AMON AMARTH's 'Jomsviking' Cracks U.S. Top 20

"Jomsviking", the tenth studio album from Swedish death metallers AMON AMARTH, debuted at No. 19 on The Billboard 200, having shifted 21,000 equivalent album units in the week ending March 31.

The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week based on multi-metric consumption, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA).

In terms of pure album sales, "Jomsviking" opened with 20,000 copies.

"Jomsviking" was released on March 25 via Metal Blade in North America and Sony Music internationally.

AMON AMARTH's previous album, "Deceiver Of The Gods", sold around 17,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 19 on The Billboard 200 chart.

AMON AMARTH's 2011 CD, "Surtur Rising", opened with around 15,000 units to debut at No. 34. The band's 2008 album, "Twilight Of The Thunder God", registered a first-week tally of more than 11,000 copies to enter the chart at No. 48.

"Jomsviking" — the first concept record in AMON AMARTH's storied career — tells a tragic tale of love and revenge, backed by the Swedes' trademark melodic, anthemic metal, which was produced and mixed once again by Andy Sneap (MEGADETH, TESTAMENT, ACCEPT) and also features special guest session drummer Tobias Gustafsson (VOMITORY). The epic original story is set in the world of the Jomsvikings, the legendary order of mercenary Vikings.

AMON AMARTH frontman Johan Hegg explains: "The Jomsvikings were a shadowy and legendary sect of Viking mercenaries, as shrouded in myth now as they were when they fought across Europe and the Middle East. Ruthless and deadly warriors who fought for the highest bidder, their code was simple: Show no fear. Never retreat. Defend your brothers, and when called upon, avenge their deaths."

He continues: "I felt we were finally ready to use their story as the jumping off point for an AMON AMARTH album. The Jomsvikings and their world is the background for the story of a young man that is in love with a girl but unfortunately she's being married off. He accidentally kills a man when this happens and he has to flee — but he swears to have revenge and win her back. He can't let go of the past. He feels that he's been wronged and his life has been destroyed. The way the story evolves is not a happy story."

"Jomsviking" track listing:

01. First Kill
02. Wanderer
03. On A Sea Of Blood
04. One Against All
05. Raise Your Horns
06. The Way Of Vikings
07. At Dawn's First Light
08. One Thousand Burning Arrows
09. Vengeance Is My Name (bonus track - for digibook, digital, LP, and viking ship editions)
10. A Dream That Cannot Be (feat. Doro Pesch)
11. Back On Northern Shores

Adds Hegg: "'Deceiver Of The Gods' was very successful for us and we had a good run with that and did some really great tours. Even before we changed drummers for this record we had the idea to make a concept album. It was something we'd never done before and it gave us a challenge. I started writing the story, went into it wholeheartedly and once you start going down that path there's really no turning back."

AMON AMARTH will tour North America with fellow Swedes ENTOMBED A.D. and young USA metal upstarts EXMORTUS.