Amon Amarth: Ragnarök and roll- Great moments in culturally appropriated Viking history (Boston Phoenix, 10/15/08)

Dethklok, from Carton Network's Metalocalypse

Amon Amarth are but the latest assault of the Viking æsthetic on our pop culture’s collective psyche. And let’s not split hairs: by the time the Viking thing gets diluted enough to hit American shores, it’s not likely to be as factually accurate as a couplet from an Amon Amarth song. (What do you expect when Götterdämmerung meets good old American fire-and-brimstone Armageddon?) But here’s a rough time line of the Viking invasion.

AUGUST 1962 | Marvel Comics’ Journey into Mystery #83 introduces a new character, the Mighty Thor; Superman and Captain America are trumped by an actual deity, and the Marvel Universe is forever forced to acknowledge the existence of Asgard.

OCTOBER 1969 | Led Zeppelin release “Ramble On” and make mumbo-jumbo Tolkien references mainstream: the opening line, “Leaves are falling all around,” is a paraphrase of “Ai! laurië lantar lassi súrinen,” the opening line of J.R.R.’s poem “Galadriel’s Lament” a/k/a “Namárië”

APRIL 1974 | On Queen’s Queen II, “Ogre Battle” creates the blueprint for three subsequent decades of Viking metal: galloping drums, chugging muted riffs, screeching vocal squeals, and lyrics about armies of ogres. Not actually Viking, but you get the idea.

1978–1980 | Southern rockers Molly Hatchet release a bestselling trio of albums (Molly Hatchet, Flirtin’ with Disaster, and Beatin’ the Odds) with cover art by fantasy artist extraordinaire Frank Frazetta. Who gives a fuck about the music: horse-bound warriors carrying scimitars are where it’s at. A thousand million posters in a thousand million bedrooms ensue, and an army of 20-sided dice can be heard rolling forth in the distance.

1982 | Viking/warrior culture hits its stride in pop culture a year after Heavy Metal: The Movie (which for the most part is more sci-fi than fantasy, a crucial distinction) with the release of both the Ahnohld muscle vehicle Conan the Barbarian and the somewhat lesser-known but arguably better The Beastmaster. Jacked dudes with bare chests and leather are in, baby!

1983 | Metal behemoths Manowar go Viking with Into Glory Ride, most explicitly “Gates of Valhalla,” which idealizes strength, volume, and an aversion to any sense of hipness or self-consciousness.

1987 | Jon Mikl Thor, bodybuilder, metal warrior, and Canadian, finally has his chance to shine in the film Rock ‘n’ Roll Nightmare a/k/a The Edge of Hell.

JUNE 6, 1992 | In Bergen, Norway, insane black-metal dudes burn down the Fantoft stave church. Was this the opening salvo of a spate of church burnings meant as a misguided attempt to pledge allegiance to pre-Christian Scandinavia? The church was rebuilt in 1997.

1994 | Enslaved’s Vikingligr Veldi, an album partly in Norwegian, partly in Icelandic, and based on Scandinavian mythology, set the stage for a new degree of literalism in Viking rock.

2004 | Canadian power-metallers 3 Inches of Blood release Advance and Vanquish, a disc filled with advancing orc hordes and unsheathed blades. Its beauties include “Axes of Evil” — the definitive translation of Bush Doctrine pre-emptive aggression into Viking-metal dogma.

2006 | The debut of Adult Swim cartoon series Metalocalypse proves that in the world of metal, there is no such thing as too much self-parody. An episode where the show’s fictional band, Dethklok, accidentally summon a Norwegian demon troll pretty much hits all the marks of Viking metal — the bizarre mixture of ancient lore, screaming guitars, and limitless carnage.

Amon Amarth: It Takes A Pillage (Boston Phoenix, 10/15/08)

CREDO: “I’m not a religious guy,” says Hegg, “but the whole idea and the whole way of thinking that Vikings had became almost a philosophy of life.”

When I finally get Amon Amarth vocalist Johan Hegg on the phone, I feel as if I’d woken a giant. It has taken several intrepid attempts by the band’s tour manager, Wolfgang, to summon him from slumber, but when he saunters to the phone to discuss his band’s sacking and pillaging of North America on their current tour with Ensiferum, Belphegor, and the Absence (it comes to the Palladium this Saturday), the towering and intimidatingly bearded frontman is soft-spoken and contemplative. Does he perceive a growing trend of myth-metallers in the last few years, what with bands like High on Fire and the Sword Americanizing myth-laden European truncheon metal? “In a way, yes. There’s a lot of bands out there doing this, and there’s been an increase in the last couple of years. It’s not a problem, though, for us: we know who we are and where we come from, so we’re going to continue to do what we do, and we hope people will remember that.”

