The Great Heathen Army

Amon Amarth seem like nice guys, which is the best I can say about them. I’ve missed a bunch of their recent albums, but I don’t think this is a case where I really have to get a lot of context for it. All their stuff sounds the same. Like a lot of metal bands, they’re reliable for putting out exactly what you’d expect every so often.

These songs all stick to a totally safe midtempo, sluggish and unable to really get the blood pumping in the way you’d want this kind of music to. The riffs on the first song get a nice churning stomp going, certainly fit for festivals where a light beer is $13 and you’re crammed up against everyone’s sweaty armpits. But then they do the same thing on all the other songs and it’s just not a compelling enough sound to keep you invested. It feels like they’re purposefully holding themselves back from actually rocking out. The melody serves to dilute the sound. While there are some pleasant rolling harmonies going on, none of it sticks or lingers in the mind. None of these riffs really hit hard past that first song being alright. The rhythms are clunky and the guitar sound is perfectly in the middle, warm and a bit crunchy but nothing overly abrasive, essentially just background music.

Johan Hegg has never impressed me as a singer. Maybe if he sounded really pissed off it’d be different and work a little better, but mostly it’s just noisy for no reason, a simplistic grunting bark even when the music is melodic enough to maybe be a little interesting. The vocals staying at the same stunted croak the whole time just keeps everything so static and lifeless. A clean singer would work just fine for the vast majority of melodeath bands I’ve ever heard - the harsh singing with these bands always just seems like they couldn’t find a good enough actual singer. The duet on this album with British legends Saxon only points out the stark contrast - Biff Byford’s lightning-bolt shrieking adds a minor shot in the arm for what otherwise is a pretty dull trudge by that point in the album. Great clean vocals can really add shade and color to the music. Whole new dimensions.

Ultimately this is just a Product™ made for consumption, right off a conveyor belt. Nothing challenging, everything right on the surface, and everything with the distinct feel of promotion. “Come see us play live” isn’t really a compelling musical vision. This album is just the musical equivalent to a promotional beer coozie or an action figure. Lyrics are utterly plain recitations of the same ‘battle is cool’ shit we’ve heard forever, the same old odes to vikings and war and shit that you can get anywhere. Why the reverence for the times of vikings and all that? It was a smelly, rancid, dull time and the threat of getting randomly murdered or dying young of some preventable disease was a lot higher. Sounds like a bad time to spend so much time focusing on. But on the other hand, the climate hadn’t been ruined yet, so, touche on that aspect of this revisionism and romanticizing the past.

Not like I expected them to start philosophizing at me, but “Odin Owns You All,” “Get in the Ring,” is this shit really compelling to anyone over the age of 13? It’s all just meaningless. This is what art is to people? Filler stuff - hollow words in the name of “fun,” but honestly, this album is only 40 minutes long and feels twice that length. The lyrics end up reflecting the music - the band just sounds bored, and I’m bored reading and listening to them here.

This is a solid release. I'm not a big fan of this band but I'll have to say that they did a good job with the guitar riffs. That's what stands out the most for me. And the vocals go well with the music. They're really in sync altogether. The production quality is solid too. I'm not a fan of the lyrical concepts, but they did well altogether on this release. There's a few guest musicians on here briefly you can hear the power metal vocals on one of the later track ("Saxons and Vikings"). I'm a bit surprised there hasn't been all high ratings for this album. It's really a good album, it has all the makings of quality melodic death metal.

The music carries with the vocals quite good! The rhythms/melodies are quite good for a band that I've overlooked for far too long. These guys do a good job of piecing the music together and making it work well. The tempos weren't exceptionally fast. In fact, they had some pretty wicked rhythms and melodies. About 43 minutes of sheer melodic death galore. And the Viking spirit reigns supreme on here. The tempos are pretty slow on here but wholly melodic. They seem to piece everything together where it flows. The only thing that I dislike somewhat are the vocals. I just think that they could've been arranged better.

Overall, I think this album is solid. The vocals aren't my favorite but the music hit-home with me! The riffs are ok, not their greatest but still catchy and full of life! The vocals go well alongside the music. Though I have to be in a certain mood to tolerate the vocals. I like the melodies and it's consistent the whole album. For the naysayers, they say that they're not a fan of their music. I think that since they're in the melodic death metal genre, they're pretty solid on here. I actually got the CD of this I was tired of the digital download. To me, it's important to show respect for the band not just streaming music.

