Are they ready to break big, or is the Viking drama played out? Are you serious? With or without the Norse gods, our favorite Swedish historical society issue nine tracks that, while not a concept album, are thematically linked by the exploits of their plundering forefathers. All aboard! A galloping ‘Valhall Awaits Me’ opens the record in an infectious upbeat manner, vocalist Johan Hegg’s forcefully bellicose, yet clean, throat relating the tale so everyone can understand. Nice use of ride cymbal too. Constructed on a whirling buzz of guitar (I can practically see the windmilling hair onstage), a dying warrior’s recollections comprise ‘Runes To My Memory’. At 3:05, the rapid ‘Asator’ is closer to speed/classic power metal. Ditto ‘Cry Of The Black Birds’, with each sporting a lead solo that gets even faster! By contrast, sections of ‘Under The Northern Star’ are the album’s slowest, Hegg’s drawn-out voice nearly death metal sludge. ‘Hermod’s Ride to Hel – Loke’s Treachery, part 1’ has a majestic beginning, then taken over by the almost piston-precision drumming. Smoking Christians out of a church, in ‘Gods Of War Arise’, never sounded like such a rollicking good time (thanks to that catchy beat) and the regal ‘Prediction Of War’ recounts a bloody rout of the Irish. The trick is to avoid musically bogging down in one style, but the sequencing varies the pace throughout. In days of yore, letting your mind wander might result in a broadsword across the forehead, so Amon Amarth keep their focus.