By far one of the most impressive bands that I’ve stumbled onto in recent years is Sweden’s Amon Amarth. Perhaps one of the last true innovators of the true metal spirit these mighty Norsemen are as authentic and brutally crushing as can be. With a sound that is as heavy as it is melodic and a uniquely commissioned charge to carry on the tales of Viking history and culture they stand as giants amidst an ever growing plague that seeks to undermine our way of life by robbing us of our freedoms of music, art, belief and self expression. Amon Amarth’s commanding persona comes across as intimidating as can be with their towering builds, long hair and straggly beards. Definitely not a group of men you would ever want to clash in battle with. The band recently completed a very successful tour of the U.S. alongside Finland’s Children Of Bodom and the American band Trivium. Playing in support of their latest CD accomplishment Fate Of Norns the guys delivered an astonishing performance and absolutely established themselves as necessities in today’s Heavy Metal forum. Time was tight during the tour and unfortunately I was not able to schedule the interview with the band until they returned home but there was no way I was going to miss out on my chance to speak with such an interesting and fearsome individual as frontman Johan Hegg. In what turned out to be a most intriguing conversation we discussed the unique writing style of the band, their use of Viking mythology in their lyrics, the ups and downs of touring as well as the release of their up coming live DVD. Johan also gave me a deeper look into his personal beliefs and his thoughts on the state of today’s religious anarchy which is a credible source of fuel for the fire when it comes to the bands creative pinnacle. Spiritual and philosophical opinions aside though, Amon Amarth are Metal music’s frontline warriors and wisely deserve to be heard and experienced by all, check it out!

OT: Johan, how’s it goin’?

Johan: Good.

OT: Well cool, we’re finally gettin’ this underway. I’ve been tryin’ to get this pinned down…

Johan: I know, I remember you during the tour but, you know, there was never really any good time for us at the end—there was too much to take care of and stuff, so…

OT: No, that’s cool dude, I’m flexible and patient. So, the word is that you’re recent tour of the States was the best tour that you’ve had here in the U.S. You know, it’s unfortunate that you weren’t headlining.

Johan: Turnout wise when it comes to how much people actually came to the shows, most definitely.

OT: I caught the show in Santa Ana, and from what I could tell you guys pretty much owned the house during your performance.

Johan: It was a good show. It was a very good show.

OT: Yeah, I think there were a lot of people that left after you guys played. I mean, like I said it was sad to see that you guys weren’t headlining ‘because I think there were a lot of people that were there specifically for you guys.

Johan: That’s the way it is. I mean, it’s like a lot of people we talk to after a show, they say they came to see us and they were sad that we couldn’t headline and stuff like that; but it’s all about album sales, you know what I’m sayin’, there’s not much we can do. The fact of the matter is that Children Of Bodom and Trivium are selling more albums than we are in the States, but if we would’ve played in Germany or something we would’ve been headlining. I mean, it’s different over in the States definitely, but, you know, there’s not much you can do about it.

OT: Right, I understand.

Johan: We’re just gonna, you know, do the best we can with every show and hopefully people will buy our albums in the future.

OT: Absolutely. Well, I think you guys are, making an impact at least. I mean, since you guys have been over here this last time, I swear, half the people I come across in the stores are wearing an Amon Amarth shirt or some sort of a Viking necklace, or something. I know there were a lot of people that were trying to get into the venue as well and didn’t end up getting to see your set because they weren’t letting the doors open soon enough.

Johan: That was actually mainly a problem at the House of Blues shows, because they have strict curfews, and they also have a pretty strict security type of thing going on there; so it was pretty much impossible for all the people to get in on time for the show, which is fucked up, you know? I mean, it’s a bunch of kids who want to see Metal, you know. They’re not going to kill anyone. I guess it’s the whole Dimebag thing that really got people nervous over there.

OT: Yeah, I here what you’re saying. I know the show that I went to, it wasn’t a House of Blues show but there was still a line outside and the only reason that I got in is ‘cause I was with the press, but they were making everybody else wait. I mean, if people are going to pay money to see a show I think they should get their money’s worth.

Johan: I guess the House of Blues also figure that most of the people there were there to see Children Of Bodom and they don’t really care about the opening band. So, I guess that’s one of the problems.

