Well-known in the underground metal community for their The Arrival Of The Fimbul Winter demo and their debut CD Sorrow Throughout The Nine Worlds on Pulverized Records in Singapore, Amon Amarth are finally able to reach a much larger audience after signing to Metal Blade Records. Their music is on the crossroads between death and black metal, they can easily fit into either category. Their latest offering Once Sent From The Golden Hall is much more death-oriented than their previous offerings. The music is very aggressive with typical black metal blast beats varied with actual drumming (a rarity in most European metal acts), they blend speed with melody, even their slower tracks are melodic, with the typical snarly Swedish death metal vocals of Johan Hegg leading the way. Lyrically, Amon Amarth is more of a war metal or black metal act as the theme of their music is based around Viking history and the lives of the Viking warriors and the music blends well with the atmosphere of the lyrics (and vice-versa). Fans of earlier Amon Amarth may be slightly disappointed by the bands change in musical direction, however I think Once Sent From The Golden Hall is a good, solid death-black album.

Review byTeufel