swedes one of the biggest modern metal bands that we all liked. As a result, we’d see them live every time they played in a nearby city, and one of my favorite concert memories from that time was Johan Hegg throwing me the horns as I crowd-surfed to the closing riff of “The Pursuit of Vikings.” My excitement for the band waned as I got into more extreme stuff, but I’ve always looked back fondly on them for the good times they’ve offered. Like others, I’ve often thought of them as the poster child for “always doing the same thing,” but upon listening to their discography in full, I was surprised to find that perspective wasn’t exactly correct.
#12. The Great Heathen Army (2022) — Case in point: The Great Heathen Army, which sounds more like a set of stomping, Wacken-ready anthems than the glorious melodic death metal of the band’s peak era. Propelled by lots of groove, this album is beefy as fuck, as if every track could be the intro music for a WWE wrestler. Yet even though these songs feel basic and lack the band’s prior glory, there’s still some catchy fun to be had (see “Find a Way or Make One”). This isn’t the album I wanted from Amon Amarth, but it could have been a lot worse.
#11. The Avenger (1999) — I’m not a big fan of early Amon Amarth, and their second album, The Avenger, shows exactly why. Compared to their later material, the riffs aren’t particularly notable, instead just buzzing along at a comfortable pace while repeating themselves a lot. This is my least favorite of the band’s early works, mostly because the songs simply aren’t as good as those on this album’s predecessor or follow-up. That said, I do like the archaic atmosphere, and the songwriting has tightened up a bit compared to the debut. The main riff of “God, His Son and Holy Whore” is also a straight banger that would hint at the greatness to come.
#10. Once Sent from the Golden Hall (1998) — Amon Amarth’s debut, Once Sent from the Golden Hall, was the first album of theirs I bought, and I never really fell in love with it like I thought I would. There is great stuff here: “The Dragons’ Flight Across the Waves” is an emotional wallop and one of my favorite Amon Amarth songs. Likewise, there are plenty of killer riffs sprinkled throughout. Yet compared to their other records, the songwriting feels a bit clunky, and it’s always distracted me how the drumming sounds somewhat sloppy at times. While still a solid work overall, I’ll almost always reach for their later material over this.
#9. Berserker (2019) — By this point in their career, Amon Amarth knew exactly what their fans wanted: catchy fucking Viking-themed melodic death metal with growl-along choruses and riffs that could be the soundtrack to a bunch of stocky Norsemen raiding a coastal village. Berserker gives us exactly that, along with a clear and powerful production job that makes songs like “Crack the Sky” and “Shield Wall” jump right onto your workout playlists. Unfortunately, this album is too long at nearly 57 minutes, the second half sags compared to the first, and it feels much less ambitious than the albums that preceded it. Still, there’s a lot of fun to be had here, and there’s something to be said for that.
#8. The Crusher (2001) — The band’s third album, The Crusher, showed them continuing to refine their songwriting, with almost every track containing a riff that gets me bobbing my head and thirsting for a big swig of mead. Combining the great riffs of the debut with the tighter writing of The Avenger, The Crusher is a best-of-both-worlds record that delivers powerful tracks like “As Long As the Raven Flies” and the indomitable “Masters of War.” Still, the unpolished production that hindered their other early albums is also present here, and some of the later songs don’t do as much for me. Nonetheless, this is still a strong release that deserves more appreciation than it seems to get.
#7. Versus the World (2002) — I’m not sure if ranking this album this low is heresy, but give it another listen if you think so. Yes, “Death in Fire” is a powerhouse opener and the band’s first truly great single. Yes, “Thousand Years of Oppression” is one of the band’s best “epic and emotional” songs. Yes, this is more hooky and dynamic than the albums that preceded it. On relisten, however, I can’t get over how downright mellow most of these songs feel, especially for a record with such a combative title. Replace some of these tracks with faster ones, and this would climb a few spots. As it is, however, this is still a good fucking album that paved the way for the Amon Amarth we know today.