The production quality was good on here and the sound to the music was solid, well mixed. They definitely got their act together for this one. I don't think it's better than a "B" on here. I think they deserve it. You'll have to test the waters with this one. I suppose that you'll really like it or just think it's garbage. I liked it and I thought it was consistent. The guitars were my favorite instrument throughout. As I say, you have to be in the mood to play this, otherwise it might be irritating. If you're a die-hard fan, that statement doesn't apply. Since I'm not overly familiar with the band, I thought this is a solid release!

I wish I could write a hyperbolic review about how this is the worst album I've ever heard, because that would at least be entertaining, but the truth is that this album doesn't deserve that, in fact it doesn't deserve much at all including praise.

If you ever want to listen to 43 minutes of plodding chugs and trad metal riffs that were tossed out as filler 35 years ago then you are certainly welcome, this is probably good music for drinking with the boys and singing along to at concerts, it has a lot of references to drinking, a laid back easy going vibe and call and response sections to cater for both those activities, but again it's 42 minutes of plodding mid paced riffs with only sparse offerings of double pedal work or fills. Good trade off there? Can't say I think so.

There are some standout moments, for example the opening "dun duhduhdun' over that lil drum beat has a definitive resemblance to Sepultura's Refuse/Resist and then features a very cut and dry chuggy metalcore style breakdown, one of the other songs, can't remember which, had a little clean section where they just played the lead without distortion for.... reasons? Saxons and Vikings also provides that kinda little self referential wink to remind you not to take the Viking thing to seriously, as well as has vocals provided by the dude from Saxon so it's at least the most interesting of the lot in those regards.

Kind of a closing note here but it also just feels like the vibe isn't right, like its very one note. Each song really has that drink and sing along vibe and if the band was aiming to make 9 of these kinda arena metal, Wacken Fest anthem type songs more power to them, but calling the very first song Get in the Ring and then not having it be a fast paced aggressive mosh rager like Death in Fire or A Beast Am I feels like false advertising and bad way to kick off an album. In fairness it is the quickest of the bunch and most liberal with the double pedal but it still just doesn't hit quite right, especially the chorus where it drops to like half tempo.

Considering how much I love melodic death metal, it's sort of surprising it took me so long to get to some of the more iconic ones, particularly Amon Amarth. Forming in 1992, the band has stood out from the crowd with its themes of vikings and Norse mythology, as well as some stellar records. While the quality can be more mixed at times, with the band's latest output "The Great Heathen Army", it shows that the band still has a lot going for it.

Starting with the first track "Get in the Ring", it begins with a slow, yet powerful riff followed by some drumming that goes on for a while before it transitions to a more louder and chaotic moment. The riffs are noticeably more heavy, but the more melodic riffs still hit with that viking pride that Amon Amarth is known for. The drumming is also really good, as while it's a bit slow in this particular track, it's still more than enough to lead the track with its booming beats and cymbals. The bass isn't as strong composition-wise, but is still decent enough to lay in a foundation. While some would argue that this is standard and even generic at times, I still felt like the instrumentals were still powerful in not only execution, but even with the atmosphere, having retained that war-like landscape that we've come to known with the band. Get in the Ring is a strong opener, but tracks like "The Great Heathen Army", "Oden Owns You All", and the criminally underrated "Skagul Rides with Me" also have some fantastic mixes of heavy riffs and melodic passages. Even though it's sort of the standard composition that Amon Amarth is known for, the songwriting on this album is still powerful enough to carry it throughout its duration.

The vocals are also just as good. Johan Hegg's vocals have always been a highlight in the albums since day one, but in this particular album, they go really hard. To see what I mean, check out "Dawn of Norsemen", which is more melodic in terns of structure. Johan's growls not only push through the more heavy and intense moments, but in the softer and melodic riffs, his growls further enhance the emotional tone and add in some sort of extremity in the grand atmosphere. Biff Byford of Saxon also does guest vocals in the track "Saxons and Vikings", and while I was initially mixed with his performance, it's since grew on me a lot, as his melodic singing flows really well with the riffs and contrasts Johan's growls decently. While Johan's vocals haven't change a lot, they still boom with pride and flow through the melodic riffs well.

