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Music

Thors hammer

AMON AMARTH at the Opera House (735 Queen East), Wednesday (April 21). $29.75. rotate.com.

Rolling together medieval lore, deafening guitar parts and fist-pumping melodies is no easy task, but Swedish Viking-metal band Amon Amarth have excelled at it for more than two decades. Now seven full-length albums deep, they sound better than ever.

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Made up of vocalist Johan Hegg, guitarists Johan Soderberg and Olavi Mikkonen, bassist Ted Lundstrom and drummer Fredrik Andersson, the band’s currently preparing a follow-up to 2008’s critically acclaimed Twilight Of The Thunder God (Metal Blade), which they’re extensively touring.

“I’ve developed some lyrical ideas, and [the band] has started recording new material,” says Hegg from his home in Gothenburg, Sweden. “We’re looking to release the new album near the end of the year.”

Originally called Scum, Amon Amarth first cut their teeth in the grindcore world before gravitating toward the mythology-informed realm of Viking metal. Their name, borrowed from Tolkien’s Middle Earth, means Mount Doom.

“Norse mythology is something we could stand for, something we could relate to,” explains Hegg. “It suited us musically, and it was a big interest when we were young.”

The five-piece has worked with some of the biggest names in metal. Twilight features guest appearances by Apocalyptica and Entombed’s Lars-Goran Petrov among others. But it’s ideas that fuel the band. Twilight’s loosely based on Thor, the god of thunder.

“We’ve sunk a lot of time into the lyrics and production of our past projects,” Hegg says, “but, conceptually speaking, our latest album may be the strongest.”

music@nowtoronto.com

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