People who tolerate mediocrity seem to me like those who get really drunk at their friends' birthday parties: secretly miserable.

I've spun this album thoroughly enough to conclude it is just another post-WOOOS album: Predictable, admittedly a bit plastic now (judging by that album cover I kept expecting Tom Hiddleston and Chris Hemsworth to make an appearance on the record) but still mildly enjoyable as long as you get past the fixation of their 2006 magnum opus.
As far as the bonus EP goes, it's just a take it or leave it fun,cheesy extra little treat. Stand Up to Go Down is the best track there. Snake Eyes is pretty awful.

I saw Amon Amarth on the Surtur Rising tour; they played the entire album and a bunch of classics, a gigantic two-hour set. I listened to a song from "Deceiver of the Gods" and came to the conclusion that a band I once considered a favorite has been releasing the same album for about seven years!

I really like this album, better than Surtur and Twilight in my opinion. As Loke Falls, Shapeshifter and Blood Eagle are my favourites so far. Ironically the first track they released - the title track - underwhelmed me greatly and disspointed me. But everything bar that is great. Still have more to listen to.

Well I definitely understand what some people have said about the lack of leads. Doing some EQ stuff on my phone, I was able to remedy the issue. I use the Google Play app to listen to music on my phone, and it has a "3D effect" on it that muddles the vocals and brings up some of the other instruments, especially the leads. They're definitely there, it's just that they aren't nearly as high up in the mix as they normally are for an Amon Amarth recording. Looking up the album credits, it turns out Andy Sneap was the producer on this album and this is his first outing as a producer for Amon Amarth, which is probably why the album sounds kind of "funny" considering their previous works.

After listening to the album under these conditions, there are a ton of riffs that you just don't hear with normal EQ settings, and those riffs are actually quite good. I can hear riffs that I didn't realize were tremolos, notes that I never heard before, and even a lot more of the rhythm guitar as well. Changing these settings has given the album a lot more of the "punch" that we expect from Amon Amarth. It's unfortunate as I still like the album, but I totally get the disappointment that many people have expressed in regards to how the album sounds.

I'm not using it as an excuse for what they've released and I certainly don't expect anyone to actually change their mind by changing EQ settings, it' s just something interesting that I've observed.