However, we can't talk about Amon Amarth and not talk about the lyrics. The lyrics in Amon Amarth are generally good, and this album is no exception. For example, in the track "Heidrun", this verse quotes:

There's no dread in our hearts, no remorse in our soul
Pillage the world for silver and gold
It's the path we have chosen, the creed of our kind
Standing together, leave no one behind

At first, this verse looks like a standard story of vikings persevering in their mission to honor Odin. However, the structure and wording of the verse balances out the details with simplicity to create a strong, but direct feeling of pride and strength, which the band has done well for much of their career. Furthermore, while the Heidrun's instrumentals are a bit weaker when compared to other tracks, it still does convey the emotions within the lyrics well with the heavy and melodic riffs. As usual, the lyrics of Amon Amarth tell some fantastic viking stories that are fitting to the instruments and vocals.

Amon Amarth's last album "Berserker" was okay, but felt weak and forgettable overall. With The Great Heathen Army, however, it seems like much of the faults of the last album have been fixed drastically with greater instrumentals, greater vocals, and some excellent viking stories to top it all off. Even though modern Amon Amarth isn't for everyone, I do highly suggest giving this album a chance if you're in the mood for some viking-themed melodeath.

I'll admit, Amon Amarth are a pretty fun band. Some of their music is really good, they have competent musicianship and songwriting skills, and some good vocals, plus they put on q fun, engaging live show. Now, I've never been on to jump on the "generic=bad" bandwagon, but when it comes to this album, Amon Amarth really have me questioning my principles in that regard.

This is by the numbers melodic death metal, in that it has become so generic that it borders on actually being bad as a result. The melodic influence is certainly there, but as with many other modern melodic death metal acts, Amon Amarth seem much happier playing anything but actual death metal influenced music.

The album opens with "Get In The Ring", which to my relief isn't a cover of the Guns N' Roses song of the same name. Instantly, my mind was drawn to Bolt Thrower, a band I adore, but not in a good way. The opening minute or so feels like a generic melodic death metal band trying to write a D tier Bolt Thrower song, because that's essentially all it is. Now the lyrics... oh boy. Let me tell you, Amon Amarth aren't a band I look to for their eloquence or lyrical prowess... in fact, the less said about their lyrics in general, the better - but in this case, the lyrics are so horrifically awful that something needs to be said. It feels almost like someone was asked to write a generic tough guy fight song akin to something Five Finger Death Punch would write. It's terrible, and it makes me cringe whenever I think about it.

Moving on, it becomes apparent that the songs aren't very aggressive this time around. It's not that I expect Amon Amarth to break new ground and write something that could compare to an actual death metal band. No, they've found success with their style, as boring and self indulgent as it has become. This once again plays into what I mentioned earlier, about Amon Amarth favouring less extreme styles in order to get their anthems out there. Good for them, I guess, but when I hear the generic, butt-rock stylings of a song like "Heidrun", I start checking my watch to see how much longer I'm going to be here. I think this might be the worst song in Amon Amarth's entire catalogue.

The production is smooth and polished, which isn't necessarily a problem in and of itself but it takes a lot of the edge away from the band's supposed "death metal" side, which as I've mentioned more than enough by now, has become but a faint whisper behind the walls of soaring mid tempo melodies and dad-rock riffs. The aggression is all but gone at this point, and the clean production is indicative of just that. Everything is perfectly quantized, nothing feeds back, nothing is ever mildly off tempo, rushing or dragging. It feels perfect, safe, and therefore dull and lifeless.

If you're looking for a generic Amon Amarth album to keep you occupied while you wait for an appointment or drive to work, then I honestly wouldn't even recommend this album. Check out their older stuff that still had at least a spark of energy in it. This is the least fun I've ever had listening to an album from this band. Don't waste your time on it. Check out something good instead.

After the somehow mediocre albums like Deceiver of the Gods, Jomsviking and Berserker, The Great Heathen Army has been the biggest surprise in a long time for me. I did not expect anything, actually I was pretty let down by their latest albums, so I was expecting just a standard Amon Amarth stuff that I´d forget right after the last song had ended.

A mistake. The Great Heaten Army is a fucking KILLLER!!

