Today marks the release of the latest (and brand new) Amon Amarth album Beserker.
Wikipedia explains, “In the Old Norse written corpus, berserkers were warriors who purportedly fought in a trance-like fury, a characteristic which later gave rise to the modern English word “berserk.” Berserkers are attested to in numerous Old Norse sources, with their name literally rendered as “bear-coats”, along with úlfhéðnar.” If you know Amon Amarth, you know that it’s not a shock that this album contains Viking, Norse, and warrior imagery. This album delivers that.
While going “berserk” might be what Amon Amarth does onstage, they prove with this new album that they’ve still got the energy of a “berserker” 27 years after becoming a band.
While most of the album is solidly Amon Amarth’s signature sound (combined with telling tales of the norse), “Raven’s Flight” gave me In Flames vibes because they quite literally change their time signature to match their fellow Swedes in that song – at least, to my ears anyway.
While Berserker is a solid effort that won’t disappoint Amon Amarth fans, I’d love to see them return to a Jomsviking type concept album which expands on their writing and musical ability. They partnered with Doro on that one for crying out loud.
All in all, Berserker is worth a listen.
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