It was only logical. Amon Amarth, having toured extensively due to the huge success of “Jomsviking”, they release an awesome live CD/DVD to celebrate 25 years since they were founded. More specific, since they changed their name, because they were name Scum for 4 years before that.
This particular concert took place in Summer Breeze 2017 in Germany, a festival that they have attended many times. The fans were lucky enough to watch them two days in a row. The first day, in a smaller stage, they performed songs that are not usually in their setlist anymore. Some of them were “The Last With Pagan Blood”, “Thousand Years Of Oppression”, “Victorious March”, “For The Stabwounds In Our Backs” and “Under The Northern Star”. Epic as hell.
The next day, on the main stage, as headliners they performed a show similar to the one that fans everywhere witnessed during the “Jomsviking” tour. This means lots of fire, the Viking helmet drumkit, the giant serpent on “Twilight Of The Thunder God” and of course the Vikings on stage. They also took the chance and invited the metal queen, Doro, to come up and sing “A Dream That Cannot Be” with them. Perfect show in every aspect and the fans gave all they had to prove their love for them, even if there were no microphones to capture their loud voices.
This release has also a great documentary about the story of the band. How they started, how were their lives, what where the most crucial situations that took their career even further. The members of the band are of course interviewed, along with festival promoters, editors, the legendary Brian Slagel of Metal Blade and the exceptional producers/musicians Peter Tagtgren and Andy Sneap among many others. Fun fact, Johan Hegg took a trip to Greece in 1992 with Olavi Mikkonen and the second guitar player of Scum. While they were in a metal bar, during “The Final Countdown”, Johan threw his first growl and Olavi immediately invited him to join Scum. The rest, as they say, is history.
Overall, this is a package that is really worth watching and listening by anyone who like these Swedes. It’s been released in many different editions and of course the two live CD’s are ideal for a best-of, because listening to both of them you have 29 songs to keep you company for many hours. Excellent release. Raise your horns!