What a great time I had listening to the album. Amon Amarth has taken a new breath of quality of composition, melodies and ideas. To be honest, from my perspective it came to Once Sent from the Golden Hall´s brilliance closer than any other Amon Amarth album they had released. Amon Amarth released several music videos that, to be honest, did not fit the mood of the album. They were weird and that is why the music itself felt somehow weak. However, listening the full album without any video distraction, the songs can finally breath and they make a sense in the album´s perspective. Just like Darkthrone´s single Hate Cloak was not too exciting when the music video was released, however after the full ablum was released Hate Cloak showed its full strength and its rightful place on the album.

There are fast and brutal songs like Get in the Ring or Oden Owns You All, there are moody songs like Dawn of Norsemen or the ending The Serpent's Trail and there are very melodic songs like catchy Heidrun or Find a Way or Make One. None of the song is a filler, every song has its sense and reason why is on the album. Though don´t expect any surprising experiments, we are talking about Amon Amarth here and they are not known by their experimentation at all. Except one piece - the brilliant Saxons and Vikings. In the song Amon Amarth is accompanied by the band Saxon itself. Not only that the vocals of the both vocalists serve like an exciting battle between a Viking and a Saxon, but the song also contains a brilliant long heavy metal solo.

What I don´t really like about the album is not anything on the album, it is the thing coming from the outside. For example, the song Get in the Ring does not get enough credits as due to the stupid music video many associated the song with an entrance theme for a wrestler. In reality this song has nothing to do with wrestling, nor it is aimed to be a theme for a wrestler. That´s totally nonsense. The song is about a Viking challening an enemy for a fight one on one. In reality there is no ring, no ropes, no... wrestling. I think Amon Amarth should stop making videos like this because the message of such videos is completely different from the message of the songs themselves. The same applies for the song Find a Way or Make One. In the video we can see the members of the band in suits and offices. I mean... Yeah, there is a metaphor behind it, of course I get it, however it does not fit the mood of the song. Such a metaphor is totally unnecessary. The song is about a Viking trying to survive his battle in battlefield with his axe and thoughts of his Gods he believes in. Really, these videos harmed the album in my opinion.

But back to the album. Get in the Ring is a fantastic opening. Brutal, yet melodic. The title song The Great Heathen Army is a hymnic song that was definitely written to be sing along with the crowd during concerts. I can imagine this song being the last in the set. Nothing wrong about it but regarding the writing itself it is not as spectacular as the rest of the album. The most funny song is the third one, the supermelodic Heidrun. Heidrun is a goat that produces mead for the einherjar, so regarding this theme nobody could really expect a serious song with grimmy melodies. That is why the song is so catchy and it does not take itself too seriously. Despite its relaxing atmosphere it does not subvert the album, not at all. This just proves how good Amon Amarth is at mixing melodies with death metal. Oden Owns You All is the next song and it serves as an eye-opening song after the catchy song before. As if it says "Hey, we´re still Amon Amarth. We love to jest, but we´re still the brutal band." This is the heaviest and fastest song on the album, a song where death metal meets groove metal. The first half of the album is closed by the already mentioned Find a Way or Make One. It is a good Amon Amarth song, amongst the most melodic on the album, though definitely not as "free-thinking" as Heidrun.

The second half of the album is much darker. The fifth song Dawn of Norsemen brings memories of Once Sent from the Golden Hall with its rainy mood and the lyrics serving as a story about Vikings appearing at the shores of England and spreading fear amongst its inhabitants. Very nice! Now it is time for the already mentioned Saxons and Vikings. Indeed a brilliant song with an unexpected twist. The last two songs on the album are Skagul Rides with Me and The Serpent's Trail. The two are the slowest songs on The Great Heathen Army and also the most atmospheric. They have nice compositions, grizzly harmonies and they force listeners to think about what they have experienced during listening this album. Of these two I prefer the last one as Skagul Rides with Me seems to me a bit underdeveloped, it´s missing a strong middle section and variabilities at its end.

The Great Heathen Army is full of epic and beautiful melodies that are a trademark of their first albums. What a welcome return to form! I am really happy that Amon Amarth was finally able to compose an album with qualities that can be found on their early material. Thank you Amon Amarth for this album! I will remember it as one of your best work ever.