You can see where Hegg gets this peace of mind: Amon Amarth have been at it for 16 years, weathering two decades of metal trends. Although they faltered slightly with their aborted first release, 1993’s Thor Arise (which included a cover of Black Sabbath’s “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” that is significantly less awesome than fellow Swedes the Cardigans’ 1995 version), they went on to perfect their particular brand of epic, mythically accurate chug metal over the course of eight full-lengths, crystallizing their precision and attack on this year’s presciently titled (in this time of financial and socio-political ruination) Metal Blade release Twilight of the Thunder Gods.

Deriving their name from an Elvish-language name for Lord of the Rings’ Mount Doom, Amon Amarth have always catered to a metal audience that craves, along with the bluster and aggression, big sounds and bigger myths. How crucial is the mythology to the music? “I don’t know if the myth is so crucial to it. There’s a lot of interesting subjects in mythology to bring into metal, but I think that ultimately it’s about writing good songs. I never really wanted to preach to anybody when writing our lyrics, or tell anybody what to think, so I try to write metaphorically instead, using mythology to make interesting stories so that people can get something out of it. I get inspired by this stuff; if somebody else gets inspired or gets something out of it, that’s fine. If they just think it’s a cool song, that’s fine as well.”

Referring to an Amon Amarth tune as a “cool song” might be misleading: their music gallops and chugs relentlessly, mercilessly, but always with a keen ear for melodic coherence and choruses that bring everything together in a whirlwind of speed, emotion, and careering sing-along. Mr. Hegg is like a field general at war; he’s there at the forefront with his woolly-mammoth growl, grounded, never floating away from the fray.

No surprise, of course, that his adoption of the Viking æsthetic has endowed him with a protective attitude against misrepresentations of the culture. “I think that Vikings have inherited a very bad reputation, mainly from Christians, who have an agenda, obviously, of describing the Vikings as brutal savages and what not. And that’s not true, Vikings were very sophisticated, you know?

“I’m not a religious guy — but the whole idea and the whole way of thinking that Vikings had appealed to me and became almost a philosophy of life. It’s definitely something I carry with me, and I think it’s an interesting view upon life that I feel very comfortable with — it’s very simple and straightforward.”

Various warrior themes always fit well into metal, what with its narrative of fighting mainstream antipathy and flying down an icy highway to sack another village and revel in conquest. But Hegg sees the Viking code as much more altruistic: “The Viking philosophy is basically this: be loyal to your friends and family, and try to leave a good name for yourself when you die. And the way to do that is to behave like a good person to the people around you; it’s as simple as that.” (Surely there must be some loophole buried in there regarding laying waste to kingdoms and countrysides.)

“But it’s also about standing up for what you believe in, for your ideas. I mean, obviously you shouldn’t be boneheaded, you should be open-minded, as well. Also you need a lot of tolerance. I think, in general, people are getting more and more open-minded. But religion is really something that makes people more narrow-minded and prejudiced. I’m not saying that I’m more right that anyone else — you are entitled to any belief you have — but this is what is right for me. Religion is definitely not a good thing in my book.”

AMON AMARTH + ENSIFERUM + THE ABSENCE + BELPHEGOR | Palladium, 261 Main St, Worcester | October 18 at 8 pm | $20-$25 | 800.477.6849 or www.thepalladium.net

Fall Music Preview 2008: Fables Of Reconstruction (Boston Phoenix, 9/8/08)

HEAD SCRATCHERS: Expect another work of genre-hopping, inscrutable genius from Of Montreal.

In a few decades, we’ll probably look back on the tumultuous days of autumn 2008 the way we now look back on the fall of ’68: as a tense political atmosphere subsumes all, the stirring pop hits of the day can’t help but reflect the refracting cracked mirror of our nation’s increasingly emotion-laden psyche. Or at least, that’s the conventional fable about why major labels and rock stars exist: to take our hopes and fears and produce the archetypes that will inspire us during the interesting times we hope to live in. But those broken mirror shards now resemble nothing more than the zillion smashed-out pieces of our pop culture, as everything from Disney tween pop to vinyl-only garage scuzz to low-down stripper krunk exists on its own little fringe island.