OT: Well, somebody needs to say something to them. Maybe they’ll take a hint from this interview. Now, I’ve heard the music of Amon Amarth referred to as Viking Metal or Melodic Death Metal. How exactly would you describe your particular style of music?

Johan: I mean, we’ve always been a death metal band, or at least that’s where we come from; but I guess over the years we’ve developed our own style of music. A lot of people call it Viking Metal, which I think is o.k. I mean, we sing about Vikings and stuff. But, you know, if you want to be specific about it, I would probably say something like Melodic Death Metal or something like that.

OT: Right. That’s what it comes across as to me as well, if you’re talking purely from a musical point of view. I mean, obviously everybody has something different that they put across lyrically.

Johan: The term Viking Metal does exist but it’s mainly like Norwegian sort of Black Metal oriented bands with Viking lyrics who are Viking Metal, and we’re not Black Metal oriented in our music, so that’s why we make a distinction between the two.

OT: Right. Now do you find that some of the fans of Black Metal cross over and like what you do?

Johan: Yeah there are a lot of fans into different music styles and all that—that’s really cool I think, but, as I said, as a band, we’ve always seen ourselves as strictly a Death Metal Band.

OT: Right, absolutely. Now in comparison to what would be considered your peers I suppose, your sound comes across as very different in a lot of ways. The melodic aspect of the music is more subdued in the mix and it really doesn’t overpower the heaviness of the band. It seems that maybe you write in a very different way than others in your genre. How do you approach the creative process for writing your music?

Johan: Well, I mean, it’s just our style of writing. I guess that really is the key here. I mean, the way we work normally is that Olavi writes most of the riffs, he brings them to the rehearsal place, and then we sort of arrange all of the music together as a band. And I think that’s very important that we’re all involved in the creative process. Not everything that Olavi writes is approved by us in the band, or at least not at first, unless we work with it. And I think that’s really important that we can feel—all of us—that we are contributing in our own way. Even though we don’t really write the music we still sort of help out with it.

OT: Awesome. So how do you balance the emphasis between the melodic aspect of the music and the heavy aspect of the music? I mean, is it something that you strive towards or work at, or does it just come naturally?

Johan: It depends on what riff is the major riff of the song, and where you want to go with the song; it’s different from song to song. Some songs are more suited to be heavy and some songs are more suited to be more melodic. I think one of the keys to us being successful in keeping it heavy is that we are down tuned on the guitars. We’re tuned to ‘C’, which is pretty low key. So it’s something that’s helping us write heavy stuff. But, I mean, it’s always about gut feeling when we write, it’s always about what we feel is right, what we feel the song should be like and stuff like that.

OT: Right. Well, it’s interesting to know that you tune to ‘C’, that is pretty low. I can definitely see how that would present a heavier aspect. Now, there’s a definite sense of melancholy found throughout your music, some very emotional segments, as found for example in the song “The Fate of Norns”. At other times there’s an almost warlike anthem being felt. What do you hope fans will get from the emotional impact of your music?

Johan: I mean, I never really thought about it that way, I mean that the fans should get something out of it; but, of course, we hope that it will appeal to them in some way and they will get some kind of exchange out of it, that the music and the lyrics will mean something to everyone. The lyrics and the music mean something to me, since I wrote it, but it might not mean the same thing to another person. I hope that people will listen to the music, enjoy it and get something out of it and feel that the music and the lyrics speak to them in some way.

OT: But you’re not trying to dictate what that should be?

Johan: Not really. I don’t really know why we should do that. The music should be an experience for everyone, and how you experience it—I mean you can never dictate that. People will experience stuff in different ways—that’s the way it is. I mean, the only thing that I do is I try to write interesting lyrics for the music and we try to write the best songs we can and hopefully people will enjoy it, listen to it, and think it’s good, you know.

OT: Right I hear what you’re saying. The reason I ask is obviously there are a lot of bands out there that try to come across with some sort of political agenda or philosophical point of view.

