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Rating:
8.0 |
Amon Amarth - Surtur Rising
23 March 2011
Disc I [CD]
01. War Of The Gods
02. Töck's Taunt - Loke's Treachery Part II
03. Destroyer Of The Universe
04. Slaves Of Fear
05. Live Without Regrets
06. The Last Stand Of Frej
07. For Victory Or Death
08. Wrath Of The Norsemen
09. A Beast Am I
10. Doom Over Dead Man
11. War Machine [Kiss cover] [bonus]
12. Balls To The Wall [Accept cover] [bonus]
13. Aerials [System Of A Down cover] [bonus]
Disc II [limited edition DVD Bloodshed Over Bochum 2008]
01. Ride For Vengeance
02. The Dragon's Flight Across The Waves
03. Without Fear
04. Victorious March
05. Friends Of The Suncross
06. Abandoned
07. Amon Amarth
08. Once Sent From The Golden Hall
09. Bleed For Ancient Gods
10. The Last With Pagan Blood
11. North Sea Storm
12. Avenger
13. God His Son And Holy Whore
14. Metalwrath
15. Legend Of A Banished Man
16. Bastards Of A Lying Breed
17. Masters Of War
18. The Sound Of Eight Hooves
19. Risen From The Sea
20. As Long As The Raven Flies
21. A Fury Divine
22. Annihilation Of Hammerfest
23. The Fall Through Ginnungagap
24. Releasing Surtur's Fire
25. Death In Fire
26. The Stabwounds In Our Backs
27. Where Silent Gods Stand Guard
28. Versus The World
29. Across The Rainbow Bridge
30. Down The Slopes Of Death
31. Thousand Years Of Oppression
32. Bloodshed
33. And Soon The World Will Cease To Be
The kings of the Swedish melodeath scene are back! Consistent as always, they have become one of the record companies' favorite bands: nice songs, huge popularity, unique style and additionally, they publish a new album every 2 to 3 years. Only a few bands assemble all these traits and Amon Amarth is one of them. On the other hand, some experimentation would be welcomed…
Surtur Rising is the 8th full length release of the band and a very good album. It contains all the trademark elements that made them well-known: nice melodies, powerful or melancholic songs, great vocals and the traditional "Viking concept". Songs like "Destroyer Of The Universe" (very fast and powerful, with an awesome solo), "Doom Over Dead Man" (slower song that turns into a catchy hymn of despair) and "Wrath Of The Norsemen" (classic Amon Amarth song: brutal and catchy with great melodies) will surely be among your favorites (and also great songs for live shows).
However, on the contrary, Surtur Rising is a safe album and the band seems to repeat themselves. "War Of The Gods" is the best example: great song with an awesome solo, powerful as it gets but VERY COMMON. It's like we've listened to it before because its formula is similar to that of other songs. And this is surely a disadvantage for the album. Songs like "Töck's Taunt - Loke's Treachery Part II", "Live Without Regrets" and "The Last Stand Of Frej" seem to follow the same formula too: very nice songs, but common. The band is either trapped in their own identity or do they just face a lack of inspiration?
The production of the album is cleaner than ever. But is this always good? With a "dirtier" sound some songs would surely sound better. This album is deprived of the atmosphere the band used to create and this time they needed it more than they did in the previous two releases. The cover art is probably the best in the band's history and generally every aspect of the album is worked in detail.
To sum up, Surtur Rising is a very good album; one of the best melodeath releases of 2011. It may be not as awesome as the band's latest releases, but it is not bad either. It will please those who haven't listened to other albums of the band, as well as the hardcore fans. For those waiting for a new With Oden On Our Side it seems that you'll have to wait for a long time. Maybe a little break would help the band collect new ideas and write better music. They seem to need it, but it probably won't happen.
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Performance:
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10 |
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Songwriting:
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8 |
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Originality:
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7 |
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Production:
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9 |
written by Deadmeat | 14.08.2011 |
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
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Comments
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21
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Users visited:
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270 |
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| Very nice review, you summed it all up ^^ good job |
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VEEEEEEEEry nice!!
thanks a lot! |
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Berserker - 15.08.2011 at 02:13
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| You right about the part that they lost that dirtier sound that they've had. they're not the same band anymore. i didn't like this album and the one before either that much. and they repeat themselves alot. that seems to be problem with many european bands. |
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Written by Guest on 15.08.2011 at 02:13
You right about the part that they lost that dirtier sound that they've had. they're not the same band anymore. i didn't like this album and the one before either that much. and they repeat themselves alot. that seems to be problem with many european bands.
