Fate of Norns
| Fate of Norns | ||||
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| Studio album by Amon Amarth | ||||
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Publication |
2004 |
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| Label (s) | Metal Blade Records | |||
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Title (number) |
8th |
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running time |
40 min 3 s |
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Berno Paulsson & Amon Amarth |
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Studio (s) |
Berno Studios, Malmö (May – June 2004) |
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Fate of Norns ( English for fate of the Norns ) is the fifth studio album by the Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth . It was released on September 6, 2004 via Metal Blade Records and was the band's first album to reach the German and Austrian album charts.
Emergence
The songs for the album were written within three months - according to Olavi Mikkonen - under stressful conditions. All band members were still working at that time and could only work on the new material in the rehearsal room in the evenings. When the band went into the studio only five and a half of the eight songs featured on the album were finished. The new songs were slower compared to the previous album. In an interview, Hegg stated that the band relied on the mid-tempo aspect more than ever before on this album.
"" The mid-tempo material for Fate of Norns sounded a lot better than any snappy stuff we could think of. And if a song does not meet our high standards, it is thrown out. ""
The album was recorded in May and June 2004 at the Berno Studio in Malmö . Produced was Fate of Norns of Berno Paulsson and the band. Paulsson also did the mixing and mastering . The cover was designed by Thomas Ewerhard . Udo Schlangschnabel, who plays the horn in “Arson”, appears as a guest musician .
A music video was shot for the song “Pursuit of Vikings” , which was regularly broadcast on VIVA Plus in German-speaking countries .
background
According to singer Johan Hegg, the album title refers to the three Norns who sit under the world ash tree Yggdrasil at the Urdbrunnen and weave the fate of gods, giants and people.
The song "Where Death seems to Dwell" is about a man who finds himself on a path. The landscape is barren and barren, the path full of sharp stones that cut into his feet. Thorns scratched his clothes and skin. Later he hears voices and hallucinations of faces. In the end he reaches the mountain Nidafiell and realizes that he has died and is going to hell, the Nifelhel .
The theme song is about a man who loses his young son. Since the father is too old to be able to father a child, he commits suicide so that he can be reunited with his son in Valhalla . "Pursuit of Vikings" is about a group of Vikings who go on the prey and ask Odin for protection and strength. “Valkyries Ride” describes the ride of the Valkyries , who after a battle pick up the fallen warriors from the battlefield and bring them to Valhalla.
"The Beheading of a King" is based on an event from the 11th century. At that time, the southern Swedish province of Skåne had to pay tribute to Denmark . When the Swedes refused to pay, they were attacked by the Danish king. Despite being numerically inferior, the Swedes won and beheaded the Danish king.
The song "Arson" was inspired by the Icelandic saga Brennu Njáls saga . A group of Vikings is attacked and barricaded themselves. The attackers burn everything down. Only the protagonist's son survives. In the final song "Once Sealed in Blood" the survivor takes revenge on the attacker.
reception
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The album received good to average reviews from the trade press. The German rock-hard magazine selected Fate of Norns as “album of the month”. For Frank Albrecht there is “none of the eight songs that cannot be called a hymn”. Gunnar Sauermann from Metal Hammer described Fate of Norns as a “musically more mature work with more compact songs”, although “a certain uniformity has crept in”. Sauermann gave the album six out of seven points.
For Reinhold Reither from the online magazine Stormbringer, “Amon Amarth turns in a creative circle” and realizes that “one looks for surprises here in vain”. There was negative criticism from Andi Althoff from the online magazine metal1.info , who described lack of ideas and boredom as the most striking features of the album. Althoff awarded five out of ten points.
Fate of Norns was the first Amon Amarth album to make it into the album charts. In Germany the work reached number 31, in Austria number 56. The album stayed in the charts for two weeks in both countries. In an interview, Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Hegg stated that Fate of Norns was a bigger mistake in the band's history in terms of how it came about and the sounds.
"In the meantime, however, I am glad that we made these mistakes back then, because this was the only way we could learn and develop."
Track list
- An Ancient Sign of Coming Storm - 4:38
- Where Death Seems to Dwell - 4:58
- The Fate of Norns - 5:57
- Pursuit of Vikings - 4:30
- The Valkyries Ride - 4:57
- Beheading of a King - 3:23
- Arson - 6:48
- Once Sealed in Blood - 4:50
The limited digipak version of the album includes a DVD as a bonus , which includes the appearance of Amon Amarth on March 5, 2004 in Reykjavík .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b "Bloodbath in Disneyland" ( Rock Hard , October 2008, p. 28ff.)
- ↑ Happy bloodlust ( Metal Hammer , October 2004, page 84)
- ^ "Norman Games" (Metal Hammer, August 2004, p. 26)
- ↑ "A Day at the Sea" (Rock Hard, September 2004, page 20)
- ↑ officialcharts.de: Amon Amarth in the German album charts
- ↑ austriancharts.at: Amon Amarth in the Austrian charts
- ^ Rock Hard, September 2004, page 90
- ^ Metal Hammer, September 2004, p. 110
- ↑ stormbringer.at: Stormbringer Review: Amon Amarth - Fate of Norns
- ↑ metal1.info: CD review: Amon Amarth - Fate of Norns ( Memento of the original from August 16, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
