AMON AMARTH frontman Johann Hegg and guitarist Olavi Mikkonen are featured in a new interview with Dayal Patterson at The Quietus. An excerpt is available below:

Q: So, has the success of the band changed things a lot for you in the sense that you can now devote so much more of your time to the band?

Mikkonen: "We have so much time to write songs now since we don't do anything else other than playing in Amon Amarth. We have much more time now then when we had day jobs and we had to rehearse in the evening. Now if we rehearse for one month it's more hours than normal bands that maybe rehearse like twice a week or whatever."

Q: You've stuck very much to your guns throughout your career lyrically but also musically. There are few bands who can genuinely be described as heavy who also manage to be so uplifting and whose tunes are so, well, hummable. What have been your main inspirations?

Mikkonen: "I would say traditional heavy metal, combined with the heaviness of BOLT THROWER, some DEATH and SLAYER. I would say it's a mix of all that and I think it's the same now as it was 20 years ago. But of course we were there when AT THE GATES came, the album Slaughter Of The Soul was a big thing for everyone in Sweden. Then ten years ago I heard RAMMSTEIN for the first time and thought that was pretty cool. But I would say the foundation is still traditional heavy metal and old school death metal together."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

Amon Amarth recently released their new music video, for the track 'Destroyer Of The Universe', taken from Surtur Rising. The live video was shot on the band’s May 6th stop in Philadelphia, PA at the Theatre Of Living Arts, by director David Brodsky of MyGoodEye.

“This time around we wanted to catch the energy and atmosphere of a live show, so we simply went for a live video. We look forward to get back to North America in August to continue and fulfill the ‘Evening’ tour, meanwhile enjoy the video”, comments guitarist Olavi Mikkonen.

Check out the video, courtesy of BlankTV, below:

Greek demons SEPTICFLESH are confirmed to open for Amon Amarth's upcoming European tour, which kicks off October 12th in Stuttgart, Germany and ends 45 days later, on November 26th, in Prague, Czech Republic. AS I LAY DYING is also on the bill. The itinerary can be found below.

Dates:

October

12 - Stuttgart, Germany - LKA
13 - Strasbourg, France - La Laiterie
14 - Passau, Germany - Metal Invasion Festival
15 - Berlin, Germany - Huxleys
16 - Leipzig, Germany - Hellraiser
18 - Bremen, Germany - Aladin
19 - Luxembourg, Luxembourg - Sportzentrum Differdange
20 - Neu-Isenburg, Germany - Hugenottenhalle
21 - Oberhausen, Germany - Turbinenhalle
22 - Hengelo, Netherlands - Metropol
23 - London, UK - HVM Forum
25 - Rennes, France - L´Etage
26 - Eindhoven, Netherlands - Effenaar
27 - Lille, France - Aeronet
28 - St. Etienne, France - Le Fil
30 - Bilbao, Spain - Rock Star *

November

1 - Lisboa, Portugal - Incrivel Almadense *
2 - Porto, Portugal - Hard Club *
3 - Santiago de Compostela, Spain - Capitol *
4 - Madrid, Spain - Heineken *
5 - Barcelona, Spain - Razzmatazz 2 *
7 - Zürich, Switzerland - Komplex 457
8 - Treviso, Italy - New Age
9 - Bologna, Italy - Estragon
11 - Lausanne, Switzerland - Les Docks
12 - Kaufbeuren, Germany - All-Kart Halle
13 - Graz, Austria - Orpheum
15 - Ljubljana, Slovenia - Cvetlicarna Media Park Club
16 - Zagreb, Croatia - Bogaloo
18 - Sofia, Bulgaria - Yubilena Hall
19 - Bucharest - Arenele Romane
21 - Budapest, Hungary - Club 202
22 - Bratislava, Slovakia - Majestic Music Club
23 - Linz, Austria - Posthof
24 - Wien, Austria - Gasometer
25 - Krakow, Poland - Studio
26 - Prague, Czech Republic - Masters Of Rock

* shows without As I Lay Dying