That's BS, man. SOME european bands repeat themselves, some don't - some american bands, on the other hand, repeat themselves, some again don't. You can't just ignorantly generalize things like that. |
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Berserker - 15.08.2011 at 03:26
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Written by malaikat on 15.08.2011 at 02:53
Written by Guest on 15.08.2011 at 02:13
You right about the part that they lost that dirtier sound that they've had. they're not the same band anymore. i didn't like this album and the one before either that much. and they repeat themselves alot. that seems to be problem with many european bands.
That's BS, man. SOME european bands repeat themselves, some don't - some american bands, on the other hand, repeat themselves, some again don't. You can't just ignorantly generalize things like that.
i'm not being ignorant, it's just my point of view. but i can see your's too. i just think that bands like iron maiden and children of bodom, for example, use the same formula over and over. it gets pretty boring to listen those bands. |
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Written by Guest on 15.08.2011 at 02:13
that seems to be problem with musicians from around the world
Just thought I'd touch up that statement of yours. |
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| The review would better fit the previous release (TOTTG), this one is even much worse in the same direction, generic Gothenburg rising. Songwriting? More like songrewriting. |
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I get your point, but I somehow really can't stand the originality police...
In my opinion this is one awesome album, as good as WOOOS and better than TOTTG, because simply every song is great... (Did'nt like The Hero and Embrace of the Endless Ocean that much, that's why this album is better...)
Two songs you mentioned as 'common', namely "Töck's Taunt - Loke's Treachery Part II" and "The Last Stand Of Frej" are some of the best ever written by Amon Amarth imo, maybe the best of their slower ones...
Good and reasonable review nevertheless  |
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Written by Windrider on 15.08.2011 at 09:54
Two songs you mentioned as 'common', namely "Töck's Taunt - Loke's Treachery Part II" and "The Last Stand Of Frej" are some of the best ever written by Amon Amarth imo, maybe the best of their slower ones...
exactly. those songs with a "better" production would be even better. but with this clean-crystalic production they are not imo. there is not enough "mystery" around them... |
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This was actually my rating for the album. I agree with a lot of things you said.
It's enjoyable without being extraordinary. |
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Good review, says it all. I like the ending the most, it's a good album, but not awesome. Listenable, enjoyable, but not something that would make my eyeballs pop out. I actually think there's nothing wrong with using the same formula over and over again, until it reaches the point when it's undigestible.  I'm still going to the SR tour, can't and won't miss and AA show, because they are always amazing live  :beer2: |
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Berserker - 15.08.2011 at 22:47
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Written by Troy Killjoy on 15.08.2011 at 06:52
Written by Guest on 15.08.2011 at 02:13
that seems to be problem with musicians from around the world
Just thought I'd touch up that statement of yours.
thanx, i stand corrected. |
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I haven't heard the whole album yet, but this review is probably very accurate judging from the songs I've heard from it so far. The people who buy this album (and I will probably buy it at some point) aren't likely to want or expect something shockingly different - just great songs in the Amon Amarth style.
Interesting choice of theirs to cover a System of a Down song. |
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I had to relisten to Surtur Rising better to give my opinion about it.
nice review |
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| Good review. AA's 2008's album is my favorite, maybe because it's the first album which i heard. And to this album, i don't want to use "repeat", but "stable", though they mean the same thing at the moment. |
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| Not being a huge fan of this band to begin with, i'd have to say it deserves a place on my shelf somewhere. when i get around the buying the CD at least.. |
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Great review! when i first listened to the album "Doom over Dead Man" was the only standout song, bc it was the only song that sounded unique compared to their previous worx. i put down the album for months bc of the lack of uniqueness but recently tried it out again and there is some other good traxx as well, Lokes treachery pt 2, DotU, last stand of Frej.
so despite being similar its still salvagable. but some new sound would be appreciated, releasing too many albums like this is going too saturate their entire catalog and will leave the avg fan looking too a diff band for some new sound.(aka me) |
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Enoch - 27.02.2012 at 03:58
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Written by Guest on 27.02.2012 at 03:58
This is solid metal.
solid way to describe a solid band's latest attempt at maintaining solidity |
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| Nice review, well-written. |
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| Amon Amarth, a clear example of doing the same thing over and over and yet releasing quality music every single time. I hope they take a long brake between albums, so they don´t burn out of ideas. This is a band i don´t want to see falling from greatness. |
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