#6. Surtur Rising (2011) — Surtur Rising had the impossible task of having to follow up Twilight of the Thunder God. Thus, it’s always felt like a slight disappointment to me, especially given how obvious it was that the band were looking to that album for guidance. Take “War of the Gods:” While it’s a great opener, it also sounds similar to Twilight’s title track. Fortunately, Surtur still stands tall on its own merits, particularly when it comes to more aggressive cuts like “Destroyer of the Universe” and “A Beast Am I.” If every song was as good as the epic “The Last Stand of Frej” or the sugary melodic fuckfest that is “For Victory or Death,” I might like this more. Regardless, this is still a great entry in the modern Amon Amarth canon, with no shortage of tremolo-fueled hooks and snappy riffs.
#5. Deceiver of the Gods (2013) — After Surtur, Amon Amarth asked the question: What if we just said “fuck it” and wrote a bunch of fast, catchy shit? Deceiver of the Gods is the answer. The band is almost unrecognizable here compared to their early days, with this record having more in common with the Gothenburg groups (or Insomnium) than their first few works. Things here are hyper-melodic but still tough and hooky, especially on tracks like “Father of the Wolf” or the massive closer, “Warriors of the North.” I remember not being super interested in the band anymore when this came out and thus overlooking this record, but that turned out to be a mistake. While all the in-your-face riffing can admittedly get a tad exhausting at times, the stomping swagger of “We Shall Destroy” and the collaboration with former Candlemass singer Messiah Marcolin on “Hel” provide just the variety needed to propel this into the upper half of their discography.
#4. Jomsviking (2016) — Jomsviking seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it album. The production is probably their most clean and professional ever, the guitars sometimes recall power metal, and the lyrics dive headlong into the concept album format. To me, these were all positive developments. At this point in their career, switch-ups were exactly what was needed, and this record is all the better for them. Andy Sneap’s clear and powerful production job makes these songs pop, the occasional Iron Maiden-esque melodies and vocal patterns are a great touch, and the storyline told through the lyrics is a welcome change from the “fighting for (or against) the gods” lyrics that had started getting old at this point. And the songs! The pummeling opener, “First Kill,” is memorable without being formulaic, “Raise Your Horns” is a fun (if slightly cheesy) singalong, and “The Way of Vikings” is a goddamn groove monster. Johan’s charismatic vocal performance on this record doesn’t hurt, either. While a bit long and homogenous, Jomsviking has grown on me to become (in my eyes) the quintessential post-2010 Amon Amarth album.
#3. Fate of Norns (2004) — People generally don’t seem to love this album, probably because (1) it’s overshadowed by the one that came after it, and (2) it stays locked in a mid-paced tempo for much of its runtime. To me, however, Fate of Norns is a fantastic record where the group’s full potential finally started to be unveiled. This is the first Amon Amarth album with a truly great production job, and the already terrific songs are all the stronger because of it. Alternatively sinister and triumphant, “The Pursuit of Vikings” is one of the group’s most essential tracks, and “An Ancient Sign of Coming Storm” is a masterclass in how to get as much mileage as possible out of a simple riff. It’s true that the tempos could be more varied. Yet Fate of Norns is one of those rare albums where heaviness, accessibility, and emotional resonance all exist in harmony, leading to a work that’s powerful in its own right while opening the door to what would become the band’s best era.
#2. Twilight of the Thunder God (2008) — If With Oden on Our Side showed Amon Amarth ascending to the top of the modern extreme metal pantheon, then Twilight of the Thunder God is the record that cemented their place on the throne. In the vein of At the Gates’s Slaughter of the Soul, Twilight is a skillful balancing act that shows a band fully embracing verse-chorus structures without sounding overly formulaic or compromising their extremity. The results are some of best songs in the band’s catalog, from the iconic title track to the bouncy grooves of “Guardians of Asgaard” to the monumental closer, “Embrace of the Endless Ocean.” With inspired riffing galore and excellent growls (and rasps) from Johan, this is the sound of a band truly coming into their own. This would be both the lodestar for almost every Amon Amarth album that followed and a modern extreme metal classic that helped make the struggles of starting college life a little easier for at least one dude out there. If there’s anything negative to say, it’s that this album was an inflection point in their career, after which they’d never sound quite as heavy again.
