Amon Amarth have proven many times that they can easily make a fantastic metal album. That is only solidified when listening to their new album, Jomsviking.
The album itself is almost flawless. It starts off fast, strong, and heavy with the song First Kill. About a young man who falls in love with a woman who is being forced to be married off. He accidentally kills a man and has to flee. The album then proceeds to take you on a vast journey, through cold battles and harsh weather, following the story of the young man as he makes his way through the world.
The album is musicianship at its best. Everything is mixed and produced almost perfectly. The bass can be slightly hard to hear at times, but it doesn’t take away from the music.
There aren’t many solos, and when there are, they aren’t very diverse or different. This isn’t a problem necessarily, because it adds a certain feel to the songs that only make them better. One could argue that the song writers could have taken the opportunity to expand their creativity and diverge from their formula.
You can tell there hasn’t been much diversity between past Amon Amarth albums. But something that they can do quite well, and did fantastically on this album, is make music with the same style and atmosphere of their previous work, and make it sound totally different. You don’t get bored with their music. Even though we have seen similar themes throughout the bands history, they have a way of making these themes more interesting with each album. And it certainly happened on this new record. They played the same style they always have, while making it sound fresh, and making the listener want more.
Jomsviking is without a doubt one of the best albums of 2016, and on of the best albums from Amon Amarth. This is something you will want to play repeatedly when you get it, and and return to many times over in the future.
Final Rating 9/10