Amon Amarth



"''Thor! Oden's son

Protector of mankind

Ride to meet your fate

Your destiny awaits

Thor! Hlódyn's son

Protector of mankind

Ride to meet your fate

Ragnarok awaits''"

- Twilight of the Thunder God

Amon Amarth is a Swedish Melodic Death Metal band from Tumba, founded in 1988, and is named after the Elvish name for Mount Doom, a location in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. They're known for a very dark sound with imagery taken largely from vikings and Norse Mythology.

The band comprises vocalist Johan Hegg, guitarists Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Söderberg, bassist Ted Lundström and drummer Fredrik Andersson. Amon Amarth has released seven studio albums, one EP, one DVD, and six music videos.

Albums:
 * Once Sent from the Golden Hall (1998)
 * The Avenger (1999)
 * The Crusher (2001)
 * Versus the World (2002)
 * Fate of Norns (2004)
 * With Oden on Our Side (2006)
 * Twilight of the Thunder God (2008)
 * Surtur Rising (2011)

Valhall awaits me...

Their music contains examples of:
"THOR! Odin's son! Protector of mankind! Ride to meet your fate! YOUR DESTINY AWAITS!
 * Aerith and Bob: The group's lineup consists of Johan, Johan, Olvai, Fredrik, and Ted.
 * A Good Name for a Rock Band: Their name is a reference to The Lord of the Rings, although most of their songs are about vikings and stuff rather than Tolkien-influenced Heavy Mithril.
 * All Myths Are True
 * Apocalypse Wow: Many songs depict Ragnarok or allude to it, such as Tattered Banners and Bloody Flags, and half the songs of the Surtur Rising album.
 * Attack! Attack! Attack!: This is an actual line.
 * If anyone is wondering, that's from the song "Cry Of The Black Birds", at least. Wouldn't be a surprise if it's also somewhere else.
 * Ax Crazy: "Valhall Awaits Me" pretty much sounds this way.
 * Badass Beard: Johan Hegg. They even have a contest for the most badass beard for the Surtur Rising release.
 * Badass Long Hair
 * The Berserker: "Valhall Awaits Me".
 * Big Badass Battle Sequence: Quite a few, of course. "An Ancient Sign of Coming Storm" is only this.
 * Big Badass Wolves: "Live for the Kill."
 * And the Big Badass Wolf named Fenrir features in "A Beast Am I".
 * Big Damn Heroes: Thor.
 * Blood Knight: A lot of characters in their songs.
 * Bragging Theme Tune: Twilight of the Thunder God.

THOR! Frigga's son! Protector of mankind! Ride to meet your fate! THE RAGNAROK AWAITS!"

"Johan Hegg: "This is a song about being a Viking! It's called The Pursuit of Vikings!""
 * "Asator" as well.
 * "Cause we are! We're the guardians! GUARDIANS OF ASGAARD!"
 * Captain Obvious:


