AMON AMARTH Announces North American Headlining Tour

Swedish melodic death metal tyrants AMON AMARTH have announce their 2011 U.S. headlining tour. Simply dubbed "An Evening With Amon Amarth", this very special trek will find the band touring without support and instead performing two separate sets each night! One set will feature upcoming album, "Surtur Rising", in its entirety. The Viking-inspired festivities will commence on April 14 in Chicago, Illinois and pillage its way through 17 cities throughout the country before drawing to a climactic close on May 7 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Commented drummer Fredrik Andersson: "We're really excited about the upcoming album, 'Surtur Rising'. And what better way to showcase it by playing the full album on our first U.S. tour for 'Surtur Rising'?! It's definitely a unique opportunity for our fans because not only will the album be performed live but a second set with material from our previous albums will take place. We want our fans to really experience AMON AMARTH."

"An Evening With Amon Amarth" tour dates:

Apr. 14 - The Bottom Lounge - Chicago, IL
Apr. 15 - Station 4 - Saint Paul, MN
Apr. 16 - Granada Theater - Lawrence, KS
Apr. 17 - The Summit Music Hall - Denver, CO
Apr. 19 - Wonder Ballroom - Portland, OR
Apr. 20 - Showbox Sodo - Seattle, WA
Apr. 22 - The Regency - San Francisco, CA
Apr. 23 - Ace Of Spades - Sacramento, CA
Apr. 24 - House of Blues - West Hollywood, CA
Apr. 25 - Nile Theatre - Mesa, AZ
Apr. 27 - White Rabbit - San Antonio, TX
Apr. 29 - Culture Room - Fort Lauderdale, FL
Apr. 30 - Beacham Theatre - Orlando, FL
May 01 - Masquerade - Atlanta, GA
May 02 - Jaxx - Springfield, VA
May 03 - Peabody's - Cleveland, OH
May 05 - Best Buy Theater - New York, NY
May 06 - Paradise Rock Club - Boston, MA
May 07 - Theatre Of Living Arts - Philadelphia, PA

Vocalist Johan Hegg was interviewed on the January 28-30, 2011 edition of Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show. When asked about the title of AMON AMARTH's new album, Hegg said, "Surtur is a very intriguing character in the Scandinavian mythology. Basically, he's one of the oldest existing beings in the Universe. He was there when the Universe was created and also at the end of the world, [during the events of] Ragnarök, which is like the Norse Armageddon, he will arise to burn everything. So he's kind of responsible for... He was there when the world was created, but he's also responsible for when the end comes. He's connected with flames and fire... He's a fire giant, so to speak."

Regarding the the new CD's production, he said, "I think that we felt that with the previous album [2008's 'Twilight Of The Thunder God'], it was good production, but we felt it kind of lacked a little bit of an edge. It's nothing that we noticed right away; it's kind of when you listen to the album for a little while, you realize that it felt like something was missing from the production. We wanted a bit more aggression, a little bit more guitar in the production to make it more heavy and aggressive — an angrier sound, almost — so that's definitely something what we went for. Also kind of trying to explore the more brutal side of the songwriting, so that also came into play."

On the topic of once again working with producer Jens Bogren, Hegg said, "He's very meticulous, he's very thorough in his work, and he cares very much about the production and we felt that when we sat down and talked to him about some of the stuff that we wanted to develop and [achieve] with this recording, we felt that he really had good ideas and we felt that he had a commitment to the band and to the recording that was really something that we wanted to have other than the production. And he's just a great guy to work with; he's almost like a slavedriver when you're in the studio, but then again he gets results, and that's also what we need — somebody to kick us in the butt to get things the way they should be. [Laughs]"

"Surtur Rising" will be released in North America on March 29 via Metal Blade Records. Named in tribute to Surtur, leader of the fire giants of Muspelheim ("flame land") and the oldest being in the nine worlds of Norse mythology, the record, which was listed among Decibel magazine's most anticipated albums of 2011, features 10 tracks of sword-wielding, fist-pumping, hyper climactic battle anthems. The follow-up to 2008's monolithic "Twilight Of The Thunder God" full-length was recorded again at Fascination Street Studios in Örebro, Sweden with Jens Bogren and features strikingly brutal cover art by Tom Thiel.

The official album landing page can be acccessed at this location. The new web site, dedicated exclusively to "Surtur Rising", will include album pre-orders for North America and Europe as well as up-to-the-minute news updates, tour announcements, videos and singles leading up to the record's release.

U.S. fans will have ten "Surtur Rising" pre-order options:

* Deluxe Box Set
* Deluxe Box Set + LP
* Deluxe Box Set + LP + exclusive shirt
* Deluxe Box Set + exclusive shirt
* CD/DVD
* CD/DVD + LP
* CD/DVD + LP + exclusive shirt
* CD/DVD + exclusive shirt
* LP
* LP + exclusive shirt

The shirt is a Metal Blade U.S. pre-order exclusive and will be unavailable for purchase after street date.

CD/DVD digipak includes:

* 10 tracks of brand new music
* Multi-panel digipak
* 28-page full-color booklet

DVD includes over four hours of live concert footage filmed during the "Bloodshed Over Bochum" concert series in 2008.

Deluxe CD/DVD package with Surtur action figurine includes:

* Limited collectible Surtur figure (approx 5.5" tall)
* 10 tracks of new music
* 2 bonus tracks: KISS' "War Machine" and ACCEPT's "Balls To The Wall"
* 28-page full-color booklet
* Multi-panel digipak

DVD includes over four hours of live concert footage filmed during the "Bloodshed Over Bochum" concert series in 2008.

Picture disc includes:

* Two-sided "Surtur Rising" picture disc
* Die-cut gate-fold sleeve

"Surtur Rising" track listing:

01. War Of The Gods
02. Töck's Taunt - Loke's Treachery Part II
03. Destroyer Of The Universe
04. Slaves Of Fear
05. Live Without Regrets
06. The Last Stand of Frej
07. For Victory Or Death
08. Wrath Of The Norsemen
09. A Beast Am I
10. Doom Over Dead Man