Just nigh of a month, it's been two years to the date since this Swedish viking ship drew up on the shores of Copenhagen. This time, they took landfall in Amager Bio, a hall renowned for greeting raiders of their kind with open arms. Their shipmates from Finland, Insomnium, had already tasted the hospitality, and now it was time for Amon Amarth to raise a horn or more.

“God aften Danmark! God aften København! Hvordan har I det i aften? Dejligt at være tilbage i dette fantastiske land!”
- Johan Hegg (vocals)

That the band’s several visits had had an impact on the frontman was easy to hear in his joyful greeting in, if not flawless, then at least as good a Danish as any Swede just visiting could hope to achieve. He kept up with Danish for much of the evening, either speaking solely in it or mixing some words in while either speaking Swedish or English. Starting out this way did have a profound effect on the native audience, of course, and the band got loud cheers in response to their coming.
The show itself kicked off with Raven’s Flight, having of course the dramatic intro used as an intro for the band, and then having them come alive on the guitar part. The band was clearly pumped and eager to get going, but what struck me the most was how strong and vital Hegg's vocals sounded - it was a truly impressive roar! Hegg was also jumping on the spot, an activity that would fit right in for a hardcore band, but seemed a little out of place with viking death metal - also, the way the drinking horn attached to his belt swung wildly around during this activity looked quite silly, I'm sorry to say. Oh well.

There was plenty in the performance and the show that went much better with an Amon Amarth show however, like the couple of times they had people in viking gear on stage, either swinging their tattered banners and bloody flags, or creating a shield wall for the band. This latter activity could have been helpful when Loki attacked Hegg, but at that time he was on his own. He managed just fine to fight off the trickster god however, and the show could continue without delay.
It wasn't all just for show either, the crowd had to put in some work as well to keep this great heathen army in motion. I for one have never been impressed by this new trend of everyone sitting on the floor and pretending to row, but regardless of how insanely out of rhythm everyone was with each other, they still looked like they had a lot of fun doing it, and I'll concede that when it has to be done, a song like Put Your Back Into The Oar is about as good a choice for it as one can find. It makes a whole lot more sense than some other songs I've seen this happen to.

“For helvede, that's fucking loud! We love that!”
- Hegg (vocals)

Now, singing is an activity I can get behind, and so could the rest of the crowd, judging by the amount of it that was done throughout the evening. The Pursuit Of Vikings saw its now classic “hey heyhey”, Heidrun got a loud response in the Q&A chorus, there was a “brothers” against “sisters” shouting contest that ended in an all together “vikings”, and the way Copenhagen sang along to the guitar melody in Deceiver Of The Gods gave Hegg goosebumps! Oh yeah, and the drinking song above all else, Raise Your Horns, had the whole place singing along to the chorus, no surprise there.

Despite having the same issue as Insomnium with only little space on the stage to move about on because of the huge helmet decoration, the band members managed to deliver a very lively show that felt present and playful instead of rehearsed and tired, something that was accentuated by how many times the managed to walk straight into their own smoke cannons as they went off.
In the solo for War Of The Gods, I also noticed Olavi Mikkonen throwing a guitar pick from one side of the stage, for Johan Söderberg to grab on the other side while playing. He missed it, but the attempt was appreciated, and a trick I've never seen anyone attempt before.

If you've been to an Amon Amarth show in the latter many years you pretty much know what to expect - a mixed setlist of well worn classics and a few new tracks, stunts and high production value - and tonight was now exception. Still, the fact that the band managed to present all this without it feeling like another day at the office is highly commendable, and we really got some bang for our bucks! These Swedish Vikings might be pointing their longship home after this successful raid, but I'm sure they'll always be remembered with joy rather than fear on our coast, and when they do decide to return, they'll be warmly welcomed rather than fought off.
Let's just hope that when they do, they come back to their senses and put Death In Fire back on the setlist. Please and thank you.

Setlist:

Raven’s Flight
Guardians Of Asgaard
The Pursuit Of Vikings
Deceiver Of The Gods
As Loke Falls
Tattered Banners And Bloody Flags
Heidrun
War Of The Gods
Put Your Back Into The Oar
The Way Of Vikings
Under The Northern Star
First Kill
Shield Wall
Raise Your Horns
Crack The Sky
Twilight Of The Thunder God