For all those familiar with Vikings, you already know that they were quite infamous for their reckless brutality. They would travel from coast to coast in those kick-ass long ships and just pillage the shit out of everything they saw. After a hard day’s work raising Hel in the name of Oden, they’d celebrate by drinking massive amounts of mead…out of giant animal horns, no less. Can you think of anything more metal? You can’t. Because there just isn’t.

I’ll tell you from first hand experience: going to an Amon Amarth show is not unlike what one might have experienced during an actual Viking pillaging. From the moment the giant Swedes walked onstage at NYC’s The Fillmore NY at Irving Plaza to the moment they left, no one was left unharmed.

But let me take a step back. The night’s carnage began with Florida’s new leaders of death thrash, the Absence. There were a good amount of people for their half-hour set (considering the early set time), and the audience really seemed to be into the band. As a special treat, they finished with a cover of Testament’s thrash classic “Into the Pit.”

Up next were Austria’s deadliest black metallers, Belphegor. I didn’t know much about them, beyond hearing and enjoying 2008’s Bondage Goat Zombie (how evil does that title sound?). Their fans were out in force (as evidenced by the tons of Belphegor shirts), and they weren’t let down: the guys put on a pretty good show, even if the drummer was quite off during the double-kick drum parts.

Amon Amarth’s Johan Hegg

The final spot before the headliner was held by Finland’s finest warriors Ensiferum, who really brought the iron (pun intended). They put on a great show and the crowd really loved them. Once they loaded off the stage, and the intro music started, everyone knew that the true masters of war were coming.

As soon as the intro tape finished, Amon Amarth stormed out and ripped right into the title track of their new album, “Twilight of the Thunder God.” Next they went straight into a fan favorite from the 2006’s With Oden on Our Side, “Runes to My Memory,” replete with great a cappella intro from vocalist Johan Hegg.

“North Sea Storm” was a memorable piece and it was great to see how the lights really added to the effect of battling on a ship. “Guardians of Asgaard” was definitely a crowd pleaser, as evidenced by the huge mosh pits and widespread headbanging. Staples like “Death in Fire,” “Victorious March,” and “Valhall Awaits Me” were received with much appreciation.

As always, it was all about the night’s closer “Pursuit of Vikings,” the band’s breakthrough hit in the States. By that point the crowd’s intensity had reached a fever pitch. Fans were singing the chorus louder than Johan, headbanging and windmilling faster and harder than guitarists Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Söderberg, bassist Ted Lundström and drummer Fredrik Andersson. Although I was in a 2,000 person club, I witnessed pits that compared to those I’ve seen at Wacken Open Air. So if you want to see a band that knows how to deliver the most Viking of metal experiences (mead horn included), Amon Amarth is definitely the band to see. — Henry Yuan

Photos by Thomas Mellenthin Fotografie.