Death is June - Live Review : Metal Crushed All Tour with Amon Amarth & Cannibal Corpse @ the Yuengling Center

Death metal hitting arenas was not what I expected, though the more mainstream sounds of Amon Amarth drew in a large portion of the crowd. It was a hometown show the two death metal legends Obituary and Cannibal Corpse. The evening's first band. Frozen Soul served as the impetus to get me out of the house and to the Yuengling Center. Their "Glacial Domination" album is my favorite metal album of 2023.  They opened with "Encased In Ice" which set an ominous enough tone for their introduction. Frontman Chad Green was very engaging, and perhaps the most eager to connect with the crow. The band stomped in the more recent fare with the crunching chug of " Morbid Effigy", They streamed the songs and got to the point with none of the atmospheric build-up heard on the albums. "Arsenal of War' got the moshing going. Their groove style of death metal works well with larger crowds.     artic stranglehold, no snow machine or magic the Gathering was being played in the pit, just the enthusiasm of a band taking the step up to play in larger venues along aide their idols. 

Obituary was impressive and very professional. The last time I caught them was at a club in Atlanta, during one of the periods when Death Metal was not as popular as it is now, so 2009 sounds about right. Production wise everything was dialed in. They might have even been the tightest band. But there was a feeling that despite this being a hometown show they were not into it and punching the clock. Even punching the clock they are still top tier. They only played songs from their two most recent albums, which are both rippers so that was not bad, it was just with a limited time frame, they could have thrown in one classic. Regardless it was clear they deserved to be on an arena stage because, in terms of execution, it was like  watching Slayer in their prime, 

Cannibal Corpse took the stage with little fanfare and a great deal of authority. "Scourge of Iron", was a fitting opening song as it is more deliberate so was no the band just hammering you with a barrage of brutality from the word go. They proved they have been perfecting their grooves over the years with "Blood Blind" from their most recent album.  The more thrashing attack of "Inhumane Harvest" from "Violence Unimagined' felt even more powerful. "Evisceration Plague" would not have been my first choice for their set list, but it translated well, and kept their momentum going. They are pretty confident in their body of work and when they dug into "Death Walking Terror" it proved they have every right to be. Some songs even worked better with " I Cum Blood" certainly being one of them. "Summoned For Sacrifice" was once again proof that their newest album holds up against their body of work. While Fisher claimed "Stripped, Raped and Strangled" was their last song they did come back and play  "Hammer Smashed Face". They were one of the most crushing heavy bands I have seen live. 

Before they went on I knew that no amount of Viking ships, dragons, or Castles could make Amon Amarth as crushing as Cannibal Corpse. Not only was this proven true, but the weaker sound of the Swedish band bored me three songs into their set. Only made it halfway through their set and I was done.  I was glad to have caught Cannibal Corpse and I recommend you do the same thing if you have not yet been hammered in you face by these guys. 

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Amon Amarth: "the Great Heathen Army"

They might be from Sweden but have more in common with Ikea than Vikings. I do not care how many boats they have on stage. They play a catchy style of death metal that has earned them a a place at the top of the death metal heap, packing out venues with stages big enough to fit those fake shapes on. They continue to sharpen the songs hooks showing that you do not have to have a singer that actually sings in order to have thousands of fists pumping to your anthems. The first melody that employs any type of Scandinavian folk elements comes before the shuffling verse of "Heidrun".  Aside from that it chugs along a similar path as the first two songs. That path is very well done and airtight in terms of production, but these guys are in the elite tier of professionals at this point so you would not expect any less. 

When the pace picks up on "Oden Owns You All" they sound like any other top tier mainstream death metal band.  There are some really killer riffs, thought the rule here is cool riffs alone does not a good song make, they have arranged them in such a way that the long boat might not be reinvented here, but it works. The more mid-tempo march of "Find a Way or Make One" is a more effective display of their talents, even if it compromises the sheer heaviness of what they are doing. You can also hear more traces of conventional classic metal on this album. Sometimes they default to stock melo-death thrashing with songs like " Dawn of Norsemen" where some of the freshness begins to fade the deeper, we get into the album. This sound is still bound to make some heads bang but working off a formula for sure. They break up things by throwing a melodic passage of acoustic guitars in, but you can predict how it is going to get back to the ride over the metal fjords again. 