#1. With Oden on Our Side (2006) — Here it is: the album that broke Amon Amarth out of the underground and onto the iPods of every metal fan who heard “Cry of the Blackbirds” and realized that this was a band they needed in their life. With this album, the band seemed to realize exactly how to refine their sound to achieve its peak form: that is, offer a good blend of faster and slower material, add loads of melody without sacrificing any heaviness, and don’t be afraid to mix things up. From this, we got the incredible “Gods of War Arise,” which is a perfect song in my eyes that succeeds despite having only one iteration of its chorus. We also got the gleaming refrain of “Runes to My Memory,” the brilliant and grandiose main riff of the title track, and the pounding battle-drum rhythms of the closer, “Prediction of Warfare.” The record’s hefty and powerful production job is my favorite the band ever had, and Johan’s wholly intelligible growls make him truly sound like a Norse god. As a teenager just getting into metal at the time, Oden blew my head off and showed me just how cool the genre could be. Looking back now, it’s clear that this was a rare once-in-a-career record where everything just fucking works. Because of that, I think it will forever be Amon Amarth’s crowning achievement.
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Grin Reaper, With Oden by My Scythe
Amon Amarth played a crucial role in shaping my relationship with metal, bridging a key Ginnungagap that delivered me from normie tunes into extremity. Their ability to synthesize berserker bloodlust, mournful melodies, and exuberant anthems remains unparalleled, and even if Angry Metal Guy’s Law of Diminishing Recordings™ has nagged them over the last decade, I almost always find more to like than not. Amon Amarth has been one of my most consistent companions for nearly two decades, and although I was ready for a ranking reprieve following my recent contributions, I couldn’t deny the inexorable call to pick up my scythe once more and rank one of my longtime darlings. Raise your horns!
#12. The Great Heathen Army (2022) — Amon Amarth hasn’t written a bad album yet, but 2022’s The Great Heathen Army comes closest. My last full play-through stretched back to early 2023, and my opinions haven’t softened in the intervening time. Sure, the songs still reek of mead and wiolence, but with a few exceptions they lack the bite and immediacy that make Amon Amarth such a formidable force on earlier releases. Album highlight “Saxons and Vikings” still gets my head bobbing with a snappy lead that perpetually incites me to crank up the volume, and featuring Saxon’s Biff Byford alongside Johan Hegg makes for a brilliant tune. Unfortunately, the best of the rest gets relegated to B-side material on almost any other AA platter.
#11. Jomsviking (2016) — Jomsviking marks Amon Amarth’s first narrative concept album, an endeavor I embraced at the time and still support now. The underlying story is compelling and bleak—exactly the sort of thing that yearns for a bruising soundtrack. Jomsviking starts gloriously with “First Kill,” an energetic, pummeling number that stands beside Amon Amarth’s best melodic material. Unfortunately, the rest of the album rarely glimpses the same heights. “Raise Your Horns,” “The Way of Vikings,” and “At Dawn’s First Light” uplift the middle of the album with spirited performances and catchy choruses, and Doro Pesch’s guest vocals on “A Dream That Cannot Be” gut punch with a heartrending reality check. More highs exist here than on The Great Heathen Army, but the rest of the album doesn’t quite fulfill Jomsviking’s engaging premise.
#10. Berserker (2019) — Like Jomsviking, Berserker contains truly great tunes that get bogged down by some lesser ones. The record’s front half is especially loaded with latter-day Amarthian gems like “Fafner’s Gold,” “Crack the Skye,” “Shield Wall,” and “Raven’s Flight.” The rest of the songs individually hold up well enough, but in total sag under their own weight as Berserker’s runtime pushes close to the hour mark. “Ironside” succeeds at a simmering slower pace and would slot nicely into Fate of Norns, but both quasi-titular track “The Berserker at Stamford Bridge” and closer “Into the Dark” fail to sustain their longer durations. If you dropped two or three of the lesser cuts, Berserker might merit a higher spot in my ranking, but even as-is this album remains my favorite of Amon Amarth’s current era.
