Review by Tobias on March 16, 2001.

Raised from the misnomer Scum in 1992, these raucous Swedes gave themselves a Viking overhaul to give us some great death metal that doesn’t lose sight of its heavy metal roots. The Crusher, the third full length hammering opus by Amon Amarth, is neck deep in viking imagery, crusading metal guitars and the almighty double-bass.

Before I was aware of Amon Amarth’s preference for Abyss Studio, Zgred and I were remarking on the similarities between Johan Hegg’s vocal style and that of Hypocrisy’s Peter Tagtgren. Hmm… coincidence? Don’t get me wrong, Johan is right on with his shredding style.

One thing that I really dig in Amon Amarth is their ability to fuse death with heavy metal bridges spawned of flailing guitars. The problem with it however is that not only are these instances few and far between, they also feel a little sudden; the band needs to work on lead-ins to these bridges. I’d love to hear Ted Lundstrom give us some downtuned interludes on his four-string.

The teeth-baring tracks Risen from the Sea (2000) and A Fury Divine are probably my two favorite tracks, riddled with war-god fury and persecution imagery.

Bottom Line: Enough power and diversity punches through on The Crusher to satiate death metal fans everywhere.

Rating: 7 of 10