They are like a more chugged and growled version of Iron Maiden on "Saxons and Vikings" which must be their version of "the Trooper".  It also features guest vocals from Saxon's Biff Byford. I am more impressed by the crunch of "Skagul Rides with Me". Though the one-dimensional growl of the vocals is getting weary at this point in the album. The chorus is also not the album's strongest. There is a pretty killer riff to "the Serpents Trail".  Though it never really builds into anything more intense and coasts around the established them. But overall, this album is a pretty solid display of a band in their stride, predictable sure, but on point for what they do. I will give it a 9. 

7.6

Amon Amarth : " Berserker"

These guys are more of a death metal thrash hybrid with catchy riffs than what I would call "viking metal" , They are more about the double bass than any kind of folk elements worked in. Sound effects leading into a song don't count. Any one dial in a sample. Sure they might have a viking ship onstage, but who the fuck cares when it is playing on your iPod.  These guys are good at what they do, but are they bringing something new to the great hall or just warming up left overs. The guitar harmonies on "Crack the Sky" is almost too happy, it does get a little angrier going into the chorus. The vocals have not changed at all and are pretty one dimensional. The guitars are their main strength. While I would not say their are folk metal or power metal, the problem I have with many of those bands is they have a little too much frolic in their riffs.

The songs are rather compact. When the lead growler uses his lower growl it is more effective. On "Shield Wall"  they prove to me that they can write a fucking song. But can they keep this up? There is more of a thrash feel to "Valkyria", it's nothing special. The opening riff to "Raven's Flight" sounds like an out take from the "Pain Killer"album with out Halford.  We are back to getting left overs warmed up. Even though the guitar tone changes leading into "Ironside" it goes into the double bass driven same old same old that is beginning to bore me. Lyrically it seems like they pulled everything from the vikings show, I guess they skipped history class.

The albums strongest moments is when they slow their gallop and are more deliberate with it. "When Once We Set Our Sails" is a little more melodic , but this guys growl has gotten old. I can see where teenage metal guitar players could really get into this think 13 or 14 is when I would have really dug it. When I was 15 I was getting into hard core and it would have felt silly. These guys are hit or miss as going into "Skoll and Hati" its speed up and gets heavier. I think the vocals work better on this song, but it's pretty straight forward racing gallops . "Wings of Eagles" could have been any of  the other songs before this. "Into the Dark" is marginally more melodic and the big epic scale guitar works well here, there is also cool break down like riff at the end. However they fall prey to the rule here which is "cool riffs alone do not make a good song" This is well done and sometimes really hits the mark. Despite it seeming like these guys are making the same album over and over, I will give this an 8.


 

Amon Amarth : "Jomsviking"

If you make so called "viking metal" and consistently leave me feeling luke warm about what you do then there is a problem. This Swedish band who now finds themselves on their tenth album is not the only offender when it comes to this. It's not unlike how I felt when I went to the Norway exhibit at Epcot, they would leave you to believe there is nothing more to the culture than sweaters, trolls and Frozen. Granted of all the Scandinavian cultures the Swedes often come across as if they are overcompensating for birthing Abba and are the most welcoming of western culture. This album doesn't remedy that problem, but they continue to fine tune what they do.

What Amon Amarth does is use the twin guitar attacks makes up for the vocals by carrying the weight of the melodies . Amon Amarth also makes me feel like what they do has already been done by Unleashed, just with bigger production and a tad more Iron Maiden in the guitar harmonies. They also have a sense of hooks that appeals to kids who grew up on Lamb of God. "First Kill" is well written and executed it just doesn't give him the empowering feeling that really good metal normally bestows upon me when it touches my ears. They come off very arena rockish on "Wanderer" The vocals are the only thing that keep them firmly planted in death metal rather than power metal. As the song begins to live up to its title and wander it also loses my attention until the melodic breakdown that gets ruined by the spoken word section.

"On a Sea of Blood" picks up the pace, meeting  at the cross roads of thrash and death metal.When the vocals dip into the lower growl to join the more chugged groove the results are rather impressive. "One Against All" has some powerful riffing, but loses it at the chorus even with the gang vocals.Lyrically it's all Dungeons and Dragons foolishness. The vocals are well produced and I like it when he goes into the deeper growls. "Raise Your Horns" is equally parts 80's cheese and catchy modern metal. The accents adding by the layers of backing vocals are the songs' strongest quality.  When the speed up into the chorus it turns into the more typical viking metal drinking song. I can hear it going over big at festivals like Wacken.

