Album review: 'Deceiver of the Gods' by Amon Amarth

Album review: 'Deceiver of the Gods' by Amon Amarth, For over 20 years now, Swedish metal band Amon Amarth has been faithfully dishing out riff heavy slabs of melodic death metal goodness for its legion of faithful fans. But, while remaining a popular act on the European metal festival circuit, the band never really broke through in America until the release of 2011's "Surtur Rising." Now Amon Amarth is back with a new album, "Deceiver of the Gods".

There's nothing groundbreaking on "Deceiver of the Gods." Unlike many of their contemporaries in recent years, you will find no symphonies on the album, no clean vocals from Johan Hegg, and no female opera singers. Like the Norse warriors that star in many of the band's lyrics, Amon Amarth succeed through sheer berserker attack straight up the middle. While this could quickly lead to a band becoming stale, that isn't a problem with Amon Amarth. Instead, "Deceiver of the Gods" continues the work of "Surtur Rising", honing and sharpening the band's sound.

The one surprise on "Deceiver of the Gods" is a clean vocal duet from ex-Candlemass frontman Messiah Marcolin on "Hel." His wail weaves seamlessly in and out of Amon Amarth's bombast like it was always there.

Other standout tracks on "Deceiver of the Gods" include the title track, the impossibly brutal "Blood Eagle", and the album's atmospheric closer "Warriors of the North."

"Deceiver of the Gods" should cement what Amon Amarth started on "Surtur Rising." It's about as technically flawless as an Amon Amarth album can get with some crisp production work from former Sabbat guitarist Andy Sneap. With a high profile slot on this year's Rockstar Mayhem tour to showcase the new songs, Amon Amarth's American popularity should be positively affected by this stellar entry into the group's catalog.