#9. The Crusher (2001) — Amon Amarth’s third album sounds like a band confident in their burgeoning sound, although the ideas explored here seem a tad redundant following The Avenger. Where the preceding album advanced the debut’s production and sharpened the songwriting, The Crusher maintains this trajectory without developing it further. Tracks like “Bastards of a Lying Breed,” “Master of War,” and “A Fury Divine” showcase Amon Amarth’s acumen for writing Crushing riffs at scorching tempos. Considering the early highs on The Crusher, though, the album’s final third loses steam and doesn’t compel me to always finish it out.1 It’s still Amon Amarth and an engaging slab of melodeath, but compared to other releases, it’s less than essential listening.
#8. The Avenger (1999) — The Crusher and The Avenger inhabit very similar sonic spaces, but where The Crusher starts out strong and flags towards the end, The Avenger exhibits more consistency throughout (and even improves on the back half). “Bleed for Ancient Gods” and “The Last with Pagan Blood” supply a potent one-two opening combo, but “God, His Son, and Holy Whore” is what turns the tide and transforms The Avenger into a bona fide classic. Amon Amarth’s signature trem-picked leads shine bright and clear, presaging the band’s later sound while retaining the grit and bite that distinguishes their earlier material. The closing triad of tracks stand just as tall, and the margins between the next couple albums in this ranking are close enough that if the title track proved a notch leaner, The Avenger might sit a few spots higher.
#7. Fate of Norns (2004) — Though Fate of Norns remains Amon Amarth’s slowest album, it’s anything but sluggish. Focusing heavily on mid-paced trudges and hulking chugs across forty minutes, Fate of Norns delivers an unrelenting slugfest of meaty riffs that romp and stomp. The centerpiece of the album is “The Pursuit of Vikings,” one of Amon Amarth’s quintessential tracks. Its power dwells in simplicity, trading between potent riff patterns and galloping drums that conjure impressions of launching vikingly quests. Other songs prevail to varying degrees, where the title track pummels with melancholic nobility, “Valkyries Ride” wallops with sturdy brutishness, and “The Beheading of a King” supplies a quick-hitting punch that adds some sauce to Fate of Norns’ lumbering paces. This album remains a singular entry in Amon Amarth’s canon, and while more variation in songwriting would boost its stature, I also can’t deny the power its best songs exude.
#6. Deceiver of the Gods (2013) — Though Surtur Rising dropped in between, Deceiver of the Gods always struck me as Twilight of the Thunder God, Pt. II. Slick, sticky hooks permeate Deceiver’s forty-eight minutes while thunderous grooves round out the sound. Twilight captured Amon Amarth at their melodic peak, and Deceiver of the Gods finds them retreading similar ground. Even so, the songs gleam with hoarfrost-coated leads (“As Loke Falls”), lilting wistfulness (“Under Siege”), and savage violence (“Blood Eagle,” “Coming of the Tide”), and I revisit Deceiver regularly given the power of its best material. Of the releases within Amon Amarth’s golden age,2 Deceiver of the Gods tends to hide amongst its peers given the strength of competition, but it still gets enough right to merit more attention.
#5. Twilight of the Thunder God (2008) — The title track on Twilight of the Thunder God is not only Amon Amarth’s signature song, but one of the best melodeath cuts ever penned. Serving as my introduction to the band, Twilight sat at the top of the heap for years. Over time, though, I realized the gap between its best songs and the rest was too wide for the album to wear the crown. “Twilight of the Thunder God” and “Guardians of Asgaard” define the peak of what Amon Amarth’s glitzy era offers, where shimmering leads and Hegg’s gruff vox infuse the record with rough and tumble accessibility. Sure, Twilight of the Thunder God lacks the ferocity of earlier albums, but it also supplies an indisputable gateway album for prospective metalheads because of its enmeshment of melody and chest-thumping swagger, and for that it continues to be the album I push people towards when they seem open to dabbling with heavier metals.
#4. Once Sent from the Golden Hall (1998) — Amon Amarth’s debut comfortably reigns as my favorite of the band’s formative days. Taking the savagery of early Unleashed and distilling it through At the Gates’ malicious melodicism, Once Sent Through the Golden Hall established an identity with familiar ingredients that hadn’t been combined in this way before.3 Where The Avenger and The Crusher take a hard-nosed practicality to auditory violence, Once Sent revels in evoking atmospheres and embedding euphony into its compositions. “Without Fear” rages from the get-go to set heads banging, “Amon Amarth” presages Fate of Norns gloomy pacing in a rousing slow burn, and “Victorious March” thrills as a mid-paced epic boasting a soulful solo and Amon Amarth’s signature trems driving its implacable momentum across eight minutes. Better albums came later, but Once Sent from the Golden Hall evidenced an audaciously promising start that persists all these years later.
