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February 10th 2011, Los Angeles CA: Throughout the two decades of their existence, Swedish metal giants Amon Amarth have delivered glorious compositions based on some truly epic mythological themes. Right from tunes like "The Dragons' Flight Across The Waves" on their '98 debut release to the title song on the latest effort "Twilight Of The Thunder God", they've been successful at outdoing themselves every single time. The aforementioned 2008 release was an overwhelming success that resulted from some brilliantly crafted and aggressively executed music, aided by some illustrious guest contributions and a stunning album cover. It turned out to be their most successful album thus far, and I felt that they hit a creative peak which would be hard to surmount. But, that's exactly the challenge frontman Johan Hegg and his band mates would have relished when they sat down to create what would be the band's eighth full-length offering, "Surtur Rising". I consider myself fortunate enough to be given a three-track sampler, and here's my preview of what we can expect from the album as a whole.

The sampler consisted of tracks number 1, 4 and 7, namely "War Of The Gods", "Slaves Of Fear", and "For Victory Or Death". Judging from the titles, I don't sense anything different in terms of the lyrical themes, and in this aspect they've seemed to continue with what's worked best for them in the past. And straight away, the music on "War Of The Gods" creates the dark and melodic atmosphere that signifies Amon Amarth, complimented by Johan Hegg's crushing vocals. "Slaves Of Fear" is a slower, even darker track that revolves around Johan Soderberg and Olavi Mikkonen's crisp, cohesively flowing guitar work. The final track in the sampler, "For Victory Or Death" has equally well written guitar melodies but presents them at a much faster tempo.

If this sampler is anything to go by, this album should come across to fans as the next logical step in Amon Amarth's musical progression. It sounds darker, more atmospheric and better structured than "Twilight Of The Thunder Gods", which is saying a lot. Fans the world over would have already marked the album's release date in their respective territories on their calendars, and I can promise them that they won't be disappointed in the least bit when the Surtur begins its rise.