Music Radar recently caught up with Amon Amarth guitarist Olavi Mikkonen to discuss the band's new album, Jomsviking. An excerpt from the interview is available below.

Mikkonen: “This album feels like a movie to us. It’s the same story throughout the album. Johan wrote down a script and that’s what we based the whole album on. Basically, the Jomsviking were the mercenaries of the Viking era. Though it’s a fiction story that we came up with ourselves, the Jomsviking were around… there’s truth to their existence. There’s a young man that kills important people in the village he lives in and has to flee for his life. He accidentally joins the Jomsviking and becomes this badass warrior. Eventually, after many, many years, he comes back to his homeland. See what I mean: it’s basically like a movie.”

If you’re wondering how much of an impact their frontman Johan Hegg's involvement in the film business had on the fruits of their labour, the answer is probably a fair bit. It’s the perfect soundtrack to conquering the world, which is something you could say the Swedes have been doing since their formation in 1992.

Mikkonen: “Yes, I think the film must have had an effect because Johan did that movie straight after we finished recording our last album Deceiver Of The Gods, in between touring it. So, as we began talking about the follow-up record, he was already thinking in movie terms. And we figured let’s do a movie, but skip the picture bit and just do the music. That’s how the idea was born… so, in a way, if Johan didn’t do that movie, maybe we might have written a regular album.”

Go to this location for the complete story.

Jomsviking - Amon Amarth's first concept record in their storied career - tells a tragic tale of love and revenge, backed by the Swedes' trademark anthemic metal. The record was produced and mixed by Andy Sneap (Megadeth, Testament, Accept) and also features special guest session drummer Tobias Gustafsson (Vomitory), and a guest vocal from Doro Pesch.

The epic original story is set in the world of the Jomsvikings, the pagan order of mercenary Vikings from the 10th & 11th Centuries. Johan Hegg explains, "The Jomsvikings were a shadowy and legendary sect of Viking mercenaries, as shrouded in myth now as they were when they fought across Europe and the Middle East. Ruthless and deadly warriors who fought for the highest bidder, their code was simple: Show no fear. Never retreat. Defend your brothers, and when called upon, avenge their deaths. I felt we were finally ready to use their story as the jumping off point for an Amon Amarth album. The Jomsvikings and their world is the background for the story of a young man that is in love with a girl but unfortunately she's being married off. He accidentally kills a man when this happens and he has to flee - but he swears to have revenge and win her back. He can't let go of the past. He feels that he's been wronged and his life has been destroyed. The way the story evolves is not a happy story."

German rock legend Doro Pesch adds guest vocals to the song "A Dream That Cannot Be". Hegg comments on the collaboration, saying, "It was a great pleasure to work with Doro. She's a very nice person and did a great job! She was actually the only one we could picture singing this song."

By far their most ambitious project to date, Jomsviking is available for pre-order in various formats at this location. Fans can view the video for the album's first single, "First Kill”, below. Produced by Grupa 13 and directed by Darek Szermanowicz (Behemoth), "First Kill" was filmed in Gohrweide (Germany) and Warsaw (Poland) and features a cinematic depiction of the brutal lyrics, along with stunning live footage of the band performing with their full dragon head and pyro stage-set.

Jomsviking tracklisting:

“First Kill”
“Wanderer”
“On A Sea Of Blood”
“One Against All”
“Raise Your Horns”
“The Way Of Vikings”
“At Dawn‘s First Light”
“One Thousand Burning Arrows”
“Vengeance Is My Name”
“A Dream That Cannot Be” (featuring Doro Pesch)
“Back On Northern Shores”

“On A Sea Of Blood”:

“At Dawn's First Light” video:

“First Kill” video:

Listen to the album track, “Raise Your Horns”, streaming at BBC’s Rock Show.

Following Jomsviking's release, Amon Amarth will tour North America with Entombed A.D. and Exmortus.

April
7 - San Diego, CA - House of Blues
8 - Phoenix, AZ - The Pressroom
9 - El Paso, TX - Tricky Falls
10 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theater
12 - Dallas, TX - House of Blues
13 - San Antonio, TX - The Aztec Theater
15 - Houston, TX - House of Blues
16 - New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
17 - Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
18 - Tampa, FL - The Ritz
20 - Charlotte, NC - The Fillmore
21 - Silver Spring, MD - The Fillmore
22 - New York, NY - Best Buy Theatre
23 - Boston, MA - House of Blues
25 - Rochester, NY - Water Street Music Hall
26 - Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
28 - Quebec City, QC - Imperial
29 - Montreal, QC - Metropolis
30 - Toronto, ON - The Danforth

May
1 - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
2 - Detroit, MI - St. Andrews
4 - St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
5 - Chicago, IL - The Riviera Theatre
6 - Lawrence, KS - The Granada Theater
7 - Denver, CO - The Ogden Theater
9 - Omaha, NE - Sokol Auditorium
10 - Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theater
12 - Winnipeg, MB - The Garrick
13 - Saskatoon, SK - O'Brian's Event Centre
14 - Calgary, AB - MacEwan Ballroom
16 - Vancouver, BC - The Commodore
17 - Seattle, WA - Showbox Market
18 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater
21 - Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern Theater

Amon Amarth are scheduled to perform in Montreal, Quebec on April 29th at Metropolis. In the video below, Johan Hegg invites fans to the show: