Amon Amarth reveals details for new album, ‘Berserker’

March 20, 2019 Eric Peterson Brutal News, Press Releases, Tour Dates Comments Off

Amon Amarth reveals details for new album, ‘Berserker’; launches video for first single, “Raven’s Flight”, featuring Josh Barnett (ex-UFC), Erick Rowan (WWE), and more

On May 3rd, Amon Amarth will release their 11th full-length, Berserker, via Metal Blade Records (North America)/Sony Music (International)! For a preview of the album, the video for the first single, “Raven’s Flight”, can be viewed at: http://www.amonamarth.com

Directed by Roboshobo, “Raven’s Flight” will be the first of a trilogy of music videos from Berserker, each one increasingly epic in its scope, further immersing the viewer in the world of Amon Amarth. Much like the songs on Berserker, the videos present Amon Amarth to its fullest. The cast features Josh Barnett as “the Berserker” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Barnett) and Erick Rowan as “Thor” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erick_Rowan), among others.

To pre-order Berserker, please visit amonamarth.lnk.to/berserker – where the album is available in the following formats:
–digipak-CD
–deluxe box set [digipak-CD, shield (~12″x12″), patch (~4″x4″) – limited to 500 copies in US]
–opaque white w/ black splatter vinyl (limited to 1200 copies)
–opaque white w/ silver haze vinyl (retail exclusive – limited to 1300 copies)
–clear w/ red splatter vinyl (webstore exclusive – limited to 750 copies)
–black w/ red haze vinyl (webstore exclusive – limited to 750 copies)

Comprising 12 monstrous heavy metal anthems that bulge with irresistible melodic hooks, bursts of thrilling savagery and moments of spine-tingling dynamic drama, Berserker is the result of the huge surge of creativity and a collective desire to keep moving forward with no compromise. From the disarming melodrama and explosive riffing of opener “Fafner’s Gold” and the brutish simplicity of the rampaging “Crack The Sky” to the epic fury of “Raven’s Flight” and the grim, gritty storytelling of “Ironside” and “Skoll and Hati”, Berserker is an album full of trademark Amon Amarth bluster and bite but with every aspect of the band’s sound somehow refined, sonically enhanced and made vastly more potent, both in terms of metal oomph and emotional power. Neatly summing up the spirit behind these exhilarating new songs is the album’s semi-title track, “The Berserker At Stamford Bridge”: a visceral but vivid historical tale, recounting the Vikings last stand against the English army in 1066 and the mind-bending heroics of one axe-wielding warrior.

Showcasing an undeniable and startling upgrade for every aspect of Amon Amarth‘s iconic sound, Berserker was recorded in Los Angeles with renowned studio guru Jay Ruston (Anthrax/Stone Sour) manning the controls. After recording several rounds of professional demos for the new songs (initially with fellow Swedish metal icon Peter Tägtgren and then later with Ruston himself) the band crossed the Atlantic to make final the recordings in LA, eager to take a fresh approach to the album-making process.

“For me, this is Amon Amarth 2.0,” vocalist Johan Hegg declares. “I think what we’ve done here is give ourselves the space to explore other parts of our musicality and who we are as a band. If you’re content with where you’re at, what’s the point of continuing? We always want to come up with new ideas and find new ways of doing things and to create bigger and better shows and really try to improve every aspect of what the band is. We want to try to keep growing and to do this for as long as we have the possibility to do so, because this is the best fucking job in the world.”

The cast for “Raven’s Flight” also features Tess Kielhammer as “Demon Boss” (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4178569/), Shanie Rusth as “Shield Maiden” (https://www.herexchange.net/her-story/2018/9/11/shanie-rusth), Erik Arevalo (https://www.instagram.com/theerikhammer/?hl=en), Victor Henry (https://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Victor-Henry-52195), and Canadian WWE legend Viktor as “Demon Henchman” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor), and many more.

Berserker track-listing
1. Fafner’s Gold
2. Crack the Sky
3. Mjölner, Hammer of Thor
4. Shield Wall
5. Valkyria
6. Raven’s Flight
7. Ironside
8. The Berserker at Stamford Bridge
9. When Once Again We Can Set Our Sails
10. Skoll and Hati
11. Wings of Eagles
12. Into the Dark

In support of Berserker, Amon Amarth will head out on the road with Slayer, Lamb of God, and Cannibal Corpse in North America, starting May 2nd. See below for all dates!

Slayer “Leg Five: North America” tour dates
w/Lamb of God, Amon Amarth, Cannibal Corpse
May 2 – Ak-Chin Amphitheatre – Phoenix, AZ
May 3 – Isleta Amphitheatre – Albuquerque, NM
May 5 – UTEP/Don Haskins Center – El Paso, TX
May 7 – Bert Ogden Arena – Edinburg, TX
May 8 – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory – Dallas, TX
May 10 – MidFlorida Credit Union Amphitheatre – Tampa, FL
May 11 – Coral Sky Amphitheatre – West Palm Beach, FL
May 13 – Big Sandy Superstore Arena – Huntington, WV
May 14 – Merriweasther Post Pavilion – Columbia, MD
May 16 – Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center – Noblesville, IN
May 17 – Providence Medical Center Amphitheatre – Bonner Springs, KS
May 19 – DTE Energy Music Center – Clarkston, MI
May 20 – Covel Centre – Youngstown, OH
May 22 – Canadian Tire Centre – Ottawa, ON
May 24 – BB&T Pavilion – Camdel, NJ
May 25 – Xfinity Center – Mansfield, MA