Deeply rooted in death metal with firm beliefs in Viking mythology, AMON AMARTH formed in 1992 in Tumba, Sweden, a southern suburb of Stockholm. They began writing material with lots of melodies, harmonies and lyrics about Vikings and the northern gods. In summer 1993 they entered Lagret Studio to record the never released demo "Thor Arise". The band continued to rehearse and writing stronger material and again entered the studio. The result was the second demo "The Arrival Of The Fimbul Winter". This time the band was much more satisfied with the sound and songs and launched it to an unsuspecting underground. The response was overwhelming, quickly selling out of the first pressing and secured them a one off deal with Singapore's Pulverised Records.

This time they decided to use Abyss Studio, owned by Peter Tägtgren of Hypocrisy, and during five days in November 1995 the MCD "Sorrow Throughout The Nine Worlds" was recorded. The five track recording contained three new songs plus two re-recorded tracks from the band's second demo. The MCD was released in April 1996 and continued the band's build to world dominance. June 1996 saw the exiting of drummer Nico who was quickly replaced with Martin Lopez. During this time labels began to show interest and after much consideration the band chose to sign with Metal Blade. In March 1997 AMON AMARTH entered again Abyss Studios to record their Metal Blade debut "Once Sent From The Golden Hall" with Peter Tägtgren. The result proved that they were destined to become force of fury in the Swedish Death Metal scene and beyond.

After the recording of "Once sent...", guitarist Anders Hansson quit just a month before their first major tour with Deicide, Six Feet Under and Brutal Truth in June 98. They quickly recruited Johan Söderberg to make the line-up complete. The line-up was now solidified. "The Avenger" was recorded at Abyss Studios Sweden February to March 1999. Produced by the band, the seven track album is a lesson in pure Viking aggression and brutality blurring the line between death and black metal. The tour following this release was the X-mas massacre festivals, headlined by Morbid Angel.

In November 2000 the band entered The Abyss Studio for, as it would turn out, the last time. This time they recorded the album "The Crusher" (released in 2001). Living up to it's name, "The Crusher", the album is the most brutal album the band has produced so far. This release gave Amon Amarth the opportunity to tour a lot more than before and right after the recording they went on their first headlining tour through Denmark and Germany with Purgatory and Seirim. That tour ended up with great succes and they also managed to be the first metal band entering the German stages for the century. 00.05, 01 of January in 2001 in Guben. Then they went on the No Mercy Festivals 2001 with bands like Marduk and Vader. In the fall of 2001, AMON AMARTH was supposed to support Marduk on their American tour, but due to the events of September 11th, that tour was postponed until January 2002, and if that wasn't enough, Marduk couldn't make it over to the states. So AMON AMARTH got to headline their very first US tour, supported by Diabolic from Tampa, FL. The tour was a huge success, but unfortunately the tour agency decided to cut the tour short with one week. Returning to Europe, AMON AMARTH was offered the possibility to headline their own full European tour, and in April 2002 they went on the road together with Swedish "gore-masters" Vomitory. During the tour the band kept writing new material for an upcoming album.

August 2002 started with the bands second appearance at Wacken Open Air. Approximately 12 000 people saw the show, and the response was overwhelming. Almost going straight from Wacken to the Studio, AMON AMARTH began recording their new album "Versus the World" on August 7th. This time, however, the band had to use a new studio, since Peter no longer produces or records any bands, except his own, in his studio. The choice fell on Berno Studio in Malmö, and it turned out to be a great choice. Berno Studio has a great reputation in the scene and AMON AMARTH found it to be very easy to work with both Berno (owner, engineer) and Henrik (engineer). Recording in a new studio gave new dimensions to the bands sound. During the recording, the band managed to squeeze in a trip to Germany and the Summer Breeze festival, where they made a successful appearance.

AMON AMARTH toured incessantly to promote this album (3 American and 2 European tours, no less), the press woke up to their qualities, and legions of followers put the band on one level with those acts who had dominated the scene for years on end. This set the stage for "Fate Of Norns", AMON AMARTH's breakthrough album and highest charting release to date. Once again recorded at Berno Studios, "Fate Of Norns" saw the band touring Europe and America to ecstatic response from their fans, as well as conquering several new territories, such as Iceland, Mexico, Ireland, Poland, Croatia, and Norway. One of the highlights of the "Fate" touring cycle was undoubtedly when over 30,000 rabid fans gathered in front of the stage at 2AM to celebrate their heroes at Wacken Open Air 2004.

As a tribute to their loyal following, the band released a 3 DVD set entitled "Wrath Of The Norsemen", comprised of five full shows, in May 2005. With no less than six weeks in the German Music DVD Charts as we speak, the momentum gathered by the band by now is one that marketing strategists and industry people would kill to be able to reproduce. Talent, perseverance, and hard work do pay off after all. Which brings us to "With Oden On Our Side".

In January 2006, the band started writing the follow-up to "Fate Of Norns". Being able for the first time to concentrate 100% on the music, the sessions proved fruitful, as guitarist Olavi Mikkonen confirms: "We nailed down all ideas we had from the past year and we rehearsed 5 days a week, 9 to 5. At the end of the month we had finished a 5 song demo." After a two-month break, the band returned to write the rest of the material: "We started up where we had left off and began working on all new ideas we had. Again 5 days a week, 9 to 5. This time around we had 4 new songs and the album was written. We had never written an album under these intense circumstances, but we found out that this was totally right for us." The new masterpiece "With Oden On Our Side" was born

As if the Norse deity had cast a blessing on AMON AMARTH, the band has emerged with an album that will define a "before" and "after" in their career for years to come. Recorded at Fascination Street Studios with producer Jens Bogren, the majestic riffs, thunderous drums and roaring vocals have never sounded better and more convincing. A match surely made in Valhalla, Mikkonen comments on the collaboration as follows: "We had never worked with a producer before the way it should be done. Jens Bogren took the band to a new level, both production- and sound-wise. Musically, this album is more worked through and, most important of all, we wrote it together as a unit." A most fearsome and deadly unit, that is now gearing up to crush audiences the world over once again

Source: Amon Amarth Official Site

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