The Halls in Wolverhampton played host to a smörgåsbord of melodic death metal as legendary Swedes Amon Amarth stowed fellow countrymen Orbit Culture and Soilwork away in their longship, bringing them along for the last UK date of their "The Allfather Awakens" Europe & UK Tour.
First up were Soilwork, the slither of stage that they were granted for their performance should have been the first hint to just how big the headliners show was going to be, but more on that later.
With only little room to manoeuvre it's a huge credit that the band were able to get the crowd so energised early on. Barely three songs in and the circle pits were forming nicely, with "Figure Number Five" (Figure Number Five, 2003) really getting the collective blood pumping.
Soilwork
"Spirit of No Return" (Single, 2024) is a real highlight with "Death Diviner" (A Whisp of the Atlantic, 2020) probably being the moment where any holdouts in the crowd were fully won over. Charismatic captain of this particular ship, Björn "Speed" Strid, saluting the efforts of a particular group of ladies who appeared to be on chief pit orchestrating duties.
It's a shame that by the time we were all fully in the groove our time with Soilwork was over; now in their 30th year, they have such a huge pool of material to pull from, hopefully we will see them back on these shores on a headline run in the not too distant future.
The middle coarse of tonight's Swedish Melo-Death feast is Orbit Culture. Industrial style backdrops, deep and dark lighting accented with intense in-your-face strobes; everything feels like an assault, in a good way, glorious chaos if you will. It's full of rhythm, it's full of groove, it's a head banging/windmilling neck work out from start to finish.
Orbit Culture
Circle pits are spun at every opportunity; Niklas Karlsson instructs the audience to jump along to "The Tales of War" (Death Above Life, 2026) with the venue's structural integrity being tested to its limit, it felt like the floor might give out such was the force of the bouncing crowd.
Finishing up with a biggie, "Vultures of North" (Descent, 2023), hopefully the crowd have left enough in the tank for the headliners (spoilers: they have), the changeover however, will provide a welcome break for the security at the barrier, a near constant flow of crowd surfers throughout the duration of that set really gave them a workout.
You know exactly what you are going to get at an Amon Amarth show; and that is by no means a bad thing at all; there will be Vikings, there will be long ships, there will be swords, shields and drinking horns, there will be pyrotechnics, there will most certainly be a "row pit" at some point during the show; but above all there will be some of the most proficient melodic death metal the genre has to offer from the Swedish legends. But the show that they have taken on the road for this "The Allfather Awakens" tour really is something else; all aspects have been raised by more than a few notches, they are really setting the standard for what can be done for shows in these sized venues.
The doors were earlier than usual for tonight's show, all to afford the headliners the opportunity for a bumper set, at 19 songs long and the better part of 2 hours we were in store for real journey through the full depth of the bands vast back catalogue.
Iron Maiden's "Run to the Hills" came before the kabuki curtain drop, which lead into "Gjallarhorn," the first of five tracks from the bands newest album, this years' release The Allfather Awakens.
A huge Oden lumbered his way out on to the stage, flames shooting out of the top of his staff for "War of the Gods" (Surtur Rising, 2011); with the pyrotechnics aptly remaining dialled to 11 for "Death in Fire" (Versus the World, 2002).
The deceiver of the gods himself, Loke, makes an appearance on stage for "Deceiver of the Gods" (Deceiver of the Gods, 2013), by the end of the song he is un-ceremonially booted from the stage by the man mountain that is vocalist Johan Hegg.
The runic Himinbjörg gate, that has been framing drummer Jocke Wallgren so far, leaves us along with the visuals of the Bifrost for title track of the new album and namesake for this tour "The Allfather Awakes".
Amon Amarth
The onscreen visuals have been a real triumph, elevating the whole story behind the bands performance. With longship imagery in full effect, it's time for one of the (many) highlights of an Amon Amarth set; the majority of the crowd park themselves on the floor (those seated in the balcony have been ready to go for a while) and the world famous "row pit" ensues during "Put Your Back Into the Oar" (Single, 2022). The seafaring theme continues with an apt pairing from the new album "We Rule the Waves" (The Allfather Awakens, 2026)
Amon Amarth
There's a brief moment of solemnity now, the curtain at the back of the stage is drawn obscuring most of the big screens, a campfire crackles and the whole band are now towards the front of the stage with acoustic instruments and a set of standing drums, Johan shedding his more Viking persona is donning a baseball cap and a more casual jacket for the chant like "Upphaf" from The Allfather Awakens, 2026.
Curtains drawn back again revealing two huge stone Viking warrior effigies towering above the stage, eyes glowing blue and axes in hand.
The energy quickly gets ramped back up again for a trio of heavy hitters, fan-favourites "Guardians of Asgaard" (Twilight of the Thunder God, 2008) and "Shield Wall" (Berserker, 2019) are followed by the most recent single from the new album release "Eight Legs of Thunder" (The Allfather Awakens, 2026)
"Raise Your Horns" (Jomsviking, 2016) has any drinks that have yet to be drunk swiftly polished off. "The Way of Vikings" (Jomsviking, 2016) sees a pair of armed and shielded warriors pitched in battle on the stage.
We are then treated to a cameo of sorts from Saxon's own Biff Byford as he appears on the screen for a verbal back and forth with Johan during "Saxons and Vikings" (The Great Heathen Army, 2022).
Strobes flash and flicker as a maelstrom is projected on the screen at the back of the stage, lightning flashes, thunder cracks and waves crash as an enormous rendering of Jörmungandr rises up behind the band. Embodying the thunder god himself Johan emerges, Mjölnir raised high above his head crashing it down to fireworks and smoke and flame. The last offering of the night is a big one, and arguably the band's biggest single to date "Twilight of the Thunder God" (Twilight of the Thunder God, 2008).
What an incredible night, a bumper set coupled with theatrical staging that did not disappoint and enough pyrotechnics to make the neighbours of Mount Doom hot under the collar. There is only one last thing left to do, raise our horns one last time as AC/DC's "Have A Drink On Me" ushers the crowd of newly anointed Vikings warriors back out into the streets of Wolverhampton.
The whole line-up continues their rampage across mainland Europe with "The Allfather Awakens" Tour continuing through to mid-November.