#3. Versus the World (2002) — I had a good idea where most Amon Amarth albums would fall in my ranking, but Versus the World completely surprised me. Enjoying the ensemble’s fourth platter came as no surprise, but the degree to which I’ve fallen for it has. Ethereal melodies, focused songwriting, and calculated pacing deliver an incredibly consistent and thoroughly engaging duration. Unlike most Amon Amarth albums, no single song regularly draws me back to Versus the World.4 The ferocity of “For the Stabwounds in Our Backs” echoes The Avenger and Once Sent from the Golden Hall while “Death in Fire” could have been ripped straight from The Crusher’s mighty front half. “Where Silent Gods Stand Guard” and “Bloodshed” foreshadow the shift in direction Fate of Norns would take, and “Down the Slopes of Death” and the title track hint at the transitional With Oden on Our Side. In all, Versus the World feels like a compilation album of Amon Amarth’s pre-Twilight eras with completely original content, and it accomplishes this without any inessential tracks.
#2. Surtur Rising (2011) — Following Twilight of the Thunder God must have presented an enormous challenge, and Amon Amarth handled it deftly even if anecdotal experience suggests that opinions about Surtur Rising remain divided. Taking the euphonic onslaught of Twilight and placing greater emphasis on weightier paces, particularly on the back half, Amon Amarth crafted ten vibrant tracks. Guitarists Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Söderberg soar across the album, loosing some of the sharpest hooks in AA’s discography on tracks “War of the Gods,” “Slaves of Fear,” and “Tock’s Taunt (Loke’s Treachery, Pt. II).” Hegg sounds especially grim, assuming an air of lament and sorrow as the album closes with “Doom Over Dead Men.”5 Though Twilight of the Thunder God contains higher highs, Surtur Rising’s consistency makes it an album I return to more often in full.
#1. With Oden on Our Side (2006) — I originally planned on writing a YMIO piece for With Oden on Our Side, a freshly minted double decade release.6 Like Versus the World, WOoOS synthesizes elements from across Amon Amarth’s corpus and unites them under a single banner, and the end result is nothing short of magnificent. “Gods of War Arise” pulverizes listeners with punishing grooves, “Valhall Awaits Me,” unleashes viking thunder with undercurrents of tunefulness that would strike full-force two years later, and “Under the Northern Star” wails with the most poignant guitar leads in Amon Amarth’s oeuvre. Drummer Fredrik Andersson uncorks a searing performance, with “Valhall Awaits Me” and “Asator” galloping at blistering paces, while Söderberg and Mikkonen harmonize in twin guitar perfection. With no weak songs to diminish its impact, With Oden on Our Side entrenches itself as the culmination of everything Amon Amarth affords in a mightily tight package.
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Official AMG Ranking
The writers’ votes have been cast and counted. Sound the Gjallarhorn and pass the Official AMG Ranking for Amon Amarth into legend:
#12: The Great Heathen Army (2022), with 12 points out of a possible 967
#10: The Crusher (2001) and Berserker (2019), tied with 29 points out of a possible 96
#9: The Avenger (1999), with 33 points out of a possible 96
#8: Jomsviking (2016), with 35 points out of a possible 96
#7: Once Sent from the Golden Hall (1998), with 42 points out of a possible 96
#6: Versus the World (2002), with 60 points out of a possible 96
#5: Deceiver of the Gods (2013), with 62 points out of a possible 96
#4: Fate of Norns (2004), with 65 points out of a possible 96
#3: Surtur Rising (2011), with 76 points out of a possible 96
#2: Twilight of the Thunder God (2008), with 85 points out of a possible 96
#1: With Oden on Our Side (2006), with 92 points out of a possible 96
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If you’re looking for a mix of Amon Amarth’s greatest hits and choice deep cuts, look no further than AMG’s Amon Amarth primer:
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