Band:	Amon Amarth
Album:	Surtur Rising
Style:	Melodic death metal
Release date:	March 23, 2011
Guest review by:	Deadmeat

Disc I [CD]
01. War Of The Gods
02. Töck's Taunt - Loke's Treachery Part II
03. Destroyer Of The Universe
04. Slaves Of Fear
05. Live Without Regrets
06. The Last Stand Of Frej
07. For Victory Or Death
08. Wrath Of The Norsemen
09. A Beast Am I
10. Doom Over Dead Man
11. War Machine [Kiss cover] [bonus]
12. Balls To The Wall [Accept cover] [bonus]
13. Aerials [System Of A Down cover] [bonus]

Disc II [limited edition DVD Bloodshed Over Bochum 2008]
01. Ride For Vengeance
02. The Dragon's Flight Across The Waves
03. Without Fear
04. Victorious March
05. Friends Of The Suncross
06. Abandoned
07. Amon Amarth
08. Once Sent From The Golden Hall
09. Bleed For Ancient Gods
10. The Last With Pagan Blood
11. North Sea Storm
12. Avenger
13. God His Son And Holy Whore
14. Metalwrath
15. Legend Of A Banished Man
16. Bastards Of A Lying Breed
17. Masters Of War
18. The Sound Of Eight Hooves
19. Risen From The Sea
20. As Long As The Raven Flies
21. A Fury Divine
22. Annihilation Of Hammerfest
23. The Fall Through Ginnungagap
24. Releasing Surtur's Fire
25. Death In Fire
26. The Stabwounds In Our Backs
27. Where Silent Gods Stand Guard
28. Versus The World
29. Across The Rainbow Bridge
30. Down The Slopes Of Death
31. Thousand Years Of Oppression
32. Bloodshed
33. And Soon The World Will Cease To Be

The kings of the Swedish melodeath scene are back! Consistent as always, they have become one of the record companies' favorite bands: nice songs, huge popularity, unique style and additionally, they publish a new album every 2 to 3 years. Only a few bands assemble all these traits and Amon Amarth is one of them. On the other hand, some experimentation would be welcomed?

Surtur Rising is the 8th full length release of the band and a very good album. It contains all the trademark elements that made them well-known: nice melodies, powerful or melancholic songs, great vocals and the traditional "Viking concept". Songs like "Destroyer Of The Universe" (very fast and powerful, with an awesome solo), "Doom Over Dead Man" (slower song that turns into a catchy hymn of despair) and "Wrath Of The Norsemen" (classic Amon Amarth song: brutal and catchy with great melodies) will surely be among your favorites (and also great songs for live shows).

However, on the contrary, Surtur Rising is a safe album and the band seems to repeat themselves. "War Of The Gods" is the best example: great song with an awesome solo, powerful as it gets but VERY COMMON. It's like we've listened to it before because its formula is similar to that of other songs. And this is surely a disadvantage for the album. Songs like "Töck's Taunt - Loke's Treachery Part II", "Live Without Regrets" and "The Last Stand Of Frej" seem to follow the same formula too: very nice songs, but common. The band is either trapped in their own identity or do they just face a lack of inspiration?

The production of the album is cleaner than ever. But is this always good? With a "dirtier" sound some songs would surely sound better. This album is deprived of the atmosphere the band used to create and this time they needed it more than they did in the previous two releases. The cover art is probably the best in the band's history and generally every aspect of the album is worked in detail.

To sum up, Surtur Rising is a very good album; one of the best melodeath releases of 2011. It may be not as awesome as the band's latest releases, but it is not bad either. It will please those who haven't listened to other albums of the band, as well as the hardcore fans. For those waiting for a new With Oden On Our Side it seems that you'll have to wait for a long time. Maybe a little break would help the band collect new ideas and write better music. They seem to need it, but it probably won't happen.