UGO.com has issued an interview with AMON AMARTH drummer Fredrik Andersson, conducted by Greg Prato. The following is an excerpt:

Q: How heavy is Surtur Rising?

A: "It's extremely heavy! I would say it's probably the heaviest album we've ever written! It wasn't really intentional, but that was the way the album turned out. We wanted it to be brutal - which it is, but it's also really heavy."

? Q: There are some interesting cover songs that are included as bonus tracks (KISS' 'War Machine', ACCEPT's 'Balls To The Wall', and SYSTEM OF A DOWN's 'Aerials'). How did you choose them?

A: "Well, we had been talking about doing some more covers since we did BLACK SABBATH's 'Children Of The Grave' for a tribute CD, and it was lots of fun to do.

So first up came the idea of doing 'God Of Thunder' by KISS, as a fun thing to do and fitted us pretty well. But when we were looking into that, the song 'War Machine' came up and we thought it was a heavier song that we could do something interesting with, so we picked that one instead.

'Balls To The Wall' was probably the easiest choice, as Johan Söderberg already knew most of the song so we only had to "Amonize" it.

The third song we had a few ideas but nothing really felt right. Until we went to Japan in the middle of the recording session and ended up at a karaoke bar there. The song 'Aerials' came up and since the song has some really strong history with the band (both good and bad), we were all screaming it. When we came back to the studio after that we were like, 'Hey, why don't we do that 'Aerials' song?' That's the last thing anyone would expect from us and it'd be a challenge for us. So we did."

Read the full interview at this location.

Amon Amarth are gearing up to unleash Surtur Rising, the eighth studio offering in their critically revered pantheon of Viking-inspired death metal. Surtur Rising will be released in North America on March 29th via Metal Blade Records. A track-by-track album review is currently online at Radio Metal.

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 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 Örebro, Sweden with Jens Bogren and features strikingly brutal cover art by Tom Thiel. Check it out below:

Amon Amarth have unveiled the official album landing page. The new website, 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.

The page currently features a stream of 'War Of The Gods', the opening track off Surtur Rising. Check it out here.

Surtur Rising tracklisting:

'War Of The Gods'

'Töck's Taunt - Loke's Treachery Part II'

'Destroyer Of The Universe'

'Slaves Of Fear'

'Live Without Regrets'

'The Last Stand Of Frej'

'For Victory Or Death'

'Wrath Of The Norsemen'

'A Beast Am I'

'Doom Over Dead Man'

Bonus Tracks:

'War Machine' (KISS cover)

'Balls To The Wall' (Accept cover)

'Aerials' (System Of A Down cover)

An Evening With Amon Amarth dates:

April

14 - The Bottom Lounge - Chicago, IL
15 - Station 4 - Saint Paul, MN
16 - Granada Theater - Lawrence, KS
17 - The Summit Music Hall - Denver, CO
19 - Wonder Ballroom - Portland, OR
20 - Showbox Sodo - Seattle, WA
22 - The Regency - San Francisco, CA
23 - Ace Of Spades - Sacramento, CA
24 - House of Blues - West Hollywood, CA
25 - Nile Theatre - Mesa, AZ
27 - White Rabbit - San Antonio, TX
29 - Culture Room - Fort Lauderdale, FL
30 - Beacham Theatre - Orlando, FL

May

1 - Masquerade - Atlanta, GA
2 - Jaxx - Springfield, VA
3 - Peabody's - Cleveland, OH
5 - Best Buy Theater - New York, NY
6 - Paradise Rock Club - Boston, MA
7 - Theatre Of Living Arts - Philadelphia, PA

Tickets are on sale now through all local ticket outlets.