Swedish melodic death metallers AMON AMARTH have just released their twelfth studio album, "The Great Heathen Army", via Metal Blade Records. The official music video for track "Find A Way Or Make One" can be seen here.
AMON AMARTH states: "Heathens! The time is here for the arrival of 'The Great Heathen Army'! This record has many elements that make up AMON AMARTH in 2022, from the dark and brutal death metal of 'Oden Owns You All' to the sing-along of 'Heidrun' to Biff Byford's amazing guest vocals on 'Saxons And Vikings' and much more. We're ready to take this record around the world for a two year raid and we'll see you soon at the shows."
Elaborating on the video for "Find A Way Or Make One", the band says: "We did this video with director Mikis Fontagnier in Frankfurt, Germany and with it we wanted to try something different. This video is our take on the style of some of our favorite videos we grew up on as kids, like TWISTED SISTER's 'We're Not Gonna Take It' and MOTÖRHEAD's 'Killed By Death'. We had some fun making this and it was definitely fun to smash up a stale old business office!"
In a unique partnership with Drops AR, AMON AMARTH has hidden five virtual trading cards in an augmented reality scavenger hunt. Each card represents a band member and contains an exclusive song preview from the new album.
The hunt takes place in WebAR, meaning no app needs to be downloaded and anyone can participate. Head here for the scavenger hunt, where fans will also have the chance to enter to win an exclusive package that includes an AMON AMARTH box set, a blood red marbled vinyl and a music cassette.
Speaking to the "Fantasm" podcast about the writing and recording process for "The Great Heathen Army", AMON AMARTH guitarist Olavi Mikkonen said: "We really didn't plan to make an album. We kind of felt we have to. But whenever we started writing, it was just like a normal [writing session] for us. And then we recorded in England — we recorded with Andy Sneap. Obviously, there were still some pandemic issues, but it didn't really affect… He has a studio on a farm, and we all lived on the farm as well. So we kind of isolated ourselves there. 'Cause we didn't really want to have the virus there. If somebody gets it, we have to postpone the recording for a month or whatever. So we kind of stuck to ourselves. And that was kind of cool, 'cause that's really creative."
Olavi went on to say that Sneap "did a monster job" on "The Great Heathen Army". "He kind of worked around the clock," he said. "'Cause we all took different turns [recording]. I'm a morning [person]. I did the morning shifts, so to say, and then Ted [Lundström, bass] or Johan Söderberg [guitar] did the day shift. And in the evening Johan Hegg [vocals] was singing. Yeah, it was really cool."
Elaborating on AMON AMARTH's working relationship with Sneap, Mikkonen said: "What really helps is that we really like him as a person, and he really likes us too. And he actually likes our band too. He's not really into death metal stuff usually, but for some reason he really likes us. And that makes a huge difference. When you honestly like something… Obviously, with money you can buy whatever producer you want, but if you really do it because you actually believe it, it's a huge difference. And that's the amazing thing with Andy. But also he's an amazing engineer and producer when it comes to sounds. He knows everything with amps or pedals or whatever — he's just amazing in that. But also he's a great musician himself. So that really helps too."
This past February, AMON AMARTH released a standalone single, "Put Your Back Into The Oar", an ode to the epic Viking row. The track was recorded and mixed in January 2021 at Fascination Street Studios in Sweden with producer Jens Bogren and was made available via the band's own label Victorious Music.
The "Put Your Back Into The Oar" video was shot in England over three days in October 2021. The atmospheric, cinematic clip was produced by Twin V and directed by Ryan MackFall at Crashburn Media.
AMON AMARTH will team up with MACHINE HEAD for the "Vikings And Lionhearts" co-headlining European arena tour in September and October. A North American tour with CARCASS, OBITUARY and CATTLE DECAPITATION will follow in November and December.
AMON AMARTH's last album, "Berserker", was released in May 2019 via Metal Blade Records. The disc was recorded at Sphere Studios in North Hollywood, California with producer Jay Ruston, who has previously worked with ANTHRAX, STEEL PANTHER, URIAH HEEP and STONE SOUR.
(Source: www.blabbermouth.net)