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Amon Amarth – The Allfather Awakens Review
Vikings and their warrior ethos are a central archetype for metal of all stripes. Hyper-violent warriors from the frozen wastes who descend on coastal towns with great violence and furious anger; what could be more metal than that? Perpetually riding at the front of that particular longship, Amon Amarth have made their share of filthy lucre crafting paeans to the mystical warriors of olde. Since 1994, they’ve spun many yarns of Viking bravery, mythos, and generalized berserker mayhem in ways that have captivated legions of metallers. 2022s The Great Heathen Army was arguably their least interesting outing over a long career, leaving fans hoping for a mighty rebound on The Allfather Awakens. The release of their cowboy-ified video for “Eight Legs of Thunder” didn’t bode well for things to come, but all things unfold as the Allfather directs. What awaits fans of ancient battles and cultures? Will it be Wild West gunplay or the comfortable and familiar haunts of Thor and Loki? Place yer bets!
The Allfather Awakens opens bigly with “Gjallarhorn,” which is considerably more punchy, spry, and memorable than most of the stuff on The Great Heathen Army. You know where it’s going as soon as it starts with the epic chanting and stirring guitar lines, and off to battle you go before you can finish your morning mead. It’s everything Amon Amarth do well, from the aggressive and heroic guitar lines to Johan Hegg’s rough death bellows, and a mighty chorus that makes you want to sack the nearest Dollar General. It’s like something off Twilight of the Thunder God, and it’s 100% fan service. It doesn’t hurt that the music sometimes reminds me of Brainstorm either. Follow-up “Eight Legs of Thunder” works better in the context of the album if you forget the cheeseball video of the band in a Yellowstone-esque cowboy setting. It’s not their best song, but it’s not bad, and the chorus is entertainingly Amarth-y. From there you get a surprisingly good run of classic and near-classic Amon Amarth chestnuts. The chorus of “We Rule the Waves” made me chuckle at first because it’s so fucking on the nose to chant “We are Viking,” but damn if I wasn’t walking around singing it for a week-plus, much to my annoyance.
The single “Upphaf” didn’t win me over when it dropped, as restrained folk-based music isn’t why I come to the Amon Amarth party, but it works well enough as a change-up after several songs loaded with Norse bravado. As The Allfather Awakens unfurls, Amon Amarth trots out the full bag of tricks and tropes they’ve used to make themselves as big as they are. Not a lot here is “new” per se aside from the stripped-down folk of “Upphaf,” but the overall quality of the writing is elevated from last time, thankfully. “Raven God” covers the need for a big, stadium-rocking, ale horn-swinging drinking anthem, as you can’t hear the chorus without wanting a hefty beer to hoist in tribute. The title track is the Viking deadlift day soundtrack to inspire great gains, and closer “Ascending Like an Eagle” almost qualifies as good enough to be included on With Oden on Our Side. There are no tracks that will move to the very front of your Amarth playlist, but none feel overly recycled or forced, and the album ebbs and flows well while providing a consistently urgent, forceful experience. At 46 minutes with most tracks running under the 5-minute mark, Allfather motors along, and no song feels tedious or overlong.
The Amon Amarth formula relies on quality riffs and warrior-approved harmonies, and this time Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Söderberg deliver the goods. There’s plenty of the slightly blackened Viking-core riffs we’ve come to know and love, and the harmonies are righteous and rabble-rousing. The guitar lines and accents provide a big percentage of the thrills here and push the material to the next level. Johan Hegg is reliably stout and powerful as ever, roaring his heart out about axes, oxen, and Wotan. He’s been one of my favorite melodeath croakers since their debut, and he’s aged like fine wine. The Allfather Awakens finds the whole band in good shape, but it’s the much improved songwriting that stands out the most. While the writing on The Great Heathen Army often felt tired and forced, things feel a lot more like the early days here, and there’s less of a sense of the band spinning their tires in the mud.
I approached The Allfather Awakens with trepidation and concern that the Amon Amarth journey may be nearing the jumping-off point. Thankfully, the album title proved prescient, and the Allfather awoke to bring this band of warriors back with renewed bloodlust and rage. They may never achieve the heights of albums like With Oden on Our Side, but if they keep cranking out stuff of this ilk, they will always have Steel on their side. A good album to blast when it’s a good day to die.
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Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: NA | Format Reviewed: Fucking STREAM
Label: Metal Blade
Websites: amonamarth.com | amonamarth.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/amonamarth | instagram.com/amonamarth
Releases Worldwide: October 2nd, 2026
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