AMON AMARTH

The long-running assessment that AMON AMARTH is either the AC/DC or MOTÖRHEAD of melodic death metal hits its first real snag on "The Allfather Awakens". The Swedes — with a collective eyebrow raised at Odin from its ever-loyal and faithful audience — recorded an all-acoustic song, "Upphaf". Granted, "Upphaf" is more of a folk tune than a ballad; it fits with their aesthetic. Yet, does it signal greater diversions from a surprisingly successful formula? Not really.

For an outfit that likely hit its creative peak with 2008's "Twilight of the Thunder God", AMON AMARTH has done a masterful job of owning the Viking metal theme, making it larger than life. And that's where "The Allfather Awakens", like its predecessors, gets the job done. Opener "Gjallarhorn" is the quintessential bearded-dude fist-raiser, with a singalong chorus melody that will no doubt serve as a crowd-participation lead-in whenever the song airs during festival season. While the music video for "Eight Legs of Thunder" is of questionable value (the quintet looks like "Yellowstone" extras),the song is a vintage meld of heroic melodies and gallops. Moving along, "Kvasir's Blood" is perhaps the best tune here, a marauding, barrel-chested stomper with Johan Hegg going full-phlegm.

The collective of "We Rule the Waves", "Raven God" and the title track are direct descendants of virtually any period of AMON AMARTH past 2006's "With Oden on Our Side", meaning they're led by a hard-charging but simple melodic guitar line, an ample dose of double-bass and a rousing, multi-tracked chorus from Hegg, who, as usual, proves himself fit to be dubbed as one of the most accessible melodic death metal throats of his time.

"Upphaf", though, deserves the longest look. Set against mournful acoustic guitars with a Nordic flair (like a cross between AMORPHIS and the overlooked THYRFING),the cut finds Hegg still in character — he's growling here, but in a restrained fashion, because, of course, he's telling a story. (It's from the poem "Völuspá".) As the song transitions, it starts to crest until gently plucked chords enter the fray, bringing it to its climax. "Upphaf" is an on-brand journey that AMON AMARTH could, if need be, do an entire album of.

The album's proverbial epic striker comes in the form of "Ascending Like an Eagle". Fittingly slotted as the last song, "Ascending Like an Eagle" is a maelstrom of driving and triumphant guitar melodies. No doubt they are a variation on a theme, but the grasp of guitarists Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Söderberg of twin-guitar harmonies should never be in dispute: the pair appear to have a bottomless pit of them.

AMON AMARTH continues to justify their perch near the top of the death metal scene — melodic or not. Whether "The Allfather Awakens" treads new ground outside of "Upphaf" or not is in the ear of the beholder. AMON AMARTH will simply keep rowing on and on and on.