Editorial Review:Album Description:CD/DVD. The title of the 2008 album by Amon Amarth is Twilight of the Thunder God. It will feature guest appearances by Lars G'ran Petrov of Entombed, Roope Latvala of Children of Bodom, and the cello metal band Apocalyptica. Along with the release of the album will be an eight-page comic strip based on Norse mythology which will be released by magazines from all over Europe. Amon Amarth will go on a North American headlining tour in October 2008, with support from Ensiferum, Belphegor, and a melodic death metal band from Tampa named The Absence. The band toured the earlier part of 2008 as support for the well known band Slayer throughout Europe in the Unholy alliance Chapter 3.
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Disc 1:- Twilight of the Thunder God
- Free Will Sacrifice
- Guardians of Asgaard
- Where Is Your God?
- Varyags of Miklagaard
- Tattered Banners and Bloody Flags
- No Fear for the Setting Sun
- The Hero
- Live for the Kill
- Embrace of the Endless Ocean
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
-
Well Worth It
Having listened to a lot of this band's previous work, I purchased this cd in preparation for a show which I was going to be seeing. I am always a little reluctant to purchase a new cd, as so often you can get one or two great tracks, and then a bunch of filler in between. Luckily for me, this was not one of those albums. Amon Amarth have composed a masterpiece which is a great listen all the way through. Johan Hegg's growls are deep yet still very intelligible, and the vocals at no time overpower the music itself. As growl vocals are one of the elements that can most easily "scare off" newcomers to the genre, this makes the music very inviting to those who may not be familiar with this type of music. Meanwhile, the whole album has a heavy melodic pulse which separates it from some metal pieces which can be flat or thin at times. The tempo is not too fast, but the music is technical and heavy, especially as you near the middle and later tracks.
In addition to the cd, there is a live dvd of Amon Amarth's Summer Breeze concert included in the package. The sound quality was fantastic, and this was a great example of an Amon Amarth show at it's best.
All and all, I am very pleased with this album, and would recommend it to metal fans, and newcomers to the genre as well. You are getting a great metal album, and a great dvd all in one affordable package. This purchase is definitely well worth it.
Rating: -
Twilight of the Thunder God
I'm fairly new to Amon Amarth and not a particularly big fan of death metal (or whichever genre they are supposedly playing), but I must admit that this album absolutely blew me away. It is right up my musical alley, as it were. The guitars are distorted in a way that reminds me of the metal of my youth 10-15 years ago, rough and tough. Not the overly distorted, too deep 'nu-metal sound' many bands seem to favour these days. The drumming is solid, with good double bass drums, and the vocals are really good. They fit the music and never become softly sung choruses, yet the lyrics are easily understood. A rare, but very welcome, mix.
This brings me on to the composition of the music. It's fast and furious, yet very melodic and creative. Nice tempo changes and very fitting solos. This is old school metal played in a modern way. Very nice. The riffs are catchy and I often find myself humming them when I wait for the lift or some such. A fate, that, up until now, only was suffered by some of Beethovens 'riffs'.
In conclusion I'd say, that this is one of the best albums of indeed any genre I've purchased for quite some time. I'm already looking forward to their next effort. Highest possible recommendation.
Rating: -
100% All Killer,No Filler
Amon Amarth are an awesome viking/melodic death metal band. I got into them when I bought "With Oden on our Side" over the summer, and I instantly loved it, and I became a fan of Amon Amarth after that. I recently picked up their brand new album "Twilight of the Thunder God" which is their seventh official release and it's the second AA album that I proudly own thus far. This is definately the best album that Amon Amarth has released thus far, and not to mention it's already one of my heavily favorite albums of 2008 as well, I just love it. This album is just simply a 100% all killer, no filler melodic death metal masterpiece that's brutal, vicious, and aggressively heavy yet beautifully melodic beyond words, I really don't know what else to say. It also features guest appearances by Children of Bodom guitarist Roope Latvala, LG Petrov of Entombed and the cello metal outfit Apocalyptica as well. Jens Bogren once again handles the production on this album, and he never fails at that. The musicians are definately in top form here. Johan Hegg's vocals are strong, monstrous and powerful throughout, and they definately pack tons of heartfelt emotion on here. Johan Soderberg and Olavi Mikkonen really shine and shred on the guitars with sharp, heavy headbanging riffs and catchy melodic leads and solos. Ted Lundstrom's bass does a nice job with following and keeping up with Johan and Olavi's guitars, and Fredrik Andersson does a fantastic, solid, all around work behind the drums, and he also does an absolute killer job with his double bass kicking as well. Every song on here is just awesome and memorable, seriously, there's not even one bad song on here. The opening song "Twilight of the Thunder God" is an excellent, catchy, fast paced headbanger that immediately gets things pumping with fast, churning riffage, relentless double bass drumming, monstrous growls, and a great chorus, and let's not forget that awesome guitar solo by Roope Latvala. This is definately my favorite song on here and the reason I got this album. The next two tracks "Free Will Sacrifice" and "Guardians of Asgaard" are both excellent catchy and heavy mid tempo monsters that both feature awesome monstrous growling choruses while "Guardians of Asgaard" features a nice, beautifully soaring melodic guitar solo by Johan Soderberg, as well as guest vocals by LG Petrov. Track four "Where Is Your God?" picks up the fast and brutal pace again with ruthless, punishing skin pounding, aggressive riffing, and catchy striking leads that will make you hum along in sheer delight. And let's not also forget both "Varyags of Miklagaard" (which is very addicting and melodic, especially during the chorus) and "Tattered Banners and Bloody Flags" which are both great epic metal classics as well. Track nine "Live for the Kill" is another awesome track that has some excellent double bass drumming and riffing, and there's also another good guitar solo as well as a beautiful, melodic cello string section by Apocalyptica to boot. The tenth track and album closer "Embrace of the Endless Ocean" is an epic, beautifully melodic closer that features great guitarwork that is just downright melodic and addicting, and a nice catchy mid tempo drum beat, and there's also a gorgeous harmony lead near the end as well. Please read on for the song ratings.
Jeremy's song ratings:
1. Twilight of the Thunder God (4:08) - 5/5
2. Free Will Sacrifice (4:08) - 5/5
3. Guardians of Asgaard (4:23) - 5/5
4. Where Is Your God? (3:11) - 5/5
5. Varyags of Miklagaard (4:18) - 5/5
6. Tattered Banners and Bloody Flags (4:30) - 5/5
7. No Fear for the Setting Sun (3:52) - 5/5
8. The Hero (4:01) - 5/5
9. Live for the Kill (4:09) - 5/5
10. Embrace of the Endless Ocean (6:44) - 5/5
Overall, if you're a fan of Amon Amarth, death metal, viking metal, melodic death metal, or if you just like anything that gets your head banging and adrenaline pumping like crazy, then "Twilight of the Thunder God" is exactly your big ticket to a true headbanging thrillride that is indeed 100% all killer, no filler. Buy this masterpiece of an album now. LONG LIVE AMON AMARTH!!
Rating: -
Same Amon Amarth
Awesome as usual. Amon Amarth has been around forever and never disappoints. They stay even more true to their Viking sort of theme in this album. Every song is centered around the Irish/Celtic tradition and battle. The sound quality seems a lot better than past albums, especially the clarity of the vocals. More great guitar solos as well. The track list seemed a little on the short side but that may be just because I enjoyed every song so much making each one seem to go by fast. IF you truly like Amon Amarth and can appreciate their content and style, then I recommend this album.
Rating: -
Wow.......
Well, like most people I had high expectations for this album after their previous album "With Oden on our Side" which was regarded by many to be their best work to date. This album blew me away. Granted it's not a dark as WOooS but it is WAY more melodic. They have really taken their songwriting to the next level. I love basically every track, though their are some that kind of stand above the rest, but all are more than worthy of many, many listens. I personally have listened to the entire disc like 50 times already, it's like crack to me it's just so damn good.
Here's some ratings for ya :)
1. Twilight of the Thunder God - 9/10 Nice track and a good choice for a single
2. Free Will Sacrifice - 10/10 Excellent track, I find the riffs really catchy along with the humming or w/e in the background. On top of that the lyrics are sweet, kind of in a similar vein to the title track of the last album
3. Guardians of Asgaard - 10/10 Catchy as hell, will have you singing along for sure. This will most likely become one of the concert faves and makes a good "theme song" for the band, much like songs such as Versus the World, etc.
4. Where is Your God - 9/10 This track kind sticks out because it doesn't have the rolling epic feel of the other tracks, just straight up pummeling and it's good.
5. Varyags of Miklagaard - 10/10 One of my favorite tracks, melodic as hell. Song is about Varangian mercenaries that served the Byzantine Empire during the Middle Ages, they were universally renowned for their skill in battle and sheer ferocity.
6. Tattered Banners and Bloody Flags - 10/10 THIS is my favorite song on the whole cd. Basically chronicles the events immediately preceding the climactic battle during Ragnarok, Loki leading the dead to fight the Aesir, Fenris breaking free of his bonds, Surtr and the giants of Muspelheim riding over the Bifrost bridge and engulfing the middle world (midgaard) in flames, etc. Would have really been nice if they actually including the battle in the lyrics but maybe they're saving that for a future song ;)
7. No Fear for the Setting Sun - 9/10 This song really gets my blood pumping hehe, has a nice somewhat fast tempo and the chorus is memorable. The solo is pretty decent as well.
8. The Hero - 9/10 Another quality track, not much to really say about this one, basically about a mercenary wondering why people actually care for him as he lay dying from trying to defend them.
9. Live for the Kill - 10/10 Awesome track comparing warriors to wolves basically and the cello bit near the end really adds a nice touch. Another nice solo in this song as well.
10. Embrace of the Endless Ocean - 10/10 Second favorite song on the disc, will go down as one of their best songs. This is by far the best track to close the album with.
In summary this album is nothing short of a masterpiece, while some may like WOooS better for it's darker atmosphere, I see this as their capstone album or the "album of their career". If they keep pushing quality stuff like this they are going to cement their place as one of the best metal bands of all time.
