Amon Amarth’s Deceiver of the Gods is Incredibly Entertaining, if Not Especially Groundbreaking
“Behold! The mountains shake with my call! The new Amon Amarth album is the truest of Northern cacophonies, the height of all things heavy and epic. May Loki writhe in his prison as these Swedish Viking warriors reign supreme. Let us cut off our huge dicks, push them out to sea, and fire upon them with flaming arrows!”
I wish I could write something along these lines about Amon Amarth’s new album, Deceiver of the Gods. I wish it was a flawless collection of crushing paeans to the Poetic Edda, and that I was the kind of Norse-obsessed believer in what the band does to give them unadulterated praise. Sadly, however, this is not the case. The music present on Amon Amarth’s ninth studio album is by no means bad—in fact, it is often incredibly entertaining, which is the band’s great strength in opposition to its peers—but it’s not especially groundbreaking, either. From start to finish, Deceiver is a record of easily swallowed melodic death metal songs that, though, fun, often feel interchangeable.
Obviously, Amon Amarth frontman Johan Hegg is killing it with his full, throat growl—as always. In fact, that’s the problem. Hegg’s delivery is the same as it has always been, to the point where one has heard these lyrics and vocal rhythms before. That said, what is somewhat off-putting about the album’s production is the guitar sound. There is a lushness to the guitar sound on Deceiver that too often feels like a blunted blade, as opposed to the razor’s edge present on classics like Versus The World and Twilight of the Thunder God; the whole album feels reminiscent of post-Wages of Sin Arch Enemy. The trundling riffs and melodic leads that ax-men Johan Soderberg and Olavi Mikkonen pack through the album definitely fit in with those of the band’s previous releases—it is definitely more the production than the writing that is the problem here—but overall, they feel slightly ineffective.
The album kicks off with a title track with a catchy riff and a big chorus, though followers “As Loke Falls” and “Father of the Wolf” are definitely superior tracks. “Shape Shifter” feels uninspired, while “Under Seige” has a nice marching beat to it that goes on just a little too long. “Blood Eagle” is one of the fiercer tracks on the record, while “We Shall Destroy” brings a very old-school blackened atmosphere to Deceiver, channeling Amon Amarth’s best mid-paced tracks throughout the ages. “Hel” is enjoyable enough with its Middle Eastern-esque interludes, though I could do without Candlemass’ Messiah Marcolin soaring along on the chorus. “Coming of the Tide” is an awesome sped-up Viking metal song, and though closer “Warriors of the North” is at times a bit tedious, its epic length and guitar lines make it worth the listen.
Re-reading this review, one notices several qualifiers regarding slightness—‘somewhat’, ‘a bit’, ‘a little too long’. This is appropriate, because Amon Amarth can really do nothing that bad. There will never be a terrible Amon Amarth album, because the band will always be performing mid-paced melodic death metal about Norse mythology that’s pretty listenable and can have a drinking horn raised to it. If you’re into that, then sure, grab Deceiver of the Gods, they talk about wolves and Freya and shit in there. But for those of us more concerned with Amon Amarth’s musical aggression than their subject matter, this album is merely adequate.
Amon Amarth’s Deceiver of the Gods is out now on Metal Blade. Stream the track “Father of the Wolf” here and purchase it here.
