Amon Amarth

Sweden Rock Festival - 2009

Text: Tobias Nilsson Photo: Lunah Lauridsen

The band to start of our time here at Sweden Rock Festival 2009 was very fittingly the Swedish deathgods of Amon Amarth.
For those of you who follow our work on a regular basis it will come as no surprise that we here at Metalmoments have a very hard time giving these men bad reviews; and this time was no exception.

Amon Amarth came out strong as they opened their set with Twilight Of The Thunder God, and the men were really put up to deliver greatness, you could see it in their eyes.
Sadly, as our photographer Lunah Lauridsen had gone a.w.o.l. a couple of hours before, yours truly was in a lesser state of panic as I now not only had to take notes and enjoy the show, but also handle the camera; a machine far beyond my comprehension. Luckily, Lunah re-appeared out of the mosh gathered in front of the stage shortly after, and assumed her rightful position behind the lens. Luckily, as there would have been no photos to go with this review otherwise!

But back to the show.
As I mentioned, the band seemed to be all fire and flames about playing the festival, and so was the stage as they had brought along quite a nice stash of pyrotechnics. This was used to some extent in the first song, and we also got a display of gigantic sparklers in Victorious March later in the set.

On the hill before the Sweden Stage a large amount of people had gathered to pay homage to pagan gods, and Amon Amarth’s following was made extra impressive as this was only the warm-up day for the festival, a day with a more limited set of tickets. Outside the fence more people were standing rocking along to the furious music.
Inside, the people were saluting the band with high shouts, raised Viking horns and loud bursts of clapping between songs, and you could tell the band was feeding off of this energy, giving them even more power in the show. Especially Olavi Mikkonen, who is normally more of a background player, really impressed me with his presence in the show.

Among the songs I was gladly surprised to hear Live For The Kill from their latest album, and even though they had to play Apocalyptica’s guest part from a pre-recorded track it sill worked wonders with its intense feeling. Otherwise it was pretty much a standard set filled with old and new classics, perfectly fit for a festival show.

So, what can I say?
Another victory for the Vikings of Amon Amarth in my book, and I look forward to seeing them again later this year.

Setlist:

Twilight Of The Thunder God
Free Will Sacrifice
Asator
Varyags Of Miklagaard
Runes To My Memory
Thousand Years Of Oppression
Guardians Of Asgaard
Live For The Kill
Fate Of Norns
Victorious March
The Pursuit Of Vikings
Cry Of The Blackbirds
Death In Fire

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