Pros
- no filler, every song is interesting in its own way
- grimmy atmosphere
- sad yet beautiful melodies
- Saxons and Vikings is a very well done experiment
- brutal vocals
- nice compositions

Cons
- The Great Heathen Army and Skagul Rides with Me needed a bit more time in the oven IMHO

After the monolithic With Oden on Our Side and Twilight of the Thunder God duology, Amon Amarth found themselves on an auto-pilot-induced decline. The band had admitted a few years back in an interview that getting out new albums are a… necessary evil for them to tour. As long as they put together something good and familiar enough to keep people coming back, they can keep putting on a hell of a show. Not to mention, Amon Amarth at least do have a style that they could call their own. Like, you hear something from The Avenger, With Oden on Our Side or even Deceiver of the Gods, and immediately think “yep, that’s Amon Amarth alright”. You get Johan Hegg’s signature viking growls atop melodic Swedeath riffs none too dissimilar from Unleashed’s debut but with an even more straightforward approach. As was in the excellent The Avenger, as was in the fun but flawed Surtur Rising, as was also in the lethargic Jomsviking...

...and yeah, The Great Heathen Army sure maintains that sound. Granted, “Heidrun” couldn’t be any bouncier without actually being a bouncy castle, and songs like “Find a Way or Make One”, “Dawn of Norsemen” and “Skagul Rides with Me” sound more like they were left on the cutting room floor of the Surtur Rising recording sessions. There are many of the right ideas behind them to potentially make them good Amon Amarth songs – like, you get some hummable leads and riffs in spurts, particularly the lead and riff combo in “Dawn of Norsemen” – but when stacked up against their former repute, these songs don’t quite stack up. There isn’t as much energy to the riffs, which are a bit simpler and thus the rhythms are even more straightforward, which leave less room for any truly memorable hits. Considering Amon Amarth’s strengths include anthemic hooks, this does leave The Great Heathen Army behind a fair bit. Still ahead of the last two albums and a fair chunk of Deceiver of the Gods, yes, but it does lend credence to what the band had said about them making new albums these days.

Thankfully, it’s not doomed to just be a lesser retread of previous albums, because songs like “Get in the Ring” and “Saxons and Vikings” – the latter featuring Saxon vocalist Biff Byford’s still-stellar pipes – show them still having it where it counts. An invigorating rhythm section generating these simple yet effective cholera-catchy grooves – I mean this shit is Amon Amarth’s bread and butter! Even for as much shit as I gave it above, “Heidrun” is a pretty fun song nonetheless, honestly due to how dumb it is. Just got a soft spot for those stupidly catchy, bouncy songs. Although I have to say, “The Serpent’s Trail” does well to have quieter, spoken-word-esque verses build up to a momentous mid-paced chorus, and its ending third sends the album off on a higher note of faster, harder riffing before disappearing into the night sky. I wouldn’t put these songs as high as, say, “Twilight of the Thunder God” or “Bleed for Ancient Gods”. However, I would certainly say that they have many of the usual Amon Amarth qualities that do make them such a fun band to listen to that it’s hard to take any real issue with these songs. Can’t wait to hear these live!

I get that any Amon Amarth album could be somebody’s first, but I do have some complaints about the album just on its own terms. In general, the production doesn’t have a ton of punch, which pulls back some of the impact of the songs throughout. “The Great Heathen Army” and “Oden Owns You All” drag their feet with a stodgier riffset, attempting to be mid-paced anthems but plod far too much to really hit that note. “The Serpent’s Trail” avoids this pitfall due to its aforementioned finale-esque qualities. “Dawn of Norsemen” has some cool melodic bits, like its leads that keep you hooked in, and it’s got an overall peppy rhythm that would’ve made it one of the better songs on the album. But it just fucking drags - like it could’ve ended either at or right after the quiet bit in the middle, because basically having the song again as a refrain definitely shows its shallower qualities. Amon Amarth stick to a very straightforward style that leaves not very much room for nuance, and with a simpler batch of riffs, well, let’s just say “Dawn of Norsemen” is a bit too long.

A few songs on here are still good and – a couple of songs aside – The Great Heathen Army is an improvement over their last couple of albums. I doubt we’ll ever get something like With Oden on Our Side or even Surtur Rising again, but as long as they bring out the hits and don’t degenerate into dull background noise like their last two albums, there’ll at least be some new tracks to look forward to during the inevitable tour that follows.

