AMON
AMARTH
VERSUS THE WORLD
METAL BLADE
LINKS:
Among the Scandic purveyors of metal is Amon Amarth. Formed back in 1992, the Swedish quintet have just recorded their fifth studio album, Versus The World.
The
follow-up to 2001's The Crusher, Versus is not a disc that will be spun
on your local station with all tracks clocking in above four minutes.
Singer Johan Hegg growls and roars Viking mythology over an onslaught
of straight-up death metal courtesy of guitarists Olli Mikkonen and Johan
Söderberg, bassist Ted Lundström and drummer Fredrik Andersson.
Unfortunately, their direct approach to the music lent little to creativity. After a solid, powerful start with "Death In Fire" and the ever-so-happily-named "For The Stabwounds In Our Backs", Versus begins to get a bit droll and mediocre. By the time the seven minute "... And Soon The World Will Cease To Be" comes to cap off the experience, the chugging double guitars over double bass kicks are just plain tiresome. Lundström's bass line rarely, if ever, leaves the rhythm guitar, and Hegg's growls get more and more unintelligible as the pace picks up.
All is not lost on this Metal Blade release; there are a few tracks that provide brutal bliss: "Where Silent Gods Stand Guard" stands out with a solid guitar solo as its bridge and the aforementioned "Death In Fire" impresses with guitars cascading, dueling and coming together above rolling drums. But when it comes down to it, Versus is another drop in an rapidly-growing (and diluting) pool of death metal.
Unfortunately, their direct approach to the music lent little to creativity. After a solid, powerful start with "Death In Fire" and the ever-so-happily-named "For The Stabwounds In Our Backs", Versus begins to get a bit droll and mediocre. By the time the seven minute "... And Soon The World Will Cease To Be" comes to cap off the experience, the chugging double guitars over double bass kicks are just plain tiresome. Lundström's bass line rarely, if ever, leaves the rhythm guitar, and Hegg's growls get more and more unintelligible as the pace picks up.
All is not lost on this Metal Blade release; there are a few tracks that provide brutal bliss: "Where Silent Gods Stand Guard" stands out with a solid guitar solo as its bridge and the aforementioned "Death In Fire" impresses with guitars cascading, dueling and coming together above rolling drums. But when it comes down to it, Versus is another drop in an rapidly-growing (and diluting) pool of death metal.
---- Scott Olivenbaum