Johan: I mean we’ve never been political in any way. I mean, that’s not our style. If anything, maybe we’ve been a bit philosophical. We’ve also been sort of anti-religious, and mainly anti-Christianity, of course, because that’s the religion we know best—that’s the main religion of our country. But, I mean, we don’t like to preach or anything, you know what I’m saying? But to express our opinions, and I like to do so with Viking lyrics because I like the way of telling the stories, and it suits us as a band. So the lyrics are—I guess in many ways they’re pretty introverted—they mean something very personal to me since I write a lot of the lyrics; but we also try to write lyrics that could mean something to other people; and sometimes we just write stories; it’s never really complicated for us.

OT: Right. I do hear what you’re saying. Being that you’re lyrical content, as well as much of the artwork found on your CD’s is shrouded with elements of Viking beliefs and history, obviously there’s a heavy importance with the Viking element to you. Do you hold to the religious beliefs of the Vikings?

Johan: I’ve never been a religious man. I do have a connection to the Vikings and to the ancient gods even though I don’t worship them. I still have a connection to it through my heritage and through being a Swedish person with that heritage. It just comes natural to write about it. It’s something really close to my heart. I would probably say that it’s more from a philosophical point of view. I like the way of thinking and of tackling the world, if you know what I mean, the way of interacting with other people in the stories, which really appeals to me.

OT: Cool.

Johan: It’s not just about killing each other you know what I’m saying?

OT: (Laughs) No, no, of course not. Since listening to your first album and realizing the inclusion of the Viking history in so much of your music I’ve become very intrigued. You know, I actually have a friend in Sweden who with her husband go around and dress up and perform as Vikings and try and keep everything as authentic as possible; but it seems like there’s been a definite resurrection in that belief style or, you know, trying to follow that path again, as where once it was just purely considered myth.

Johan: Definitely. The whole interest in the Vikings is growing and there’s a lot of stuff coming up now. But it’s been growing for a while. I mean, it’s been growing pretty much since the early eighties, but it’s been growing very slowly. But there are many societies who are acting out Viking traditions and all that stuff, and also like Viking weddings and Viking ceremonies, such as sacrifices and all that stuff; so it’s really a growing movement over here, definitely, even if not every society who are involved in the Vikings are a religious society, it’s still something that’s really catching on over here.

OT: Right, right, I totally hear what you’re saying. Now, I do realize that, as you said, there’s quite a bit of animosity towards Christianity, probably from the war that was waged on the Vikings, forcing them to convert and this is obviously one of the many travesties that have been done supposedly in the name of God; but there are those who would say that what happened then was not necessarily a reflection of true Christianity and they shouldn’t be judged by the wrongdoings of those who acted in accordance with the men who led those attacks.       

Johan: But if you look at Christianity as a whole today, I mean, not only Christianity but religions in general, like organized religions, they all pretty much have the same attitude. I mean, if you look at, like, Christianity, Islam, or Judaism, they have sort of an attitude of being the followers of the One True God; and they sort of put themselves above everybody else, and they still do it, and they always do it, they always will do it because that’s the way those religions were founded, whereas religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism and, like, smaller nature religions—they are more focused on man and on what happens in people’s real life; whereas the three religions I just mentioned, they are more condemning of man, they are condemning man’s, natural being. They have the deadly sins and all that stuff. I mean, it’s just how people are and if you stop condemning it maybe you can start working with it instead of trying to stop something that’s unstoppable.

OT: I do hear what you’re saying and this is one of the questions I’ve presented to some of the Black Metal bands out there, because I understand their hatred towards Christianity as well but then, you know, they’re real caught up in this whole misanthropic attitude that humanity is not worth saving in any regard; they’re kind of down on the whole humanity thing themselves and so they’re kind of like not really trying to put the focus on man in a positive way but more of a negative way, so it’s interesting to kind of see where everybody’s coming from and get different points of view.

Johan: Yeah, definitely. I totally agree with you on that. Of course they have their views and beliefs and I’m not going to say they’re wrong and I’m right—that’s not my intention at all, really; it’s just that I have my beliefs and don’t try to push yours on me, you know what I’m saying?

OT: Right. And I think that’s one of the biggest problems that those types of religions have had—they push it at you and they shouldn’t. 

