THE DROP
Amon Amarth just dropped “Upphaf” — their first acoustic track in 34 years as a band *, §. It’s a standalone single teasing their 13th album, produced by Jacob Hansen and built around war drums, Viking choir, and Johan Hegg’s death growls intact *, §, **.
WHAT TO KNOW
- Bridges 2022’s *The Great Heathen Army* and the next record — Hegg says the new album will feature “a very diverse set of songs” §, **
- Keeps the death metal vocals despite going acoustic; described as reimagined for a longhouse hearth with hypnotic melodies and choirs *, †, §
- “Upphaf” means “beginning” or “origin” in Old Norse **
- Pavel Trebukhin directed the video showing the band around a campfire *, ¶, **
- Follows 2025’s electrified standalone single “We Rule the Waves” §, ¶
THE TAKE
A Swedish death metal band that sold out Red Rocks going full campfire acoustic is either brilliant or baffling, and the fact they kept Hegg’s growls suggests they know exactly what they’re doing *, §. If this is the “quiet before the fury” of album thirteen, they’ve at least earned the benefit of the doubt after topping Billboard twice and pulling 85,000 fans at Wacken *, **.
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