You‘ve got to hand it to Amon Amarth, whether you like them or not. From 1998 and their first album they make amazing progress, they have the same line-up, they have released 9 albums, they have toured all the world and they take their job seriously, trying very hard to keep their name as high as they can and they enjoy the huge status that they have gained. An honest band who deserves everything that they have accomplished so far.
After this brief introduction, let’s go to an (once again) amazing night that they gave us. For the 4th time in Athens (2007, 2009, 2012 the previous ones) and like the last one, the scene was set in Fuzz Live Stage with the same band opening for them. The crowd was eager for a great show and they proved by singing the lyrics of “Painkiller” which was playing from the speakers and at around 21:00 the lights went out and Karma Violens took the stage. Amazing fact that the crowd gave their best, participating in anything that Marios, the singer, was asking them to do. The band gave out a lot of energy, the sound was good and overall the night was running smoothly. They played songs from their debut album (“Dormancy” – 2011). Some of them were “Christian Lovers (Made Me Do It)”, “Anima(l)” and “Full Dose Of Hate”, which has a video-clip available. As Marios requested, during this song, a small wall of death took place in the center of the club. They also played songs from their upcoming, second, album which will be released later this year entitled “Skin Of Existence” and an awesome cover of “Raining Blood” with the fans going crazy! After a 40-minute excellent performance they left the stage followed by a big applause.
Setlist: Christian Lovers (Made Me Do It), Headstrong Vs. Progress, Death Is Symbolic, Soulless Child, Reign In Blood, Si Vis Vitam Para Mortem, Animal, Full Dose Of Hate, Floating In Sadness
After 30 minutes of waiting, the Vikings finally entered the stage and started with 2 songs from their latest album “Deceiver Of The Gods”. “Father Of The Wolf” and the self-titled track showed that the fans already liked a lot the new album. They continued with an all-time classic, “Death In Fire” and at that time the club was a huge mosh pit! With plenty of energy, without talking much between tracks and with very good sound quality, the Swedish were playing one excellent track after another and the huge smile on Johan Hegg’s face was telling how good the night was. You just can’t get enough of this (gentle) giant. Excellent frontman, you can’t think anyone more suitable for this role. Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Soderberg were perfect in their guitar parts, Ted Lundstrom (bass) and Fredrik Andersson (drums) also amazing in their parts as backbone of Amon Amarth’s music. In “Guardians Of Asgaard” the fans tried to test their voices, screaming the refrain. We listened to 6 songs, as expected, from their latest album while 7 were from their last 2 releases. Sadly, the first 3 albums were not represented. The band has released 9 albums and they have to promote the new one. No one seemed to care though; the fans were reacting in every song, new or old.
A huge bet for Amon Amarth this one, who seem to gain more and more fans with every new release. The last 3 tracks to close the “regular” duration of the show were “Destroyer Of The Universe”, “The Cry Of The Black
Birds” and “War Of The Gods” in which the fans went totally crazy! At about 22:30 the Vikings left the stage, shortly after they returned with “Twilight Of The Thunder God” making us beg this night would never end! The last one was another all-time classic, “The Pursuit Of Vikings”. Hegg asked us to sing with him, telling us as always that it doesn’t matter if we don’t know the lyrics, it’s death metal and no one will know the difference.
All in all, this was an excellent performance from Amon Amarth. The fans went crazy, worshiping the Swedish Gods, the ticket price was fair and the show ended early in order to catch the last train routes. Let’s hope that we will see them again soon.
Setlist: Father Of The Wolf/Deceiver Of The Gods/Death In Fire/Live For The Kill/As Loke Falls/Coming Of The Tide/Guardians Of Asgaard/Shape Shifter/Warriors Of The North/Runes To My Memory/Varyags Of Miklagaard/The Last Stand Of Frej/Destroyer Of The Universe/The Cry Of The Black Birds/War Of The Gods
Giorgos Terzakis
