Melodic death metal is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal. The genre features the heaviness of death metal but with highly melodic or harmonized guitar riffs and solos, and often features high-pitched shrieked vocals alongside the low-pitched growls commonly featured in traditional death metal. Pioneered by the English heavy metal band Carcass with their 1993 album Heartwork, melodic death metal developed further in Sweden in the mid-1990s. The Swedish death metal scene did much to popularise the style, soon centering in the "Gothenburg metal" scene. At the Gates' Slaughter of the Soul, Dark Tranquility's The Gallery, and In Flames' The Jester Race, all released in the mid-1990s, were highly influential albums in melodic death metal, with At the Gates and In Flames being the two most common influences on North American 2000s heavy metal bands. Many American heavy metal bands emulated At the Gates' sound, resulting in the usage of the phrase "At the Gates worship".
Amon Amarth is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Tumba, formed in 1992. The band takes its name from the Sindarin name of Mount Doom, a volcano in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. Their lyrics mostly deal with Viking mythology and history, and so they have been sometimes erroneously labeled "Viking metal", although the band insists they play melodic death metal.
Týr is a Faroese folk metal band. They have been characterised as one of "the islands' two most successful metal bands". Their subject matter revolves almost entirely around Viking lore, mythology, and history, taking their name from Týr, the god of war in Norse religion.
Alf Peter Tägtgren is a Swedish musician, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He is the founder, main songwriter, lead vocalist, and guitarist of death metal band Hypocrisy as well as the industrial metal band Pain in which he is the only member. He is also the owner of The Abyss recording studio and the co-founder of Lindemann, a music project between Tägtgren and Rammstein vocalist Till Lindemann. Tägtgren left Lindemann in 2020.
Once Sent from the Golden Hall is the debut full-length studio album released by the melodic death metal band Amon Amarth, released by Metal Blade Records on 10 February 1998. The album was originally limited and only 1000 copies were sold on CD and LP versions. Later the album was re-released by Metal Blade in 2005 on Picture LP with 500 hand-counted copies. A deluxe edition was released in 2009 that featured the album remastered by Jens Bogren, and a bonus CD of the original album played live in its entirety in Bochum, Germany. Martin Lopez left the band soon after the release of this album to join Swedish band Opeth, making this the only album with him on drums. Likewise, it is also the only album to feature guitarist Anders Hansson.
Fate of Norns is the fifth full-length studio album by the Swedish death metal band Amon Amarth. It was released on 6 September 2004 through Metal Blade Records. This album continued their slower, heavier sound which started on the previous album Versus the World. Before Fate of Norns was officially released by Metal Blade, promo copies were distributed with CD-ROM extras including pictures, biographies, sheets and logos. The album was released in conventional LP format as well as a limited digipak edition. The latter includes a live bonus DVD, Amon Amarth Live at Grand Rokk, which features live recordings and three-camera footage of a live performance in Reykjavík, Iceland on 5 March 2004. "The Pursuit of Vikings" was also made into a music video.
Versus the World is the fourth full-length studio album by Swedish death metal band Amon Amarth, released on 18 November 2002 by Metal Blade Records. It was also released with a bonus disc featuring the Sorrow Throughout the Nine Worlds EP as well as their two demos; Thor Arise, The Arrival of the Fimbul Winter and a German version of "Victorious March" entitled "Siegreicher Marsch" which was on Once Sent from the Golden Hall. The song "Death in Fire" was made into a music video. Versus the World was the first Amon Amarth album to showcase a more midpaced and heavy sound, unlike their earlier faster works. A deluxe edition was released in 2009 that featured the album remastered by Jens Bogren, and a bonus cd of the original album played live in its entirety in Bochum, Germany.
The Crusher is the third full-length studio album by Swedish death metal band Amon Amarth. It was released on 8 May 2001, through Metal Blade Records. The album was also released on the Double LP and Picture LP versions on 29 June 2007, which were hand-counted and limited to only 500 copies. A deluxe edition was released in 2009 that featured the album remastered by Jens Bogren, and a bonus CD of the original album played live in its entirety in Bochum, Germany.
The Avenger is the second full-length studio album by Swedish death metal band Amon Amarth, released by Metal Blade Records on 2 September 1999. It was the first Amon Amarth album with guitarist Johan Söderberg and drummer Fredrik Andersson, Thus completing the line-up that remained up until 2015, following Andersson's departure from the band. It was also released as a digipak version, containing a bonus track "Thor Arise", a re-recording of the title track from their first demo, Thor Arise. The album was also released as an LP version. Later, Metal Blade Records re-released the album in 2005 on Picture LP, limited to 500 hand-counted copies. A deluxe edition was released in 2009 that featured the album remastered by Jens Bogren, and a bonus cd of the original album played live in its entirety in Bochum, Germany.
With Oden on Our Side is the sixth full-length studio album by the Swedish death metal band Amon Amarth, and their first album to enter the Billboard charts, the Top Heatseekers and the Independent Albums chart, peaking at number 15 and number 26 respectively.
Impious is a Swedish thrash/death metal band.
Twilight of the Thunder God is the seventh studio album by the Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth. Twilight of the Thunder God was released in September 2008. The album's name and title track refer to Thor's slaying of the Midgard Serpent Jörmungandr.
This is a discography for the Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth. The band is from Stockholm and was founded in 1992. Their lyrics mostly deal with the Vikings, their mythology and their history. The band comprises vocalist Johan Hegg, guitarists Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Söderberg, bassist Ted Lundström, and drummer Jocke Wallgren. Amon Amarth has released twelve studio albums, one compilation album, one EP, one video album, and twenty two music videos.
This Ending is a Swedish melodic death metal band formed in 1991.
Surtur Rising is the eighth studio album by the Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth. It is named after the mythical giant, Surtr. The album was released on 29 March 2011. The album debuted at number 34 on the American Billboard 200 chart as well as number 19 on the Canadian album charts.
Hypnos is a Czech death metal band.
Deceiver of the Gods is the ninth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth. It was released in Sweden and Finland on 19 June 2013, and in the US on 25 June 2013. Former Candlemass singer Messiah Marcolin makes a guest appearance on the track "Hel".
Jomsviking is the tenth studio album from Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth. It was mixed and produced by Andy Sneap and released on 25 March 2016 through Metal Blade Records.
Berserker is the eleventh studio album by the Swedish death metal band Amon Amarth. It was released on 3 May 2019 through Metal Blade Records. The album was produced by Jay Ruston and marks the first album by the band to feature drummer Jocke Wallgren, who joined the band in 2016.
The Great Heathen Army is the twelfth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth. It was released on 5 August 2022, through Metal Blade Records.