Johan: One of the most intriguing aspects of Christianity is in the U.S. you have the very strong Christian rite in government now, and you have a President who is very much pro-death penalty. I mean, if I’m not mistaken, when he was the Governor of Texas he didn’t give one single person on death row a pardon. He was a hard ass with that. And, still,—I think it’s like commandment number one—thou shalt not kill. And basically he’s just killing them, and what makes that more right than a murder? It’s just such hypocrisy with everything when it comes to Christianity, which is really disturbing sometimes, because they feel it’s justified, you know what I’m saying?

OT: Right, right. I understand there’s a lot of confusion there. I mean, I’ve explored those beliefs in some regard myself and, you know, I think there’s a lot of what I would call apparent contradictions in there. I mean, I wouldn’t say that there are contradictions but it’s just a matter of interpreting things in the right way; but the problem is that ultimately a lot of people have different interpretations of it.

Johan: Of course, and they always interpret it in their favor, you know what I mean—always in their favor, never, like, looking at what most people will gain from it; its always, like, “what can I make out of it” and that’s really disturbing.

OT: Now, having toured previously with bands such as Nile here in the States, who are very much an old-school Death Metal act, with really no melodic attributes whatsoever, have you ever run into those who refuse to accept your music or criticize your music because of the melodic aspect?

Johan: Some people don’t like it; it’s just the way it is. You can’t always like everything, and if they don’t like it there’s not much we can do. We have to do the music that we ourselves like, and hopefully they won’t throw rotten tomatoes at us when we play, you know what I’m sayin’? But we’ve never encountered anything where people have been abusive towards us because we’re on a tour with Nile or something—that never really happens.

OT: That’s good to know. I find so many other times when I talk to an artist where they run into these purists that just believe that everything has to remain exactly the same, anything that brings any kind of change, or includes something new, is just forbidden.

Johan: There’s always gonna be people like that. I mean, we have people within our fan-base who think we’ve changed too much and stuff like that. Personally I don’t think we’ve changed very much since the first album; but I guess for some people Fate of Norns especially was a bit of a shock because it was very much down-tuned and a slow album compared to the previous ones but it’s still nothing really major, you know? Maybe we’re just one of those likable bands. I mean, over here in Europe we have a lot of crossover fans. We have fans from the death metal scene, the black metal scene, the hardcore scene, even the power metal scene who are into us even though we’re not usually the kind of music they normally listen to. It’s something that works really well for us over here. I don’t know why it is. Maybe we have something that appeals to a lot of people.

OT: Yeah, I would say so. I think the melodic aspect is definitely a catch for the people that are into power metal because that’s closer to what they would listen to—maybe not the vocal style, but definitely the music. And obviously the black metal vibe, I mean with the lyrical content the way it is, plus the heaviness of the band—that helps there too.

Johan: If you go to a show, at least in Europe, you see a lot of different metal fans at our shows, which I think is really cool because, I mean, it’s really stupid with all this segregation within the metal scene, I think. I mean, when we really should be helping each other to make metal bigger, to get it on TV and stuff, people are bickering about bullshit, like, you know, my band is better than your band because this and this—I mean, that’s just stupid.

OT: Yeah, it seems like there’d be enough room for them all.

Johan: Yeah, if you don’t like the band you don’t have to buy the albums, but some people go further than that, you know what I’m saying? And I think it’s really strange.

OT: Yeah, I’ve never really been down with that either. I mean, I have my favorites, what I like to listen to. I may not like somebody else’s particular style or what they’re into, but I don’t put ‘em down for it.

Johan: I mean, they’re doing something that they enjoy doing. Let them do it. You don’t have to listen to it if you don’t like it. It’s not like they have a gun to your head.

OT: It’s all a matter of taste, you know? Now, I understand that you guys have a new DVD in the works, and that it holds some very interesting elements that will make most of us jealous we weren’t there.         

Johan: Yeah, we’re sort of working on putting it all together now and hopefully we’ll have it out sometime in April, I would think.

OT: That’s cool. That’s not too far off. So, I understand it wasn’t just a typical, normal, live concert. You guys brought in some theatrical elements, with some on-stage fighting.

Johan: Yeah, we had Vikings fighting on stage. It was pretty brutal. It was really cool.

OT: Did you have the fake blood splatter on the audience or anything?

