Album Review: Amon Amarth - Deceiver Of The Gods

Not every band can claim to release a new album every two years, to tour practically continuously and still get consistently positive reviews. But the Swedes manage to inspire their fans time and time again, and so "Deceiver Of The Gods", the melodic death metal band's ninth album, joins the ranks of their grandiose works. Already after the first one or two minutes it becomes clear that Amon Amarth are staying true to the well-tried scheme with this album. The quintet's new album is much broader than their previous albums, so influences from doom, heavy and thrash metal can be seen. Amon Amarth themselves said they want more aggression in their new disc and you can expect a good album with typical sounds and the usual Viking spirit of the band.

Fresh, new riffs, partly unleashed frenzy, partly fine, coherent melodies, regained voice variation and here and there there is more lyrically than battle, fight, sword and honor - even if you have remained true to the rather straightforward lyric. I especially want to mention that you put yourself in the hands of Andy Sneap, who has already produced who-knows-how many metal records, and he could have messed it up, but he didn't, because the album sounds perfectly like Amon Amarth. Not only have the instruments become harder and louder, singer Johann Hegg has also gone through a development, so his voice on the new album is even stronger than it was on the previous albums. Don't get me wrong, Amon Amarth is by no means reinventing himself. Here and there the impression of having heard this or that part more than similarly in another song still shimmers.

After all these years, Amon Amarth manage to reinvent themselves within their «corset» without forgetting their roots. The goal of bringing more aggressiveness into the album was also achieved, as you can hear right at the beginning with the album's title track, which undoubtedly has its roots in thrash metal. Brutal thrash guitars thunder from the first to the last second of the song. Immediately afterwards, the song "As Loke Falls" continues, which is a bit reminiscent of old Iron Maiden titles. The other songs on the album don't have to hide when it comes to creativity, aggressiveness, heaviness and melody. «Father Of The Wolf» is a typical anthem in the good «Guardians Of Asgard» tradition, which is a must for future live activities. In my opinion, there really isn't much to complain about. Only the somewhat bulkier, but still somewhere true to the line "Shape Shifter" and "Under Siege" are too predictable in my opinion, but that's about it. The song "Blood Eagle" begins with a somewhat disturbing recording of a dying man, but immediately afterwards the band starts up in the old manner. An oppressive double bass, shredding guitars and the concentrated power of Johann Hegg's voice dominate this one, as well as most of the other songs. A good portion of Slayer shines through here, which suits the song and the album damn well.

Amon Amarth - Deceiver of the Gods (OFFICIAL)

As with the previous albums, Amon Amarth have brought in reinforcements this time, with «Deceiver Of The Gods» in the form of former Candlemass singer Messiah Marcolin. Marcolin can be heard together with Hegg on the song "Hel", which not only has a prominent guest singer, but also clearly stands out stylistically from the rest of the songs with its Doom Metal attitude and is blessed with a riff like it seem to bring only Amon Amarth these days. The new sounds are almost refreshing and offer the variety you've been waiting for all this time. But that's not all: With the last title "Warriors of the North" Amon Amarth go one better. The track simply lasts longer than eight minutes and is basically nothing more than a victory song. He covers so many facets of Metal without losing the reference to the actual topic. But at the same time it also makes it clear that there will be no change any time soon.

Album Review: Amon Amarth - Deceiver Of The Gods

In my opinion, «Deceiver Of The Gods» is the logical development of «Twilight Of The Thundergod» and to be honest, I didn't believe that Amon Amarth would appreciate the quality of this work - because «Twilight...» is one of my absolute all Time Favorites – would achieve again. The good, but not really outstanding «Surtur Rising» confirmed this assumption, but this time the guys from Stockholm convicted me of the misconception. The album is a clear progression from the band, who have dared to combine more styles than they have ever done before. The gentlemen remain true to themselves and still tread one or the other new path - mind you, path, not an eight-lane highway and stay true to their style and blast the listener with Death Metal that only Amon Amarth can deliver in this form of perfection. The new elements are well placed and it has to be said that after 21 years of band history, Amon Amarth are still wholeheartedly involved and every album brings good work with it. That's exactly how you want to be served a new Amon Amarth album. There's no harm in listening.

Track List:

1. Deceiver Of The Gods
2. As Loke Falls
3. Father Of The Wolf
4. Shapeshifter
5. Under Siege
6. Blood eagle
7. We Shall Destroy
8. Hel
9. Coming Of The Tide
10. Warriors Of The North

The limited edition appears in a digipak in a high-quality bronze-colored box with an embossed logo including a separate bonus CD and poster. The bonus CD contains four more new songs that were recorded in the style of the hard rock and metal legends par excellence Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, Motörhead and AC / DC.

1. Burning Anvil of Steel
2. Satan Rising
3. Snake Eyes
4. 4. Stand Up to Go Down

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