Amon Amarth need no introduction. Since the mid-1990s, the Swedish band have built an empire on a simple but unstoppable idea: to sing of Vikings, their gods and their battles over a melodic death metal designed to raise crowds. The Great Heathen Army, a twelfth album, pursues this conquest without deviating an inch from the marked path that made its fortune.
The critics, rather favourable (a 78 average across nine reviews), hail the fearsome efficiency of a now perfectly drilled formula. The martial riffs, the heroic harmonies, Johan Hegg’s cavernous growl and those choruses built to be chanted with a raised fist are present. Praise goes to a handful of unstoppable tracks, cut for the band’s immense stage machine.
Musically, the record fully embraces its classicism. Amon Amarth seek neither subtlety nor nuance: they aim for impact, the epic, the frontal charge. The colossal production turns each title into a stadium anthem, each chorus into a call to combat. This is a metal of spectacle, generous and without ulterior motive, that knows its audience perfectly.
But this fidelity to the canon has its reverse. By dint of reproducing the same recipe album after album, Amon Amarth lapse into a predictability that ends up dulling the enthusiasm. The Great Heathen Army holds no surprise, and the demanding listener will regret the absence of risk-taking. The band repeat themselves, with panache, but repeat themselves.
Verdict: 7.5/10. A robust, rallying record cut for the stage and for the faithful. Effective to the point of routine, but impossible to fault for sincerity.
