:: Amon Amarth - Twilight Of The Thunder God

Amon Amarth

With two years having passed since the release of their critically acclaimed ‘With Oden On Our Side’, Swedish melodic death metal act Amon Amarth are back with a new release in Twilight Of The Thunder God.
As expected, Amon Amarth haven’t altered their trademark sound much on their seventh full-length effort. But then given the consistency of the previous albums, the band needn’t have to, as ‘Twilight Of The Thunder God’ is yet another glorious release, and one that’s sure to please fans to no end. The opening title track ‘Twilight Of The Thunder God’ is typically Amon Amarth sounding with its rich and textured guitar tones, fast paced drumming and Hegg growling his way through Thor’s fight with Jörmungandr. Children Of Bodom guitarist Roope Latvala adds some great shred like guitar soloing around the three quarter mark, which nicely compliments to the song’s overall speed and power. Both the groove driven ‘Free Will Sacrifice’ and ‘Guardians Of Asgaard’ (which features Entombed’s L.G. Petrov on guest vocals) are memorable efforts with their catchy choruses, varying tempos and tight knit riffing, while on the fast paced ‘Where Is Your God?’, Hegg puts in a truly brutal performance to match the might of the guitarist’s pure death metal sound. Despite backing off on the speed, Amon Amarth still manage to provide plenty of great moments on tracks such as ‘Varyags Of Miklagaard’, the powerful ‘Tattered Banners And Bloody Flags’, ‘The Hero’ and the sombre epic ‘Embrace Of The Endless Ocean’, while Finnish act Apocalyptica add some depth to the fast paced ‘Live For The Kill’ with their cellos. Although there’s little change between releases, Amon Amarth still manages to come up with the goods with every new release. And as a follow up to 2006’s ‘With Oden On Our Side’, ‘Twilight Of The Thunder God’ is simply another classic melodic death metal release from the Swedes.