NELLY’s long-delayed Brass Knuckles (Derrty/Universal) sees the light of day on September 16, with the unlikely guest-list mishmash of Fergie, Chuck D, Akon, Snoop Dogg, Usher, and T.I. Being under house arrest on pending gun charges hasn’t slowed T.I. down — his new Paper Trail (Grand Hustle/Atlantic) hits on September 30. Swizz Beatz and Kanye are all over it, and watch for M.I.A.-sampling lead single “Swagger like Us” with Jay-Z and Lil Wayne. R. KELLY is another artist who hasn’t let his recent run-ins with the law slow him down: this fall will see the release of 12 Play 4th Quarter (Jive). Kelly dials down the outlandish tone of his last few albums, but if lead single “Hair Braider” is any indication, this isn’t going to be a chaste and penitent move for the R-Man. LUDACRIS’s new Theater of the Mind (Def Jam; October 21) is billed as “conceptual,” though we can assume that he’s staying away from the kind of political diss that got him in hot water with the Obama campaign.

Pop diva CIARA’s Fantasy Ride (Jive; December) is rumored to be a multi-disc extravaganza in three parts titled “Groove City,” Crunktown,” and “Kingdom of Dance.” This fall will also see two former Destiny’s Child solo discs: BEYONCÉ’s Virtuoso Intellect (Columbia; November 11) and MICHELLE WILLIAMS’s Unexpected (Columbia; October 7). And October 7 marks the release of two competing hipster-diva records: Norwegian electro-dance queen ANNIE’s Don’t Stop (Island) follows up on her 2004 Pitchfork-friendly debut, and LADY GAGA’s much delayed debut, The Fame (Interscope), shows her taking Kylie Minogue’s Eurosleaze throb and giving it an American twist. Lady GaGa is also part of the songwriting/producing army behind the PUSSYCAT DOLLS album Doll Domination (A&M/Interscope/Polydor; September 23), where the production credits will include Timbaland and Cee-Lo. Likewise on the manufactured-pop front, there’s the HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3 soundtrack (Walt Disney; October 24), which will probably sell enough copies to allow the rest of the music industry to wheeze along for another quarter. November 11 will see the release of the as-yet-untitled fourth album by former American IdolKELLY CLARKSON, whose powerful voice and unpretentious vibe have, no surprise, doomed her to a drama-laden trip through the biz; we’ll all have to wait with bated breath to see whether Clive Davis has shackled her with an overbearing production and songwriting team as penance for the underwhelming sales of 2007’s self-written and gloomy My December. Speaking of gloomy: October 13 marks the release of the CURE’s self-produced 13th long-player, 4:13 Dream (I Am/Geffen), which is rumored to comprise the more upbeat songs they recorded during a recent productive stint. (The darker tunes may be released on a future album.) Also look for a more stripped-down feel on the forthcoming third album from the KILLERS, whose Day and Age (Island; November) jettisons the overblown studio pomp of 2006’s Sam’s Town in favor of a Roy Orbison–influenced shimmering pop sheen under producer Stuart Price (Madonna’s Confession on a Dance Floor). OASIS return this fall as well, with Dig Out Your Soul (Big Brother/Sony; October 7), which, much like 2005’s Don’t Believe the Truth, is an expertly crafted rock album with crushing sonics, big hooks, stellar playing, and a winning glance back at rock’s history that’s being hyped as a return to form by a band who never fell off the horse in the first place. AC/DC’s new Black Ice (Columbia; October 21, only at Wal-Mart — go figure) will shock fans by veering into trip-hop and sensitive balladry. Just kidding. Lead single “Rock N’ Roll Train” is pretty much what you’d expect: Highway to Hell riffage, Powerage production, and the glottal howl of Brian Johnson. Metal Blade spits up a few Viking-themed metal releases on September 30, with AMON AMARTH’s Twilight of the Thunder God and BISON B.C.’s Quiet Earth. And all hail the return of Brooklyn-via-Columbus stoner thrashers EARLY MAN, whose Jack Endino–produced Beware the Circling Fin EP (The End Records; October 14) finds them surviving their dumping at the hands of old label Matador and living to thrash another day. Brooklyn’s VIVIAN GIRLS convert their garage-rocking out-of-print vinyl-only homonymous album to 1’s and 0’s on October 7 with the help of In the Red Records. Swedish ’70s psychedelic guitar-hero revivalists DUNGEN unveil their fourth long-player, 4 (Subliminal Sounds) on September 23, alongside TV ON THE RADIO’s dark, angry and yet glammy and funky Dear Science, (Geffen). Also on October 7: two head-scratching works of inscrutable genius, OF MONTREAL’s dense, genre-hopping Skeletal Lamping (Polyvinyl) and San Francisco punk-art weirdos DEERHOOF’s new two-act opus, Offend Maggie (Kill Rock Stars).