Amon Amarth — Johan Hegg (vocals)
After dropping the name SCUM and emerging as AMON AMARTH in 1992, the Swedish horde from Stockholm have been on a steady climb in the metal world ever since. Being dubbed as Viking Metal for its fascination with Vikings and 13th Century pre-Christian Norse mythology, AMON AMARTH create original, aggressive-yet-melodic death metal like no other band.
With its first full-length release, Once Sent From The Golden Hall in 1998, AMON AMARTH’s brand of metal set them apart from their Swedish death metal brethren such as ENTOMBED, DISMEMBER and UNLEASHED.
With last years release, Twilight of the Thunder God, the band has reached an unprecedented level of popularity for such an extreme metal band.
Goliath-like frontman Johan Hegg, guitarists Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Soderberg, bassist Ted Lundstrom and drummer Fredrik Andersson, have paid their dues and are now reaping the recognition they so deserve.
Speaking by e-mail before the band embarks on its European tour, Johan Hegg talked about the upcoming tour, his distinct growl-vocal technique and why he can’t wait to get out and perform.
Tell me about the spectacular package with Entombed, Evile and yourselves on the upcoming European tour.
Yeah, I think it’s a fucking awesome package. Entombed is of course a legendary band and Evile is a very promising and interesting UK band. I think it’s going to be a great tour!
LG Petrov sang on “Guardians of Asgaard” on your latest CD, now Entombed will be on the European tour with you. Will LG be singing with you onstage nightly on that song?
We’ve talked to him about it, but of course it’s not the reason Entombed are on the tour. At the end of the day, it depends on if he’s up for it or not. I mean, I’m sure he would like to kick back with a few cold ones after their set, so we’ll see.
The last date of your Scandinavian tour is in Stockholm. What type of feeling do you get playing to the hometown crowd? Do you ever get nervous?
I don’t think any of us really get nervous anymore, but playing the hometown is a bit special. At least I know I get a little bit nervous before playing Stockholm. But on the other hand, it’s just a show, so that “nervousness” usually goes away as soon as we enter the stage.
With Amon Amarth’s Viking theme and Norse mythology lyrical content, how do you keep things fresh without running out of ideas for songs?
I haven’t really felt that I’m running out of ideas yet, but it is easy to get stuck repeating yourself anyhow. I try to add a lot of other elements into the theme every now and then, using the history and mythology as a backdrop or
metaphor for more philosophical and temporary ideas I want to discuss. I guess you never know what will happen in the future, but right now I don’t see any limits to the Viking theme. There are a lot of historical and mythological
topics I haven’t used yet.
Your brutal growl-vocals mixed with melodic heavy metal is the perfect match, how did the band come up with such a musical mixture?
It wasn’t like we planned it really. When we started out we had a more traditional Death Metal sound with growl-vocals, although we had some melodies and heavy metal influences in there, but soon we started writing stuff with more melodies and guitar harmonies, moving more towards a Death/Heavy Metal style of music. But we’ve kept the brutality of the vocals although they have evolved during the years as well.
I know that you didn’t actually come up with the label “Viking Metal,” but how would you describe yourselves? Is that label misleading?
I don’t think it’s a misleading label as such, but we’ve always said we play Death Metal. I wouldn’t really say we have a “Viking” image though that is the theme of the lyrics. I mean, it’s not like we dress up in Viking costumes on stage or anything.
Were you overwhelmed with the popularity you received from “With Oden On Our Side,” or were you confident that someday you would reach a higher status in the metal scene?
Well, we knew we had a very good album – at least in our opinion – but one never knows how fans and media will react. Having said that, I don’t think we could’ve anticipated what a big impact this album would have on our career.
Since hitting it big with “With Oden On Our Side,” and now “Twilight of the Thunder God,” have you been able to quit your day jobs and live somewhat comfortably now with just doing the Amon Amarth thing?
Yeah, for the past three and a half years we’ve been focussing one hundred percent on the band. Basically we all had to quit our jobs around the time of writing “With Oden On Our Side” to be able to continue growing as a band. At first it was a bit shaky financially, but now it’s a bit more stable, although we’re not exactly millionaires or anything. We make enough to pay the bills and live a decent life.
In the early days, what bands influenced you and at what age did you start getting into music?
I’ve listened to metal for as long as I can remember, with such different bands such as AC/DC, KISS, MOTÖRHEAD, METALLICA, SLAYER, BLACK SABBATH, you know, the classics more or less, but I never really thought about getting into music until I was 19.
You seem to truly love the live performance. With your commanding, tough-as-fuck stage presence, what do you get out of performing?
Hahaha, yeah I love playing live shows! It’s the best fucking feeling there is to be up there screaming like hell. The best part is to hear the crowd reactions when you have a good show. Nothing really beats that feeling. Personally, I’ve always tried to enjoy myself on stage, and I really enjoy interacting with the fans.
Singing like you do nightly, how do you protect your voice? Any vocal techniques or pre-show warm-ups?
It’s hard sometimes, especially if we have a lot of shows in a row, but I have a few warm-up techniques I try to do before every show as well as a secret hot beverage I drink before and after the show.
What’s next for Amon Amarth after the European tour?
We’re going down under for a few shows in Australia, and after New Year’s Day we’ll see what happens.
Any last comments for your fans?
See you in October! We’ll have a few pints! Cheers!
By Kelley Simms
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