July 24, 2026

An Apology to Amon Amarth

Episode Highlights:

* Walking Back the Hot Take: Hosts John Staley and Derek Showerhead get self-aware and revisit a previous, highly critical take they had regarding the legendary Swedish melodic death metal band, Amon Amarth.

* Praise for "Gjallarhorn": Derek admits he judged the band's current status too hastily and praises their recent track "Gjallarhorn" (tied to the Upphaf / The Allfather Awakens cycle) as a massive return to their aggressive, Viking metal roots.

* Addressing the Backlash: The duo dives into the heat they took from their listeners over their original comments.

* Authenticity vs. Gimmicks: The conversation shifts into a deeper discussion about the role of identity in heavy metal and why metal fans aggressively defend authenticity over perceived gimmicks.

* Podcasting Confessions: John humorously owns up to his own podcasting ineptitude and admits to a lack of general knowledge regarding the band's extensive back catalog.

* Fearing the Horde: Derek jokingly begs for mercy, hoping that frontman Johan Hegg and the rest of the band don’t show up on his doorstep armed with broadswords.

AMON AMARTH BIO

Formed in Tumba, Sweden back in 1992, Amon Amarth pulled their name from the Sindarin term for Mount Doom in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. But let’s be honest, today they are synonymous with one thing: Viking metal. Even though the guys technically prefer the "melodic death metal" label, it's hard to argue with a band that consistently brings massive Viking longships on stage and writes absolute war hymns about Norse mythology.

For over two decades, they built an ironclad reputation on the back of Johan Hegg's beastly, guttural vocals and the relentless, driving riffs found on absolute bangers like "First Kill." Recently, though, the band has sparked some heated debate among the music-loving malcontents here at Sh!t Talk Reviews. Are they leaning a little too heavily into polished, fist-pumping festival anthems? Throwing a curveball acoustic track like "Uuphaf" into the mix definitely raised our eyebrows, leaving us wondering where the line is between bold artistic evolution and stepping too far away from the heavy roots that got them here.

Whether you're all-in on their newer festival vibe or you just want them to stick to classic blood-and-guts melodeath, there's no denying they remain absolute titans of the genre. As they gear up to drop their 13th studio album, The Allfather Awakens, later in 2026, here is the crew currently steering the longship.

2026 AMON AMARTH BAND MEMBERS:

Johan Hegg – Vocals
Olavi Mikkonen – Lead Guitar
Ted Lundström – Bass
Johan Söderberg – Rhythm Guitar
Jocke Wallgren – Drums

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Frequently Asked Questions

What are some of Amon Amarth's most essential albums?

Amon Amarth has a highly consistent discography, but one stands out as fan favorite and critical milestone: Twilight of the Thunder God (2008): A massive commercial success that cemented their status as metal titans, debuting at No. 50 on the US Billboard 200.

What are Amon Amarth most iconic songs?

If you want to understand the band's sound, start with these anthems: "The Pursuit of Vikings" – Often considered their greatest hit and a staple of their live shows. "Twilight of the Thunder God" – A fast, aggressive track featuring a legendary guitar solo. "Guardians of Asgaard" – A defining anthem of their mid-career era. "Raise Your Horns" – A more recent, massive sing-along anthem that has become a defining part of their live sets. "Death In Fire" – A brutal, unhinged roar of devotion to battlefield victory.

Why do fans care so much about this Amon Amarth's authenticity?

As discussed in the podcast episode, heavy metal fans are intensely protective of bands that stay true to their roots. Amon Amarth has managed to build massive, elaborate stage shows (complete with Viking ships and combatants) while keeping their musical core grounded in the same heavy, melodic death metal style they pioneered in the late 90s and early 2000s.

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You know, sometimes in life, we are all guilty of climbing up a tree and walking out on a limb and maybe saying something

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that we we got, what is it? We got out over our skis or we put the cart before the horse. And this is one of those times.

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Yeah. So, I owe Aman Marf, Johan Heg, and the rest of the Vikings,

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and I'm sorry. And I'm sorry. Um, I have been complaining that on the last

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podcast that they had abandoned their fans. They had abandoned everything that made them good. They were playing

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cosplay on the Great Heathen Army, and they returned with everything that I was complaining about. So,

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The All Fathers Awakens is going to be led with a masterpiece of a banger.

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Viking metal Galah horn is the name of the song and it is badass and it is what I've been missing really since 2019 with

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them. Um, and the album cover is badass with like a Viking with like a bloody eye and you know, it's there's no

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cosplay of the band, you know, it's back to the artwork that made them cool.

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And I I just feel like a jackass, like a complete and utter jackass. And I'm sorry. And please don't cut my head

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off or pillage my house, uh, eat my cats. Um, you know, I I I really hope

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you don't do that, but uh I to give credit where credit's due. Um, certainly Gallah Horn is the best work that they've done um really since 2019.

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What was the song? Uh, I've I've forgotten because as I said in the last podcast, um, I I'm not a big Monomarth

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fan. Not that I have anything against them, I just don't know their catalog.

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And you had me go back to a track uh from 10 years ago. First Kill.

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First Kill. Yeah. You had me go back to First Kill and listen to that. And then I did a first listen of which is the the

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far more acoustic based first single from the All Father Awakens. And yeah, Galler Horn seems much more like First

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Kill than uh UPO did. So uh again, I don't know the band, but it'll be interesting when this album comes out.

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And it is scheduled to come out when? We don't know. I don't I don't know because I'm terrible podcaster. But it'll be

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interesting to see how much of the album is filled with type material versus Galler Horn. But you're right, man.

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Galler Horn is a ripper. It's it's quick. It's uh dare I say thrashy.

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Viking thrash maybe. I I don't know what the genre would be, but it's a pretty badass track.

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Well, it got back to their death metal roots, but it's a fast death metal song.

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And you know, honestly, you you go back like I really liked uh Berserker and Crack the Sky, Molir, Hammer of Thor. Um

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you know, those were really good songs and that again is from 2019 and they kind of I think lost their way, but

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they've gotten back to the formula at least with Galah Horn. We'll see how the rest of the record is. Um, but it is not

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one of those chanter, you know, every getting everybody in the crowd doing their ores and everything else. It's

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just back to being a a banging destructive Viking band. And I, you know, I'm happy about it. What's also

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cool about it for those that are Destiny 2 fans that are out there, um, Galah Horn is actually one of the epic weapons

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that you get in the game. And so gamers will know that yeah, you got it at the end of a dungeon, I believe. And so it's

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kind of that's kind of cool as well, you know, because Destiny 2 is ending.

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There's a lot of people that are up in arms about it. And again, this song is not about that, but it's a great song, and I wanted to bring up Galah Horn

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because it's a great weapon in Destiny 2.

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Yeah. Well, you're uh you're it is very big of you to uh fall on the sword, if you will, and acknowledge that perhaps they have not made a tectonic shift in

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style and and I suspect that there were a lot of commenters across all the social media platforms that took great

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exception to your position. So, very kind of you to step out. Yeah, there were a few folks that were um you

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know, they were like one of them said to me or said to us, it was uh it was you're calling a band that is about

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Viking lore a shtick and they're the ultimate sticktick band. And it's fair.

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That's that's true. But I like my music aggressive. I like my music to, you know, if you're going to have be Viking

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metal, be Viking metal. You know, have your beer horn, chug your beer, have an axe on your back, pull the back axe off, and let's let's spill some blood. Don't

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sit there and do an acoustic track and then still sing Viking style. No, didn't work. Well, for an an amarthr ignorant

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uh listener such as myself, this track seems to prove that that uh at least so far that was a one-off track. And there

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will at least be a few other tracks on this album, The All Father Awakens, that will definitely be rippers and not in the style of oopoff. And the cover's

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badass, and I would wear that as a t-shirt. So, they're back. I I'm hoping they're back. Fingers crossed that that

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we don't have a bunch of other hoooffs uh on the All Father Awakens. I I I really really hope that that's not the

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case, and it's probably not. Um but uh thank you Aman Marth for giving me hope for the world that not everybody's going

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to sell out their complete soul to the almighty dollar or whatever currency uh that you are um you know that you use

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from where you're from and uh Mr. Hegs and the rest of the guys in the band.

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Um, if you'd like to DM us, uh, by all means, please feel free and I will provide you with Derek's home address if

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you still feel the urge to, uh, to remove his head from from his upper torso. Yeah, I I deserve it.

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Well, props for props props for again falling on the sword and good track, man. I look forward to the rest of the record. Yeah, likewise. See you later.

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with it.