amon amarth live

Tonight’s gig was a bit of a mixture of emotions really. Having been in Manchester from early evening there was a definite party vibe around the city, with many people dressed up for Halloween and yet there was an undeniable undercurrent of sadness at the gig itself because, of course, original opening band for this tour, Evile, had been forced to drop out after a few days after the tragic death of their bassplayer Mike Alexander.

Due to this sad event Swedish death metal veterans Entombed have their set extended and pay tribute to Mike not by asking for a minute’s silence but by asking for a minute’s noise instead. Anyone who has ever seen Entombed live will bear testament to the band’s sheer energy, particularly that of frontman LG who seems to be in perpetual motion throughout tonight’s set. Entombed have always been that oddest of bands in that they’re musically very tight and yet play with a loose groove that makes songs like Demon, When in Sodom and the all-time classic Left Hand Path just about impossible not to bang your head to and it’s this sense of groove, allied to LGs energy and enthusiasm that sees the band win over most of the crowd here tonight.

It’s been interesting to watch the growth of Amon Amarth from when I first saw them play to a fairly small but enthusiastic crowd in the blazing sunshine of an early afternoon at Wacken in 2002 and then again to a largely disinterested crowd at Koko in London as one of the early bands on the “X-Mass fest” package tour the year after to now where they’re headlining (and selling out) the venues that they supported Dimmu Borgir in a little over two years ago. The fact that they’ve managed to attain this success on their own terms without massively altering their trademark sound makes this rise all the more impressive.

Tonight the band are as tight as I’ve ever seen them and Johan Hegg has turned into the consummate frontman, leading from the front as always with a massive grin on his face as he sees the crowd headbanging and singing along to every word. Playing a set mostly based around the band’s last few albums it would be churlish to complain about early albums The Crusher and The Avenger being ignored once again when songs like Runes to My Memory, Guardians of Asgaard and Fate of Norns (dedicated to Mike Alexander) go down so well with the assembled masses. After 90 minutes or so of solid headbanging everyone leaves the venue tired, sweaty, probably bruised but very definitely with a massive grin on their face with the sound of Pursuit of Vikings ringing in their ears and it’s time for Amon Amarth to go and pillage somewhere else (well, I had to get one Viking cliché in here didn’t I!).

by Neil Woodfin