It was almost like having a second round at Bloodshed Over Bochum when we were going to have a three day Viking marathon throughout Denmark and Sweden.
First stop on the trip was Train in the western Danish town of Aarhus, where the mighty Amon Amarth took the stage right after their fellow Swedes and death metallers Entombed.

The band had promised us a few surprises and songs not played in a while, and while I still couldn’t believe it would be more varied than said shows in Germany, it did hold true compared to the festivals we saw them at this summer. My own two favourite additions were definitely Tattered Banners And Bloody Flags from their latest album Twilight Of The Thunder God, and Where Silent Gods Stand Guard from Versus The World.
The show started a bit more traditionally however, with the title track from the latest album, but already here you could tell who it really was the Danish crowd was here to see. Horns were raised, heads were banged and when Johan Hegg asked for it during Valkyries Ride a loud and chanting Hey spread throughout the hall. The Vikings were proving their worth.
The only thing which truly struck me as curious was the fact that as they were finally playing together with Entombed, then why on Earth didn’t L.G. Petrov join in on the vocals for Guardians Of Asgaard? Whatever the reason, they had two more dates to correct the mishap, and I felt confident that this was only a one-timer, which would not be repeated (or so I hoped at least).
Still, even without this special guest the song sounded as awesome as ever, and Amon Amarth never let of the pressure for one second throughout their 16 songs long set.

In a way I suppose this could be written down as a standard Amon Amarth show when it comes down to it, but as the Vikings standard-shows in my book go above and beyond what almost all of their colleagues manages to put out there, this should in no way be seen as a bad thing, and as we left the hall after the curtains had fallen, it was a little bit drunker and a lot happier.
It should also be noted that Amon Amarth honoured their fallen comrade Mike Alexander from Evile by dedicating a very atmospheric The Fate Of Norns to his memory.

Setlist:

Twilight Of The Thunder God
Tattered Banners And Bloody Flags
Valkyries Ride
Asator
Varyags Of Miklagaard
Hermod’s Ride To Hel – Lokes Treachery Part 1
Guardians Of Asgaard
Where Silent Gods Stand Guard
Live For The Kill
The Fate Of Norns
Death In Fire
Runes To My Memory
Bastards Of A Lying Breed
Victorious March
Cry Of The Black Birds
The Pursuit Of Vikings