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BACK
 AMON
AMARTH - Same Difference
By Alex Ristic
For those of you too young to remember, there used to be a TV ad
in the ’80s that had a small laundry detergent company performing
a wash test, with clothing, against one of its bigger competitors.
The deal was that even though the smaller company didn't have as
big a profile, its product cleaned as well as its competitor, as
evidenced by the commercial's punch line, "I can't tell the
difference. Can you tell the difference?"
Well, that's what immediately came to mind upon hearing and seeing
the latest offering from Sweden's Amon Amarth, The Crusher. The
cover looks eerily similar to the band’s rocking previous effort,
The Avenger, with flames and cartoon-like imagery dominating the
booklet. And then there's the music. While the songs may have been
tweaked here and there, and the arrangements might be different,
the straight-ahead attack on The Crusher is as intense as its predecessor,
and the lyrical content just as dark and evil. The death metal attack
has been retained, but it seems closely related to the group's past
output.
As far as the cover is concerned, drummer Fredrik Andersson almost
sounds like a marketing guru as he admits the band contracted out
similar artwork so that fans could more easily identify the band.
"We liked the layout on The Avenger, so we decided to continue
with it," states the skin basher matter-of-factly. "We
also wanted it somewhat similar, because we found it as kind of
a trademark, with the logo and the fire. Fire has always been an
element in Amon Amarth, so it's nothing really new, other than on
the first two CDs there was also a lot of black, but there was still
fire. I guess we will have fire as long as Amon Amarth is still
burning."
Andersson comes up with a great analogy. Fire does appear to be
a big part of Amon Amarth's image, and is an apt enough metaphor
for the music. Speed is the name of the game with these Swedes,
and the drumming and riffing combine to form one raging inferno.
In that way, they're also similar to many of their brethren. Sweden
has been known for its aggressive hyper-metal attack since Entombed
burst onto the scene in the late ’80s with Left Hand Path.
While there are many variations in sound from the land that gave
us Volvos and Saabs, a few of the main ingredients in almost every
band are speed, aggression, and intensity.
But Amon Amarth can also show that they are different as well. Their
lyrics and themes stray from the norm in their native land. Hell,
it's almost like they belong in Norway, as many of the topics covered
on their albums deal with Scandinavian mythology, and you'll find
references to Thor, Odin, Surtur and a whole host of other Norse
gods in the band's material, stuff that's usually reserved for the
practitioners of Viking metal.
"We share the same mythology as Norway and Iceland, and the
Viking mythology is a part of every Scandinavian, even if it's not
that popular right now. It's one of the biggest interests of our
songwriter Johan (Hegg, vocalist). He does all the lyrics, and he's
why we deal with that subject. We're all interested in it, but he's
the one who reads a lot of articles on it. Most Viking mythology
is hidden from the people, and we're not allowed to learn it in
school, and if you want to find out about it you have to search
it out yourself. And he has found out a lot about it. It's a big
interest for all of us -- we like the heritage that we have, and
we're proud of it."
Not all the themes inside The Crusher deal with Viking credo and
tales of Valhalla long past. The brash and shattering opener "Bastards
of a Lying Breed" is off the beaten path, and deals with the
notion of hypocrisy on several levels.
"It depends on how you look it at," teases Andersson.
"What (Johan) is aiming for are the hypocritical things in
life. It’s not only about religion; it covers things like censorship
and stuff like that. It's not a good thing for people. Everyone
should be entitled to listen to what they want."
Touching once again upon religion with his last statement, Andersson
almost makes it sound like he and Amon Amarth are on a holy quest.
He quickly points out that aside from a deep-rooted interest in
his native mythology, the members of this outfit aren't hardcore
followers.
"In Scandinavian mythology there are a lot of gods, and no
one is the single god or anything like that. We're not religious
in that way, that we pray to our gods or that we do some sacrifice
or something like that; it's nothing like that at all. It's more
like where to find the roots, and more about your heritage."
Speaking of heritage, Amon Amarth travels a well-beaten path leading
to a complicated and twisted family tree. Looking back, the bands
that helped contribute to the explosion of the Swedish sound was
firstly Entombed, followed by Dissection, Dismember, At The Gates,
In Flames, et al. Listening to this quintet's sound, rounded out
by bassist Ted Lundstrom and guitarists Johan Soderberg and Olavi
Mikkonen, it is easy to see where they absorbed their influences
from -- At The Gates especially.
Their Swedish sound, added to their lyrical and thematic bent, makes
Amon Amarth a hybrid in a way. Their At The Gates kinship is undeniable,
but the subtle differences make them stand apart from what their
peers in the Gothenburg and Stockholm scenes bring.
Yet, despite the similarities and differences Amon Amarth bear,
their sound places them solidly in the Scandinavian pantheon; not
only for being able to represent their Swedishness, but embracing
the spirit of their progenitors by advancing it in their own way.
And who better to capture that sound on tape than one of Sweden's
biggest exports (and an expert in manifesting his own sounds to
boot), Peter Tagtgren! However, Mr. Pain was busy, so Hypocrisy
alumnus Lars Szoke engineered for The Avenger. Yet the master of
the Abyss still managed to make an appearance at the mixing board.
"It's not our choice really, but Peter has become a really
busy man. He has all his side projects and stuff like that, and
we didn't hire him as a producer, so he wasn't in the studio that
much. He was only in the studio when we set the sound for the mixing.
He has always had friends who have helped him out. Before, it was
his brother (Tommy Tagtgren), but now his brother has his own studio,
the Abyss II. And also the bass player for Hypocrisy, he does some
engineering in the Abyss as well, but now it's Lars's turn (laughs)."
Maybe now it's Amon Amarth's turn to grab the Swedish torch and
raise it up amongst their forebears as peers.
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