TED LUNDSTRÖM Reflects On AMON AMARTH's 'Slow But Steady' Climb: 'I Don't Wanna Be A Band That Gets Big Overnight'

In a new interview with KillerTube, bassist Ted Lundström of long-running Swedish death metallers AMON AMARTH was asked to name some things that his band is doing today that would have seemed completely impossible when the group was formed nearly three and a half decades ago. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, back then, everything we do now was completely impossible back then. I mean, this is a completely different world. 30 years ago, I was a teenager and everything was new and crazy and we just did everything just day by day. We had no really kind of visions more than just the next step, what do you wanna do with the band. So, what we're doing now was hardly even a dream back then because it's so crazy, our trip. Even though it's been slow but steady, just growing bigger, and for each step we reached, we just set new goals. And once, somewhere in the middle where we kind of realized this is something that's for real, we quit our daytime jobs to focus 100% on the music. So yeah, it's been quite the trip."

He continued: "I did an interview earlier about this acoustic song ['Upphaf'] we did [for our latest album, 'The Allfather Awakens'], that was something that would be completely a no-go back when we started, when you were young and metal was very true and the black metal scene was going on, and you had to be very heavy, very cool and very specific about this genre. So 30 years later, you're a different person in a way, but still enjoying it as much as I did back in the early days. So that's a good thing, I guess… You're looking maybe for a different response nowadays than back then. But every time has its own... It's just a part of life, I guess. Things change over the years, and the music business is completely different today than it was back then, and we're different persons, so. But, yeah, I, I think it's a cool thing, though."

Asked if there was a particular show or moment where he and his AMON AMARTH bandmates thought to themselves, "We can actually do this as a career", Ted said: "Well, it was not like a certain point, but somewhere along the road, you release an album or somewhere you realize that this might actually work. So when we quit our daytime job in the first place, we didn't really make any money or anything, but we said, 'We have to give it a try at least.' We felt there was potential here, so we said, like, 'Let's give it a shot because we're gonna live until we're old,' hopefully anyway, so might as well try it when we're young. Because when you get older, you have much more things, important stuff to take care of. We had no families, we had no loans, no house, no nothing. We could do anything we wanted, so it was kind of a great time to just fucking jump out into unknown and see what happens. But I remember when we kind of started to grow bigger in U.S., for example. I think we did the CHILDREN OF BODOM tour back in maybe 2005 or [200]6. That's when we felt like maybe we can reach somewhere over here too, because different parts of the world, it takes longer time to conquer, I guess. So this has been small steps all over, and slow growth. But it's been a fun trip."

Ted went on to say that he doesn't mind the fact that is has taken AMON AMARTH more than three decades to get to this point.

"I'm super happy that we did get to experience this," he explained. "I don't wanna be a band that gets big overnight. We worked hard, and, well, we've been very dedicated to... Everybody in the band has this goal all the time to grow — not a specific goal, but the goal has always been to reach to the next level, next countries we could visit or bigger albums and whatnot. Looking back, I'm really happy to have experienced all that stuff — sleeping in a sleeping bag in a van or on the stage floor or whatever. And your lunch might have been a beer and a bag of crisps, and you were happy anyways because you had fun and you were with your friends. So it's been an amazing trip, though."

From AMON AMARTH's 1992 formation in Tumba, Sweden, to the worldwide fame they've found in the ensuing years, their lyrical, live and recorded musical legacy speaks for itself. Over the past few years the band have performed globally and alongside legendary acts such as SLAYER, IRON MAIDEN, SLIPKNOT and PANTERA, in addition to monumental takeovers of Los Angeles's The Forum and Denver's historic Red Rocks Amphitheatre, to name a few. Across seas, AMON AMARTH have headlined multiple major rock and metal fests including an epic performance at Germany's Wacken Open Air in 2024 for 85,000. Elsewhere on European soil, the Viking lords have twice headlined the U.K.'s storied Bloodstock Open Air festival, made four appearances at Download (2008 - 2019),and performed at Summer Breeze eight times (2003 - 2024),six of them as headliner.

Their rapidly increasing sales and touring numbers, plus pre-release buzz to AMON AMARTH's 2026 North American tour with DETHKLOK and CASTLE RAT, has managed to garner mainstream success without sacrificing either of their constantly evolving creativity or heaviness. Audience demographics run the gamut from pre-teens to 60-somethings, an inclusive metal experience for those who appreciate epic positivity and powerfully inspirational lyrics.

Their cultural influence cannot be overstated. To wit: The Row. The consensus is that the legendary "Viking row" by audience members first began during the 2009 AMON AMARTH set at Bloodstock. Fans get on the ground and, in unison, imitate rowing an invisible longship in a powerfully unifying experience. With the 2022 release of the single and video "Put Your Back Into The Oar", Hegg said, "we thought it was a good idea to write a song about The Row! This one is for you, the fans, wherever you are–and may Oden guide you as you row to your destiny in uncharted seas!"

Over the years the phenomenon has spread to other artists' concerts and global events including 2026 World Cup audiences — but thanks to video footage, it's safe to say AMON AMARTH audiences began the now-iconic trend.

Photo credit: Sylwia Makris and Christian Martin Weiss