"the Way of the Viking" feels like filler to me.  It's well played and they are hitting the right punches, but it's like LARPing vs a real battle. No manner of shredding solos can convince me otherwise. There is more of a thrashing attack to "Dawns First Light". The guitars sound bigger than they are heavy. The fact that there is more aggression to their sound than darkness is one of the x-factors that sets these guys in the middle of the road."One Thousand Burning Arrows" benefits from a more melodic backdrop and offers a little more emotional depth. These guys are no doubt riff machines many of them sound similar, but the chug always falls in just the right place. "A Dream That Can Not Be" is a little darker, touching on some meatier intervals with the lower growls helping to lower the mood before the female vocals come in. It's not Maria Brink, but the vocals have a similar quality.

In someways this album is an improvement for the band, but it's really splitting bear hairs as they are not really doing anything differently than they have before, unless we are talking their earlier work, as they now sit firmly in the middle of the road for where mainstream metal is at today.I'll give this one a 7.5.

Amon Amarth: Deceiver of the Gods

This is the Swedish band's 9th album and I can there appeal just as I can see they might be viewed as too commercial by those who are trying to stay brutal with their death metal as there are a fair amount of power metal influences sprinkled in a this isn't what gets considered pagan metal or viking metal despite all their lyrical references and well.. their beards, it has more in common with Dethklok or Arch Enemy, though they are rolled 20's to notch the epic factor up.

I  have always heard these guys in passing I think there last album was  the first I loaded on the Ipod to play all the way through and I remember then doing a god awful cover of a System of a Down song.  They take a little getting use to out the gate with the opening title track because you almost forget the days when metal didn't have a blackened something to it so with out any dissonance , darkness , tremolo picking of blast beats , it sound joyfully triumphant which depending on your taste can be a good thing or a bleh... thing. It keeps at a very thrash pace. When it comes to finding common ground with fellow countrymen  and these guys come closer to At the Gates than Dissection.

"As Loke Falls" is for better or worse your average thrash affair with some harmony guitar flourishes, sure there a good chug here and there in between it all but does that make for cool riff or good songwriting?


 The opening riff of "Father of the Wolf" is pretty much classic metal dialed in from 1987 with the only big difference being the vocals, if they were sung in the operatic yodel it could be Armoured Saint or somebody like Helloween  though at several points in the album I am reminded of Unleashed,  The riffs are melodic and hooky enough for most not saying they have really drawn me in until I am like "Oh there's an Iron Maiden riff"

"Shapeshifter" the riffage sounds darker , has more of a death metal feel, more powerful and less power metal gallop to this one, call and response chorus is a little different in the vocal panning than other songs. His voice over all seems to have two modes of growl mid to low.

 The chug to"Under Siege" is one of the few songs where I am won over by the power of the riff alone, though the arrangment certainly helps the placement of it have more impact , as I am seldom won over by chug alone. The guitar sounds on this album are very big and everything here is highly orchestrated in the mix, which gives it the slickness that causes some people to be turned off.  One of the other solid riff in your face songs is " We Shall Destroy" . This one invokes that Unleashed field and is more legitimate death metal.

" Blood Eagle" cranks up some Slayer like riffage this one is much thrashier, the chorus riff in particular and the chorus benefits from the slick production in how the vocals, the guitar could cut through more in places some times it seems to take on an obtuse wall of volume and it seems like a mix issue, should have taken some of the effects of and given every thing a more in your face sound like "Reign in Blood".  " Coming of the Tide" follows a similar trajectory. It's pretty straightforward the riffs charge ahead , fans of Skeleton Witch are probably already listening to these guys but if not they are missing out. The double bass switches up it's pattern here but they use that really straight ahead snare hit which ruins it for me though the riff in the last two minutes steers the song in a better direction.  

"Hel" is a treat for me as I had  been waiting for former Candlemass singer Messiah Marcolin to make his appearance , it's a pretty straightforward not heavier than any thing off "Nightfall" .Messiah is a little low in the mix for me layered underneath the lead growler. Messiah does sound as if his pipes have held up fairly well.

There's a pretty effective riff at the two and a half minute mark of "Coming of the Tide"  the song it self becomes a little bland in its momentum and some times default to what would sound good to solo over. There is a slight mosh waltz to a riff here and there in "Warriors of  the North". This album sounds great , the song writing well... this sound has been time tested but also overdone leaving it feeling a little bland , I generally prefer stuff that's darker and more experimental, so it's not really my thing as it's presented here, still they are good at what they do and fans of the band could even round this up an entire point as I'm giving it a 6.5

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