Twilight of the Thunder God
Occupation
- Vocals: Johan Hegg
- Guitar: Olavi Mikkonen
- Guitar: Johan Söderberg
- Bass: Ted Lundström
- Drums: Fredrik Andersson
Twilight of the Thunder God (English for Twilight of the Thunder God ) is the seventh studio album by the Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth. It was released September 19, 2008 via Metal Blade Records. With this album the band for the first time made it into the top 10 of the German album charts.
Formation
The songwriting process began in the fall of 2007 after completion of the European tour with Dimmu Borgir and angels. For the first time also the second guitarist Johan Söderberg contributed ideas. The majority of the material but still comes from Olavi Mikkonen. Between January and April 2008, the band members met five times to compose from the collected ideas new songs a week. In the meantime, the band extended its contract with Metal Blade Records for three more studio albums.
On May 1, 2008 started at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro the recordings. As with the previous album Twilight of the Thunder God by Jens Bogren was produced. Bogren also took over the mixing and mastering. First, the drums were recorded. For this purpose, a guitar track was played, which was accompanied by a metronome. This drummer Frederik Andersson should be a point of reference will be given. Thereafter, rhythm guitar, recorded bass, lead guitar and vocals, with the solo guitar and the vocals have alternated. According to Johann Hegg, the band was able to save time and money.
For the first time in the band's history Amon Amarth resorted to guest musicians. For the title song Roope Latvala contributed by Children of Bodom a guitar solo at. In " Guardians of Asgaard " Entombed vocalist Lars- Göran Petrov is heard. Last step Apocalyptica with their cellos on in "Live for the Kill".
During the recordings, the band released six studio diaries as videos. The recordings were completed on 13 June 2008. Early August 2008, the band traveled to Poland to film a music video for the title song. A short time later, the band's theme song, and later " Guardians of Asgaard " prior to their MySpace page.
Background
" Guardians of Asgaard " describes how the abode of the gods Asgaard is defended against attacks of the giants. In "Where Is Your God? " The situation of villagers describes being ambushed. Your prayers to the Christian God are not answered. The piece " Varyags of Miklagaard " describes returning warriors who served the Emperor of Miklagard. " The Hero " describes the situation of a mercenary, which falls on the battlefield and finally mourned by strangers.
Reception
Twilight of the Thunder God was in a total of four German metal magazines ( Rock Hard, Metal Hammer, Legacy and Heavy or what?) Voted " Album of the Month ". Metal Hammer editor in chief Thorsten tooth describes the album as a " masterpiece of melodic death metal ", which " brought crisp, to the point wins the battle ." For Stefan Hofmann of the online magazine Bloodchamber Twilight of the Thunder God is a " complex album that ranks with no real failures of the highlights of the band's history ."
Twilight of the Thunder God in Germany rose to number six on the album charts. Other high in the charts in Finland there was (ranked 10 ), Sweden (11th ), Austria ( 14th) and Switzerland ( number 21 ). In the U.S., the album peaked at number 48 and sold in the first week more than 11,000 times.
Versions
Twilight of the Thunder God was released in four versions. In addition to the regular CD, the album was released as a double LP. In Europe, a limited edition was released, which includes a recording of the performance at Summer Breeze Festival 2007 on CD and DVD of the album. Lastly, there is a limited edition of 1000 copies boxset can be found in the nodders of the individual band members, a poster and a comic book.
Covers
The theme song Twilight of the Thunder God has been covered several times. Examples are:
Sabaton on your album Carolus Rex
Corvus Corax on your album Gimlie