Metal comes in all shapes and sizes. There’s thrash metal, speed metal, black metal, death metal and then you get into the subgenres of subgenres, like symphonic black metal or what we like to call Amon Amarth “Viking Metal”, or “Norse Metal” as it were.
Every show we have ever witnessed from AMON AMARTH feels like galloping into war in medieval Europe. You smell blood, sweat and grime, and that’s just from the first song. Now the Swedish metal giants are giving us another reason to grab our battle gear with the release of their new single and video, “Eight Legs of Thunder.”
The track serves as the latest preview of the band’s upcoming album, The Allfather Awakens, arriving October 2 through Metal Blade Records. And if you’ve ever wondered what would happen if Norse mythology collided with an American Western, well, Amon Amarth apparently had the same thought.
“Eight Legs of Thunder” draws inspiration from Sleipnir, Odin’s legendary eight legged horse. Musically, the song charges forward with a galloping guitar riff and a huge chorus built for screaming along with a crowd. The accompanying video takes that mythology somewhere completely unexpected, dropping the story into a dusty modern Western filled with cowboys, pickup trucks and wide open roads before Sleipnir enters the picture through a surreal dream sequence.
WATCH THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR “EIGHT LEGS OF THUNDER” BELOW
Director Dariusz Szermanowicz explained the idea behind the video, saying, “With ‘Eight Legs Of Thunder’, together with the band, we wanted to break the traditional metal music video mold once again. We fused the raw, dusty vibe of a modern western with the epic, dark mythology of Oden’s eight-legged steed. It’s a high-octane, cinematic ride packed with cowboy tension, raw action, and a touch of dark humor. We didn’t just want to make a music video—we wanted to deliver a visual knockout.”
The new single follows “Upphaf,” Amon Amarth’s first acoustic track, and “Gjallarhorn,” another massive dose of Norse mythology that tells the story of Odin sacrificing his eye in exchange for wisdom and foresight.
That mythology continues to run through The Allfather Awakens, but the band isn’t calling this a concept album. Instead, the record brings together a collection of epic stories involving conflict, sacrifice and the pursuit of something greater.
There is also a different approach behind the music itself. Amon Amarth wrote much of the material while touring rather than waiting until they were home, with the album recorded during two separate sessions at producer Jacob Hansen’s studio in Denmark. The band also moved toward a less modern guitar sound, returning to Marshall amplifiers after previously relying on 5150s.
The result is a 10 song album that appears to be taking Amon Amarth further into the territory they’ve spent more than three decades carving out for themselves.
And if you’ve ever seen this band live, you already know that is where the real madness begins.
The group has announced a new European and U.K. tour supporting the album, with a completely new stage production inspired by Odin’s legendary Golden Hall. For a band already known for turning its concerts into full blown Viking spectacles, we’re curious to see how far they’re willing to take it this time.
The Allfather Awakens arrives October 2, and “Eight Legs of Thunder” is available now alongside its music video.
Honestly, we didn’t think Amon Amarth could make Viking metal sound any more like a medieval war party.
Then they added cowboys.