[youtube]https://youtu.be/xLh_CJ4G-0Q[/youtube]
As much as Amon Amarth don’t want to be considered Viking metal, they’re going to have to pretty much admit that’s what they are. For one, their stage for their last tour was a giant Viking ship. For another, singer Johan Hegg was cast in a film, Viking: A Northmen Saga. And then there’s the fact that their forthcoming album has been titled Jomsviking. While the band teased the single “First Kill” last week while taking on internet trolls, today they released a video for the song, as well as information about Jomsviking, their 10th album, which will be out on March 25th.
Jomsviking is a concept album about a group of mercenary Vikings. As Johan Hegg explains:
“The Jomsvikings were a shadowy and legendary sect of Viking mercenaries, as shrouded in myth now as they were when they fought across Europe and the Middle East. Ruthless and deadly warriors who fought for the highest bidder, their code was simple: Show no fear. Never retreat. Defend your brothers, and when called upon, avenge their deaths. I felt we were finally ready to use their story as the jumping off point for an Amon Amarth album. The Jomsvikings and their world is the background for the story of a young man that is in love with a girl but unfortunately she’s being married off. He accidentally kills a man when this happens and he has to flee – but he swears to have revenge and win her back. He can’t let go of the past. He feels that he’s been wronged and his life has been destroyed. The way the story evolves is not a happy story.”
The video, as produced by Grupa 13 (whose Darek Szermanowicz directed), juxtaposes the band playing along with some epic footage of Viking stuff happening in a snowy landscape. The Swedes will be touring North America with Entombed A.D. and Exmortus this Spring. You can see the tour dates below the track listing.
Jomsviking is available to preorder at the band’s web site, which is also where you can see the video. Here’s the track listing:
1. First Kill
2. Wanderer
3. On A Sea Of Blood
4. One Against All
5. Raise Your Horns
6. The Way Of Vikings
7. At Dawn‘s First Light
8. One Thousand Burning Arrows
9. Vengeance Is My Name (bonus track – for digibook, digital, LP, and viking ship editions)
10. A Dream That Cannot Be (Featuring Doro Pesch)
11. Back On Northern Shores
4/07 San Diego, CA @ House of Blues
4/08 Phoenix, AZ @ The Pressroom
4/09 El Paso, TX @ Tricky Falls
4/10 Albuquerque, NM @ Sunshine Theater
4/12 Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
4/13 San Antonio, TX @ The Aztec Theater
4/15 Houston, TX @ House of Blues
4/16 New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
4/17 Atlanta, GA @ Tabernacle
4/18 Tampa, FL @ The Ritz
4/20 Charlotte, NC @The Fillmore
4/21 Silver Spring, MD @ The Fillmore
4/22 New York, NY @ Best Buy Theatre
4/23 Boston, MA @ House of Blues
4/25 Rochester, NY @ Water Street Music Hall
4/26 Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground
4/28 Quebec City, QC @ Imperial
4/29 Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
4/30 Toronto, ON @ The Danforth
5/01 Cleveland, OH @ House of Blues
5/02 Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews
5/04 St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
5/05 Chicago, IL @ The Riviera Theatre
5/06 Lawrence, KS @ The Granada Theater
5/07 Denver, CO @ The Ogden Theater
5/09 Omaha, NE @ Sokol Auditorium
5/10 Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater
5/12 Winnipeg, MB @ The Garrick
5/13 Saskatoon, SK @ O’Brian’s Event Centre
5/14 Calgary, AB @ MacEwan Ballroom
5/16 Vancouver, BC @ The Commodore
5/17 Seattle, WA @ Showbox Market
5/18 Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
5/20 San Francisco, CA @ The Warfield
5/21 Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern Theater
