Peaceville 2008

         Mikael Akerfeldt is a busy man. Hot on the heels of the release and tour for Opeth's Watershed, Mikael jumped back into the studio with Swedish supergroup Bloodbath to record their latest platter of molten death, The Fathomless Mastery.

         For the uninitiated, Akerfeldt originally formed Bloodbath in 1998 with Dan Swano and Anders "Blackheim" Nystrom of Katatonia/Bewitched fame, in order to fulfill their urge to play the old-school Swedish death metal that we all know and love (much as ex-Entombed, Ex-Hellacopter Nicke Anderson would later do with his own Death Breath). Two incredibly strong releases followed in the Breeding Death EP and Resurrection Through Carnage. Akerfeldt stepped away from Bloodbath in 2004 to focus on Opeth, and was replaced by Hypocrisy's Peter Tatgren for the steller Nightmares made Flesh. Mikael rejoined the band late last year in time to cut the Unblessing the Purity EP, which has yet to be released stateside.

Metal Blade

For whatever reason I never really followed Amon Amarth past their first full length Once Sent From The Golden Hall. I was always well aware of their continued presence in the racks of my favorite music haunts, yet never bothered to check out anything else from them. Now, years later, I've finally realized my colossal mistake. I'm not perfect and better late than never. What made me change my tune? Twilight Of The Thunder God.

To the uninitiated, Amon Amarth can be classified as a Viking Metal band, which in itself doesn't really describe their sound. Enslaved is the other "big" Viking Metal band and yet is a different sort of bestial breed. Amon Amarth's signature sound is essentially a further bastardized form of Melodic Death Metal - Maiden-esque guitar playing and all - yet exuded with such ferocity that sometimes the comparison would seem totally off. Make no mistake, this Nordic horde hits and pillages with a force augmented by the hammer of Thor himself. This is one album that demands to be played loud.