Sorrow Throughout the Nine Worlds

Amon Amarth is one of those bands that can do no wrong. At least they haven't up till now.

Their EP "Sorrow Throughout the Nine Worlds", despite clocking just under 25 minutes, can count as a full-fledged record with five well-developed, mature tracks, and as such, I see it as their real debut. Now that makes for both a suprising fact, given that it's undoubtedly the band's best disc to this day, and an explanation, since most bands release their best stuff on their debuts. But the great thing about Amon Amarth is that they recognized they had hit upon a winning formula here, and thus stuck with it, making only a few minor adjustments to their sound over the years. Let's hope they keep it that way.

Now I'm not quite a huge fan of melodic death metal; At The Gates, Dark Tranquillity, Arch Enemy, whatnot, it's not very much my cup of tea, apart from the odd quality song or sometimes even an entire album. Amon Amarth is, however, of an entirely different kind of melodic death and has one of the most recognizable sounds among contemporary extreme metal bands. Yes, their guitars are down-tuned, but it doesn't sound anywhere near as flaccid as it usually does. I guess you'll have to hear it before you know. What makes it so outstanding is the exquisite quality of the riffs, which consist almost entirely of dual guitar harmonies and tremolo picking, epic, melodic and emotional. In later albums they would sometimes shift more towards a rhythmic approach, see "With Oden on Our Side" for instance, but here, it's all tremolo-picked harmony, with a variation of drum patterns underneath it. But always straightforward and sincere, as is typically Amon Amarth - quite the opposite of Malmsteen and the likes. No infinite arpeggio ass-raping in here, just plain catchy tunes.

Now having described Amon Amarth in general, I can't help but stating that "Sorrow Throughout the Nine Worlds" is the absolute top of all that on one small disc. The compositions here are actually more complex than on their later albums, though not in any kind of pretentious or overblown manner, and all five songs are as memorable as it could possibly get for the band.

It takes off with the title track, and does so with a bang. There you got it, Amon Amarth's characteristic twin guitar sound, no less. But there's more to the song than just that; there's a change around 2:00 and the song changes character, with the characteristic lead hopping in. On Amon Amarth's leads: some consider them as "poor", and if all you care for is shredding and scale-poop, they are. But shite are they effective! A guide on how to create effective solos. At 3:20 the song's "chorus" comes in, which is pretty emotional, I dare say. Solid track, which not simply "hints" at the band's "later" achievements, but which is simply the achievement itself.

"The Arrival Of The Fimbul Winter", from their 1994 demo, is the second blow from the Viking hammer on here. Starts fast, slows down a bit, a bit of soloing again, then works its way to the main tune, which comes at 1:30, then reprises the opening riff and continues. Well, you can't say this ain't well-done. Best performance here is by vocalist Johan Hegg; the scream at 3:48 is just plain chilling. Take him away and you take most of the band's essence with it.

Third is "Burning Creation", which turns out to be another solid track. (Which Amarth song doesn't?) The solo in here is slightly more complex as well. Oh yes, and the lyrics are all Viking stuff of course. I'm usually terrible at paying attention to them, but I can't recall a song by the band dealing with anything else than Vikings. Love it or hate it.

"The Mighty Doors Of The Speargod's Hall" could be my favourite track on here, if it wasn't for the next one. Pretty heavy, going mid-paced for its first half, then after the Swedish words are sung picks up at 3:15 with a nicely complex tune, then continues mid-paced. Unlike some of their other tracks, this one hasn't a zilch of predictability.

And then the definite milestone, which goes by the name of "Under The Grayclouded Winter Sky". Take everything I said above, then multiply it by at least three. Quintessential Amon Amarth song, if not their very best (this or "Victorious March"). Goes mid-paced for a while with a thundering riff, then takes an even more thundering riff after two minutes, and changes again after another two minutes. The tune coming in at 4:00 is catchy as fuck, and when the rhythm reprises, it will damn well grip you by the throat, unless you're dead or something. Holy shite. And it quits again with a bang, leaving room for you to put on "The Avenger" or so.

Yeah, this is not your average we-have-only-two-good-songs-so-we-can't-make-full-length-album EP. In short, if you like Amon Amarth, you need this. If you don't, you also need this.

On the production: I have the remastered version, and it doesn't sound anywhere near being a band's mere first decent recording effort. "Army Of Darkness", this is not. As a matter of fact, it's not very different from the production on their later stuff, better than "Once Sent From The Golden Hall"; clear, with enough emphasis on each instrument. Sometimes, the bass is lacking, but that's of course a matter of taste.