Amon Amarth – Deceiver of the Gods (2013)

CD1 Deceiver of the Gods
01 – Deceiver Of The Gods
02 – As Loke Falls
03 – Father Of The Wolf
04 – Shape Shifter
05 – Under Siege
06 – Blood Eagle
07 – We Shall Destroy
08 – Hel
09 – Coming Of The Tide
10 – Warriors Of The North

CD2 Under the Influence
11 – Burning Anvil Of Steel
12 – Satan Rising
13 – Snake Eyes
14 – Stand Up To Go Down

Musicians:
    Johan Hegg − lead vocals
    Johan Söderberg − guitars
    Olavi Mikkonen − guitars
    Ted Lundström − bass
    Fredrik Andersson − drums
+
    Messiah Marcolin (ex-Candlemass) − guest vocals on "Hel"

What a letdown. Amon Amarth have exploded in popularity over the last few years, bolstering an already impressive discography of solid albums with 2011’s Surtur Rising. One of the better albums to have been recently released within the melodic death metal genre, it also saw Amon Amarth triumphantly trek across North America and the rest of the world, garnering legions of new fans.

Well, you can pretty much forget about any notions of progression, because Deceiver Of The Gods has “playing it safe” all over it. Sure, you wouldn’t expect any big change in format or anything like that from a genre band such as Amon Amarth, but listless and lifeless are really the only ways to describe Deceiver Of The Gods.

Any sense of weight or power has been excised from Amon Amarth’s delivery on Deceiver Of The Gods. The album’s ten songs are nearly interchangeable with similar riffing, mid-paced tempos that occasionally uptick to a mild gallop, plenty of guitar solos, you name it. None of the tracks stand out and, perhaps even worse, virtually none of the tracks present the listener with any sort of epic sweep (ok, maybe “We Shall Destroy” comes close), a genre necessity when your entire lyrical message glorifies the heathen gods of old.

Usually a reviewer can find at least a couple of positive things to say about a new album from such a veteran band, but, sadly, Deceiver Of The Gods is devoid of such. Even a guest appearance from Messiah Marcolin (ex-Candlemass) on “Hel” falls flat.

If I’m being overly harsh in my assessment of Deceiver Of The Gods, so be it, but my reasoning is twofold. First, although stylistically identical, I found Surtur Rising to be highly enjoyable with great songwriting, so much so that Deceiver Of The Gods was highly anticipated.

Second, I cannot help but now compare Amon Amarth to Ensiferum, a similar band that made the exact same mistake with recent albums that could only be described in a similar manner; that is, listless and lifeless. Some bands reach a plateau and become content to coast. That’s exactly what has happened with Amon Amarth on Deceiver Of The Gods. --- Dave Schalek, heavymetal.about.com

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