Look for longships on the horizon, as Viking death metallers Amon Amarth have released the first track from their upcoming new album, Berserker.
It's hard to think of a Viking metal band more exciting and hardcore than Swedish death metallers Amon Amarth. So fans of all things Nordic and axe-based will be stoked to hear that the band have announced a new album, and have dropped the first single.
The album, titled Berserker, will come out on May 7th via Metal Blade Records. The first single, Raven's Flight, is a wily, charging track that's pure Amon Amarth. Listen below and raise your drinking horn:
If that didn't get you ready to die in battle, check out the cover art of Berserker below, which is quite possibly the coolest thing you'll see all day:
Discussing the Vikings with us, AA frontman Johan Hegg described the common misconceptions most people have about the Northmen, saying, "Firstly, Vikings did not have horns on their helmets. In fact we don’t really know much about what the Viking helmets looked like because they’ve only found three as far as I know. They were probably hand-made and there were probably different versions but none of the depictions from the time have them wearing horns. That’s a turn of the 19th century thing.
“The second misconception is that they were murderous, plundering hordes. They did do that, but probably not more than other people of the time did when they went to war. They just had different tactics and were very good at fighting. And of course, the travels and the battles and the bloodshed are the parts that really work well in metal lyrics.
“The third thing people think of with Vikings is that they’re dirty, smelly brutes. But Vikings were actually known for keeping very good hygiene. And they would wash at least once a week.”
Look out for Berseker this May.
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