For the better part of 30 years, the metal institution that is Amon Amarth has been a stalwart standard bearer for the Swedish melodic death metal movement. Originally cutting their teeth as part of the old school death metal scene in Stockholm under the moniker Scum, they would join the likes of Unleashed in promoting the historic exploits of the Viking Age within said stylistic niche, but also strike pay dirt in the broader scene by discovering a perfect middle ground between the brutality of the older style with the melodic consonance and atmospheric nuance that would be popularized by the then newer Gothenburg melodeath sound. In the years since they’ve been a pinnacle of consistency in the recording studio, churning out classic albums one after the next from the late 90s to the present, and also proving a colossal force of nature on the touring front. Now following the scourge of worldwide lockdowns, these five Nordic bards of brutality have returned to raise the bar yet again with The Great Heathen Army, the band’s twelfth album to date.

Though never a band to sacrifice aggression for the sake of commercial viability, one could maybe argue that this outfit’s stylistic evolution since 2008’s Twilight Of The Thunder God has been towards a more structurally accessible and slicker niche. But for those who might have grumbled a bit about the unfettered fire after the spirit of Bolt Thrower that the band had emitted from their primordial beginnings up until 2002’s Versus The World, their concerns likely began to subside with the release of the music video for this album’s leading single “Get In The Ring” in early June. Taking the band’s gritty Viking image and superimposing it into an apocalyptic future setting more befitting the Mad Max universe, it would subsequently garner over a million views on YouTube and rave reviews among the fans on the platform, with comparable numbers materializing on various streaming platforms. But more so than the cinematic visuals was the combination of haunting, Slayer-like dueling guitar harmonies and the pummeling battery of the surrounding music that would sell the fact that this band is still as in tune with their old school death metal roots as ever to any naysayers.

Suffice it to say, the aforementioned leadoff single and opening track of this album is just the tip of an iceberg massive enough to sink an entire fleet of Titanic-like vessels. The ground-shaking stomp of the groovy title anthem “The Great Heathen Army” further displays a rediscovered affinity with the darker echelon of the death metal sound circa the early 1990s (particularly The IVth Crusade), spearheaded by the guttural berserker growls of vocalist Johan Hegg, who continues to match forbidding displays of animalistic aggression with the biggest names of the death metal spectrum. Subsequent crushers like “Heidrun” and “Dawn Of Norsemen” prove no less gigantic in stature, but lean a bit heavier on the Gothenburg side of the coin with greater melodic guitar hooks that take on a more folksy character and further vivify the explicit Viking themes being communicated, the latter even taking a few cues from the likes of Insomnium and Omnium Gatherum with a brilliant atmospheric bridge at the song’s center, conjuring up the image of a roaring campfire in the frostbitten north to go with the relentless bombardment of riffs and fury.

There is pretty much a bit of everything concerning death metal to be found on here, which has basically been the case for most of Amon Amarth’s output since the early 2010s, but the level of refinement has been ratcheted up something fierce. Arguably the most intense and definitely the most rapid-paced of the mix is the thrashing beast dubbed “Oden Owns You All”, which could double as one of the more insane cookers off a recent Cannibal Corpse album, yet still makes time for occasional streams of melodic splendor to keep it from sounding like a more amped-up copy of said band’s sound. “Find A Way Of Make One” hits all the marks of a mid-paced banger that also showcases one of the more involved lead guitar displays out of Johan Soderberg and Olavi Mikkonen in a while. But the offering that ultimately steals the show is the brilliant crusher “Saxons And Vikings”, which in addition to hitting all the right musical notes reprises the band’s semi-recent practice of bringing in iconic guest vocal talent to complement the arrangement and sees a truly unforgettable interchange between Saxon’s own Biff Byford with Hegg to bring home the corresponding bygone rivalry of the Norse and Britons.

Whether one takes more to the nastier sound that originally carried this outfit to prominence at the turn of the millennium or the more polished one that has kept them a household name since the late 2000s, the latest opus bearing the Amon Amarth seal is the triumphant return that all can get behind. It matches the melodic pizzazz of Surtur Rising and rivals the thunderous power of Versus The World, and one might even venture that it’s the best showing that this quintet of melodeath mainstays have put forth since the latter, though even a conservative estimation of it would put it a rung above the past three LPs. There isn’t a dull point to be found in the gargantuan battle axe that is The Great Heathen Army, and though a few scattered scoffers might remark that it is simply more of the same, it’s a safe bet that the medieval lords who fought to repel the original Viking raiders might have remarked similarly while still being in utter terror of such an unrelenting foe.

Originally written for Sonic Perspectives (www.sonicperspectives.com)