AMON AMARTH Frontman Discusses New Album On FULL METAL JACKIE's Radio Show (Audio)

Vocalist Johan Hegg of Swedish death metallers AMON AMARTH was interviewed on the January 28-30, 2011 edition of Full Metal Jackie's nationally syndicated radio show. You can now listen to the chat using the audio player below.

To see a full list of stations carrying the program and when it airs, go to FullMetalJackieRadio.com.

On the title of AMON AMARTH's eighth studio album, "Surtur Rising":

Hegg: "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."

On the album's opening track, "War Of The Gods" (audio stream available below):

Hegg: "[It's a] huge punch in the face... That's kind of what we go for when we [put together the] track listing; we wanna catch the attention of the listener right away. So that's kind of the way we like to build the album, so to speak. But lyrically, it's a story which is also connected to the mythology, which kind of tells the story about the two races of gods that supposedly existed."

On the new album's production:

Hegg: "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 working once again with producer Jens Bogren:

Hegg: "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