Johan: Uh, no blood actually, no blood. But it was really cool; it was a lot of fun. And we did an extra long show as well—two hours and twenty minutes.

OT: Do you plan on including some extra bonus material, maybe like your promotional video clips or behind the scenes stuff?

Johan: We’re gonna probably include both the video clips we’ve done “Death in Fire” and “Pursuit Of Vikings”, but I’m not gonna say for sure yet because we haven’t really put it on paper yet what we’re gonna have; but we’re gonna have a lot of other bonus material from different shows, among others there’s gonna be a show that we did for the Metal Blade 10th anniversary here in Europe where we do, for instance, a cover of Six Feet Under’s “Revenge of the Zombie” where we have backing vocals from Brian Slagel, that’s gonna be a cool thing.

OT: Oh, really? That’s interesting.

Johan: Yeah, I think it’s gonna be a really cool thing. We’re trying to put as much bonus material on there as we can. We’ll see exactly what’s on there when it comes out but there’s gonna be a lot of stuff.

OT: Very cool. Now, your success in Europe has been very good. Obviously that’s where the majority of your fan base probably lies. Why do you believe it has taken so long for the American audience to catch on?

Johan: Well, it’s pretty simple actually. I mean, there’s an ocean between us, and to get your name out there [in the States] you have to tour and tour again. It is difficult for a European band to tour in the first place, because all the costs, you know, with the visas and all the flight tickets and all that stuff—it’s costing a lot of money. And then, also, you have to find a good tour to get on, and it’s difficult to get a good tour in the States. It’s been very tough for us. I mean, this is like the sixth tour we’ve done in the States—the one with Children Of Bodom; but it’s only the second one that actually was completed, like, all the dates. But hopefully the Nile tour and the Children Of Bodom tour gave us the foothold that we need in the States to come back and play better tours in the future—tours that will give us the extra push that we need.

OT: Right, right. I agree. If the reaction of the audience at the show I was at is any indication, I think that’s definitely what’s gonna happen. I mean, it was an awesome show dude.

Johan: Yeah, it was good. Every show pretty much was spectacular.

OT: I do know, talking to different people, friends from overseas and other artists as well, that it seems like the European crowd seems to be a little more appreciative of the music and the art form. Do you feel in any way that Americans may be a bit spoiled in what’s being offered to them through the corporate mainstream over here?

Johan: I’ve never really experienced that actually. I think the American audience is very good. I mean, it’s always been very good for us. I think the American audience is very different because the US is such a big country, so it’s hard sometimes to pull a decent crowd. Like on this tour every crowd that we played for was really into it and really goin’ crazy; they really showed appreciation for us. Maybe they are picky, but we must be one of the bands they all like. The audience is, of course, a bit different, but I think it’s more a cultural difference—how you show your appreciation, more than they don’t appreciate you coming over there, because they do.

OT: I think they do too. I think the biggest problem that I’ve seen amongst the American audience of the shows that I go to is that a lot of times the faces change, not maybe so much when it comes to metal. There’s probably more of a dedicated fan base in metal than there is with the commercial side of things, because everything just doesn’t really seem to have that long of a lifespan. I mean, they’re really big on trends and whatever the flavor of the week is and it’s hard to hold somebody’s interest.

Johan: I feel pretty much the same. Trends are very big over there. That’s one thing that also makes it difficult for a band like us, because if we’re not in the trend we’re nowhere, you know what I’m sayin’? It’s difficult to get on a big tour and all that stuff; but on the other hand I think we have a sound that maybe people will listen to and say “Hey, this is kind of different, this is pretty cool”, and hopefully they will appreciate it, and we can work above the trends.

OT: Absolutely. I think you guys are on the right track, and I’m looking forward to the DVD, and when you guys do make it back over here hopefully you’ll be doing a headlining tour so we can see a longer set.

Johan: Yeah, well, hopefully at least a co-headline, or direct support so we can do a longer set. That would be good. We’ll see what happens with it. We have to work on a new album first and try to release that, and then we’ll see when we get over to the States again.

OT: Very cool. Well, you have a good day now. Thank you so much for your time, and we’ll talk to you again some time.

Johan: I hope so.