Written by:	Pitwulf93
Published:	December 04, 2013
Event:	Amon Amarth: European Tour 2013 (Website)
Location:	013, Tilburg, The Netherlands

Let me start by telling you this was a sold-out show and I feel sorry (not really) for the people who didn't get their tickets on time. Walking to the venue is, as always, a sight to behold, as metalheads across the country come out of hiding and fill the streets (and McDonalds) of Tilburg.

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The first band to play was Hell. While I had given them a listen before I wasn't quite convinced at the time. A few hours before the show, I came across a live performance of Hell in my Facebook feed where the singer David Bower performed on stage as the devil complete with horns, ram legs and spark shooting tridents, so I was very curious as to what they would do this time.

While there was no wailing devil this time (but on the contrary more of a Jesus figure), Hell sure put up a fantastic show with a creepy look to their set and each band member wore corpse-ish paint. Especially Mister Bower delivering an enthusiastic and very entertaining act with things like eccentric hand gestures, eerily staring and pointing at particular members of the audience, jumping off the stage to exorcise members of the audience and whipping himself.

Technically everyone sounded good with no noticeable mistakes. Bower has a huge vocal range and hit some extremely high notes with a lot of power. Guitarist Kevin Bower (I assume they are brothers?) plays both the keys and guitar and transitioned between them nicely. Andy Sneap (who just got a haircut apparently or that wasn't Sneap up there!) also played very well, although he was a lot more static than the rest and had a louder guitar sound than Bower (Kevin).

It was a shame that the venue wasn't packed yet and that the audience still needed to drink a few more beers before they could enter party mode, but for me Hell were one of the most entertaining bands I have ever seen (and heard) and showcased what entertainment during a live performance really is!

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Next up was Carcass, and this also was a band that I didn't care too much about. I knew who they were and that they are considered too be one of the pioneers of death metal but I never found their sound very interesting. (Don't hate on me!)

Nevertheless, they delivered a good show and it was obvious that a large percentage of the audience (at this point the venue was quite packed and stayed that way until the end of the night) came for Carcass as during the very first song a large mosh-pit broke out and stayed that way during the rest of their performance.

For me Carcass was a bit too static on stage with the exception of guitarist Bill Steer who was visibly enjoying himself. What really grabbed my attention during their performance though were the penises. And before you get the wrong idea, I mean the STD infested penises shown via projectors on screens and later on filmed human autopsies. I assume this is usual business at a Carcass show as most of the audience seemed unmoved by it (although I predict the 9 year old kid and his dad behind me were in for a treat!), but it was my first time seeing them and it was quite a shocker, which is good!

They played a good balance of old material and material off their newest album Surgical Steel. Technically they sounded spot on and the volume was good.

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And then it was time for the headlining act: Amon Amarth. From the moment they got on stage, you could tell people were absolutely stoked to finally see them. The two supporting bands seemed to do their job very nicely at warming up the audience because everyone went berserk during Amon Amarth. The roar from the audience the nice folks from Amon Amarth received after their opening song "Father Of The Wolf" was enormous.

"Hey, hey, hey" chants were plentiful and loud as hell. Everyone on stage seemed very into the performance and vocalist Johan Hegg looked like one happy Viking! He was also great at hyping up the audience.

Their stage-drop changed a few times during the show starting with the Deceiver Of The Gods background, to two glowing rune stones coming on stage for "Runes To My Memory", a switch to the Surtur Rising background for "The Last Stand Of Frej" and a battle scene for the encore. Their lighting was particularly well done so that in songs such as "Death In Fire" it really looked like you were being engulfed by flames.

They played a lot of material of their newest album Deceiver Of The Gods which I really enjoyed as I find it to be a fantastic album. They also played all of their classics, ending with "War Of The Gods" and an encore of "Twilight Of The Thunder God" and the mighty "The Pursuit Of Vikings". Apparently Tilburg loves to sing as the audience was seriously rivaling the volume of the band during the mighty chorus of "The Pursuit Of Vikings".

I was surprised they didn't play "We Shall Destroy" though as it is for me one of their strongest songs ever and would be even more epic live. I also missed some of my personal favorites such as "Victorious March", "Friends Of The Suncross", "Where Silent Gods Stand Guard" and "Asator", but I really can't complain.

Technically everyone played very well and I couldn't hear any mistakes. When I watch live shows of Amon Amarth on YouTube, I find that the guitarists are often quite sloppy, but this was not the case that time around. Hegg, as all vocalists, can have his bad days, but today he sounded as brutal as he does on the albums. The sound was well done so that every instrument was audible and sounded good.

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So to sum it all up it was a great evening with a surprising treat from Hell, a solid (and a little shocking) act from Carcass and a brilliant performance from Amon Amarth. It was one of the best live shows I have been to so far and I would do it all over again if I could!

Pictures taken by my girlfriend Sandra (Sinfonia).