On April 8th, one of the most anticipated tours of the year hit the Pressroom in Phoenix, Arizona. With an incredibly diverse line-up of Exmortus, Entombed A.D. and Amon Amarth, one could only expect a sold-out show. If you’ve ever seen a crowd at an Amon Amarth show, you can clearly see the fans’ dedication, as many people who attended dressed up in viking attire & carried their own horns for mead. It was a mixture of thrash. death & viking metal fans under one roof.This was the second day of the tour as they had just kicked things off in San Diego, California. the night before. Everybody was pumped and excited to get things started. As the night progressed and the venue started to slowly get packed, one could feel the energy radiating from the eager crowd.
First up was Exmortus! All the way from Whittier, California, these boys really knew how to shred. They played songs off their new album ‘Ride Forth’ and a few other fan favorites. Their amazing talent and crowd interaction was consistent during their set. It was time to change things up with some Swedish Death Metal from Entombed A.D. They had a raw, organic live sound –classic death metal at its finest. Their set list included tracks from ‘Dead Dawn’, ‘Stranger Aeons’, ‘Second to None’, ‘Midas In Reverse’, ‘Living Dead’, ‘The Winner Has Lost’, ‘Revel in Flesh’ and ‘Left Hand Path’. It was great to see a mix of old and new songs being played to the large audience.
Finally, it was the moment we were all waiting for –it was time for Amon Amarth. Now, their stage set up was only a small portion of what they brought with them due to the limited stage size. Nonetheless, we were all excited and ready to see the Vikings in the flesh. As the lights went down and the band came out, the uproar from the crowd was immense. Everyone was screaming and chanting as they began to play. Amon Amarth truly has their own aura to them and they were incredibly vibrant and majestic. They played a jam-packed 19-track set list.
It was impressive how much stamina and power the guys had in order to deliver such a grand performance through such a long set. We were very fortunate that this time around, they came to Arizona, and that they did have a much larger stage where everyone could move around, and we also got to enjoy some live sword-fighting. This was also the first time fans got to hear a few tracks off their new album ‘Jomsviking’ and the songs seemed to have a great crowd response.
There was never a moment of silence because everyone was going crazy for them, especially when they played a few key songs like “The Pursuit of Vikings”, “Light, Deceiver of the Gods”, “Cry of the Blackbirds”, “Runes to My Memory”, “Guardians of Asgaard” and “Twilight of the Thunder God”. Overall, it was an incredible show with a great blend of 3 super-talented bands, and everyone should definitely check out this tour. Make sure you don’t miss out!