Amon Amarth We Rule The Waves Single Review

Amon Amarth has been one of my favorite bands for close to two decades. For a number of those years, they stood alone, perched atop of Yggdrasil with Vedrfolnir and the eagle as my favorite. Quite frankly, most of their discography is untouchable and when you really look back at their debut album, ‘Once Sent From the Golden Hall’, you would be hard pressed not to agree that it’s one of the best death metal releases of the 90’s. But if I’m being honest with myself, ‘Versus the World’ is my favorite. 

It wasn’t until 2016 when they released ‘Jomsviking’ that I started to lose interest. Sure, it’s got some good material on it, but I didn’t really connect with it the way I had with everything previously. Interestingly enough, this was the first release without longtime drummer (and my favorite member) Fredrik Andersson. Unfortunately, my mindset didn’t change with either the release of ‘Berserker’ or ‘The Great Heathen Army’. Although I will say ‘Berserker’ is my preferred listen of the three. It just started to feel too gimmicky, and everything began to feel and sound the same.

About a week ago, I saw a trailer for the band’s latest offering - “We Rule the Waves”. As I tried to keep my expectations in check, I hastily grabbed my axe and shield in preparation. I’ve listened to it several times and the drumming reminds me more and more of ‘With Oden on Our Side’, which I am incredibly pleased with. If more of the album has this influence, it could be a return to form. This is where I must pump the brakes a little, because the song overall feels very mid to me. It’s good, not great; however, there is enough promise that I’m excited to see where the band goes from here.

~TJ