 * Concept Album: Once Sent from the Golden Hall seems to tell a story about five Viking warriors who invade a Christian country and Rape, Pillage and Burn everything in sight in order to get revenge for the death of the son of one of them.
 * Conservation of Ninjutsu: "Versus the World".
 * Cool Horse: Sleipnir, featuring in "Hermod's Ride To Hel / Loke's Treachery Part I", and on the cover art of With Oden On Our Side.
 * Creator Thumbprint: How many songs about dying in battle are there?
 * Dawn Attack: "An Ancient Sign Of Coming Storm".
 * Decisive Battle: Every fight referenced that belongs to Ragnarok. The War to End All Wars, indeed.
 * Did Not Do the Research: A lot of fans believe that the acoustic section at the end of "A Beast Am I" is its outro. Actually, if one looks at the song times in the box, you'll probably notice that song is just about 3 minutes and a half long and the acoustic part is actually the intro for "Doom Over Dead Man".
 * Disproportionate Retribution: The plot of Once Sent from the Golden Hall. One guy's son dies, so he and his friends go to the homeland of the ones responsible and kill the men, rape the women, and burn down the towns.
 * Downer Ending: "Embrace of the Endless Ocean" is about someone who was Made a Slave but managed to regain his freedom and is sailing back to his homeland. The title should give you a clue as to what happens.
 * Also "The Last Stand of Frej", "Doom Over Dead Man", "The Fate of Norns".
 * Earth Is a Battlefield: Their songs pretty much would have you believe this.
 * Evil Is Burning Hot: Destroyer of the Universe, which is about Surtur.
 * Fighting For a Homeland: "Varyags of Miklagaard".
 * Gotterdammerung: All over their discography. Half the songs talk about Norse characters and their eventual fate in the Ragnarök event, and the other half probably references it in some way anyway.
 * Glory Seeker: Quite a few songs.
 * Grim Up North
 * Harsh Vocals
 * Heavy Mithril
 * Hired Axes, Spears and Swords: "Varyags of Miklagaard".
 * Hold the Line: Free Will Sacrifice, and Guardians of Asgaard are some examples.
 * Horny Vikings
 * Hulk Speak
 * I'm a Humanitarian: The protagonist of "Where Silent Gods Stand Guard".
 * I Like Those Odds: A line in "Free Will Sacrifice."
 * "Versus the World" and "With Oden On Our Side" (songs, not albums) pretty much deal with this as well.
 * Insistent Terminology: The band strongly resents being referred to as "Viking metal", and prefers to be thought of as a death metal band that happens to sing about Vikings a lot.
 * Istanbul: Warriors serving it feature in "Varyags of Miklagaard".
 * The Last Dance: "No Fear for the Setting Sun."
 * Last Stand: Lots of songs.
 * Leave No Survivors: Usually, throughout their songs.
 * Limited Special Collectors Ultimate Edition: Most of the group's albums include a bonus disc which may include demos, live tracks, or full concert DVDs lengthier than the actual album.
 * Lonely At the Top: Doom Over Dead Man.
 * Manly Tears: Fate of Norns.
 * Martyrdom Culture: It certainly has a big influence in their songs (check "Live Without Regrets"), what with the dying in battle or nothing thing, as the title of "For Victory or Death" puts it.
 * Melodic Death Metal
 * Metal Scream
 * Mohs Scale of Rock and Metal Hardness: Their songs range from 8 to 10.
 * Not Afraid to Die: "Without Fear", "Live Without Regrets", "The Last Stand of Frej", "Death in Fire", "The Pursuit of Vikings".. The list goes on and on.
 * Numbered Sequel: The saga Loke's Treachery, so far, features songs "Hermod's Ride To Hel / Loke's Treachery Part I" and "Tock's Taunt / Loke's Treachery Part II", and the myth is far from over yet.
 * Onrushing Army: "An Ancient Sign of Coming Storm", even if it happens in the sea.
 * Orphean Rescue: "Hermod's Ride To Hel / Loke's Treachery Part I", where the guy-to-be-rescued is Baldr.
 * POV Sequel: "Abandoned" is from the perspective of a man killed by the protagonists of the Once Sent from the Golden Hall album.
 * The songs "Destroyer of the Universe" and "The Last Stand of Frej" from Surtur Rising both deal with the final battle between Surtur and Freyr, the former from Surtur's perspective and the latter from Freyr's.
 * Professional Killer: The Hero, which is about a mercenary rejecting the notion that he is anything more than an evil man.
 * Punctuated for Emphasis: "TWILIGHT! OF! THE THUN! DER! GOD!"; though for certain not their only example.
 * The one shown above as well: "Sword! in! my! Hand! Axe! on my! Side! Val-hall a-waits! Soon! I will die!".
 * Rain of Arrows: Happens in "An Ancient Sign Of Coming Storm".
 * Rape, Pillage and Burn: "Gods of War Arise", among others. Not exactly surprising, with the whole Viking theme.
 * Rated "M" for Manly
 * Red Oni, Blue Oni: the songs "Destroyer of the Universe" and "The Last Stand of Frej" feature mortal enemies Surtur and Frej's points of view against their battle. The mood for Surtur's fiery red apocalypse is a fast and brutal track, while Frej's Blue Blood martyr POV makes a melancholic and almost angsty song. Both are AWESOME.
 * Religion Rant Song: "Slaves Of Fear".
 * Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After the attack to his Doomed Hometown in the song "Arson", the protagonist goes into one of this for the song "Once Sealed in Blood".
 * Screaming Warrior: A big deal is made about battle cries in many songs.
 * Self-Destructive Charge: "The Last Stand of Frej".
 * Signature Song: would probably be "The Pursuit Of Vikings", "Death In Fire" or "Twilight Of The Thunder God".
 * The Spartan Way: Or rather the "norse" way, on "Live Without Regrets".
 * Spell My Name with an "S": They use some of the less common spellings for the names of Norse gods, such as Oden for Odin and Loke for Loki. These are spellings more commonly found in Swedish, although technically there are multiple possible spellings for their names, depending on both the method of translation and the original language.
 * Stand Your Ground: All the time.
 * Suicide Mission: "The Last Stand of Frej", what with fighting the flaming-sword-wielding giant who started The End of the World as We Know It.
 * To Hell and Back: Hermod's Ride to Hel / Loke's Treachery Part I.
 * Twist Ending: "The Beheading Of A King". The titular king is captured by vikings,
 * Villain Protagonist: The POV character of the rather misleadingly-named "The Hero" basically sings about how evil he is.
 * Villain Song: A Beast am I, Destroyer of the Universe, and Tock's Taunt / Loke's Treachery Part II.
 * War Is Glorious: And how! Pretty much no song features fear towards it.
 * Wild Hair
 * Where Is Your God?: "...does he hear your prayers? Does he even care for you? His silence speaks loud and clear!"
 * You Shall Not Pass: "Guardians of Asgaard".

...when I'm dead!