Swedish “viking metal” group Amon Amarth will be releasing their 11th studio album entitled Berserker, this May. A new video fot the band’Add News first single off the new album entitled “Raven’s Flight,” has also been released, featuring a smackdown of professional wrestling talent which includes Josh Barnett, an ex-UFC fighter and Erick Rowan of the WWE.

“Raven’s Flight,” features many aspects of Norse mythology featuring Barnett as the self-titled Berserker and Rowan as the Norse god Thor. This track features the band’s signature melodic metal style referencing quick drums, melody laden guitar chords and numerous references to Norse themes.

Berserker will be released on numerous platforms, including CD, a special limited edition box set which includes a shield and patch (limited to 500 copies), opaque white w/ black splatter vinyl (limited to 1200 copies) opaque white w/ silver haze vinyl (retail exclusive – limited to 1300 copies),clear w/ red splatter vinyl (webstore exclusive – limited to 750 copies) and a black w/ red haze vinyl (webstore exclusive – limited to 750 copies). Pre-order info for the upcoming album can be found here.

After recording a few demos with fellow Swede Peter Tägtgren the band decided to take the project overseas, and took up recording Berserker in Los Angeles. In LA the group met up with acclaimed metal producer Jay Ruston, who produced the project. Ruston has worked with artists such as Anthrax and Stone Sour in the past.

“For me, this is Amon Amarth 2.0,” vocalist Johan Hegg declared in a press release. “I think what we’ve done here is give ourselves the space to explore other parts of our musicality and who we are as a band. If you’re content with where you’re at, what’s the point of continuing? We always want to come up with new ideas and find new ways of doing things and to create bigger and better shows and really try to improve every aspect of what the band is. We want to try to keep growing and to do this for as long as we have the possibility to do so, because this is the best fucking job in the world.”

Amon Amarth are currently supporting thrash metal legends Slayer as part of the band’s farewell tour which is taking place this spring. The band’s latest release prior to this upcoming album, Jomsviking, was released in 2016.

While Jomsviking received positive reception after its release, scoring a respectable 79 on Metacritic, other listeners were not as well pleased. Mxdwn’s own David Sano gave the release, a lukewarm review calling the project “the sound of a band regressing.”

“If you want to hear the sound of a venerable and once-respectable band diluting their brand… check out St. Anger by Metallica,” Sano explains in his 2016 review. “At least that particular trainwreck was interesting.”

Berserker track-listing
1. Fafner’s Gold
2. Crack the Sky
3. Mjölner, Hammer of Thor
4. Shield Wall
5. Valkyria
6. Raven’s Flight
7. Ironside
8. The Berserker at Stamford Bridge
9. When Once Again We Can Set Our Sails
10. Skoll and Hati
11. Wings of Eagles
12. Into the Dark

Photo Credit: Boston Lynn Schulz