By: Mike Lyon

Viking Metal invades the Sounds of the Underground Tour.

The Sounds of the Underground tour is always a big hit with our readers and this year was no exception.  As I went over the reader response one band stood out as the fan favorite – AMON AMARTH, the Swedish death metal band.  I figured I better talk to the brutal Swed Johan Hegg before my entrails were ripped out by rabid metalheads.

MikeL: How did the band get on the SOTU tour?
Johan: We were contacted by The Agency and Metal Blade to do the show.  We have heard really good things about the tour and we thought it would be good to reach some new fans.
MikeL:  What was your favorite part of the Sounds of the Underground tour?
Johan: Playing for all the fu*kin crazy metalheads.  It was great to get such good response everywhere we went.  It was also really cool hanging out with the other bands.  We partied with Gwar, which was crazy.  All the bands were fun.
MikeL: Favorite cities on the tour?
Johan:  All the cities were great.  San Jose was fu*kin crazy; we love playin’ for you guys.
MikeL: What did you do in your spare time? Did you get a chance to see many sites?
Johan: We didn’t have too much spare time on this tour because when we had days off SOTU we played off shows in other venues.  We did get to see Niagara Falls, which was cool, and we had some time in Vegas, which was a blast.
MikeL: What are your favorite songs to do live?
Johan: It depends; it all has to do with the crowd reaction. Some of the songs I enjoy playing out on tour are from our latest album. Death by Fire, Pursuit of Vikings are fun to do live, but anything that gets the crowd going.
MikeL: What other bands did you hang out with on the SOTU Tour?
Johan: We got along with all the bands. The kids from Acacia Strain were awesome. Of course our old friends from Goatwhore who we’ve toured with before, they’re awesome guys too. We’ve just been kicking back, hanging out with everyone. It’s amazing.
MikeL: You guys are starting your tour in Europe on the 23rd?
Johan: Yeah, we are going out on tour with Dimmu Borgir. It’s going to be a cool tour. It’s going to be about six weeks in Europe and Scandinavia.
MikeL: How do the European fans compare to the American fans? What’s the difference?
Johan: Basically there isn’t a big difference between the two. When you look at it they’re still just metal fans. Mainly the difference can be found in the way they express their appreciation of the band.  Over in the United States moshing is much more common than over here. I mean people mosh over here too, but you don’t really see the big circle pits. Metal heads are Metal heads wherever you go in the world.
MikeL: A lot of bands come and go, how have you been able to keep the band together since 1992?
Johan: I think we all have a sort of vision of where we all want to go as a band. We’ve all been very focused on this band; we haven’t really stepped out into doing side projects or anything. I think the only guy that ever did that was Fredrick our drummer. We all have a lot of faith in what we’re doing and have always felt strongly about this band and that is probably one of the key elements why we’ve been able to stick together. All of us are friends from the very beginning; we were hanging out even before we started the band.
MikeL: Your music is obviously has a Viking theme; you are called “Viking metal.” What are some of your favorite legends?
Johan: One of the ones I always refer to which is one that I really like is called Galena Skealean Saga? It’s an Icelandic saga legend about one of the last pagans of Iceland. Everyone around him got christened at the end before he was killed by the Europeans. But he never was. There are so many cool sagas and legends from the Scandinavian culture especially the Icelandic sagas are full of interesting accounts of people who actually did live. It’s more like historical events but written in an interesting way.
MikeL: When are you guys going to be recording again?
Johan: Hopefully sometime next year. We are doing our touring now, we are going on the Dimmu Borgir tour and then we are going on the headlining tour in November in the US and Canada. Then when we get back we will have a couple weeks off and then we are going to start writing some new material.
MikeL: So where in the US is the headlining tour going to be?
Johan: We start off in San Diego on the 19th of November and the last show is in Los Angeles on December 20th.
MikeL: Are you going to record with the same producer at Fascination Street studios?
Johan: Yeah…I think that is what we are going to do. We really like working with Jens Bogren, who runs Fascination Street and we plan on going back there to record again especially since the last songs turned out so good.
MikeL: How do you like working with Metal Blade Records?
Johan: It’s really cool. Perhaps it’s not the biggest or financially strongest one out there but they take really good care of their bands and really support the bands. We deal mostly with the guys here in Europe and they are fucking awesome, amazing guys. They guys in the US are cool also. It’s a good label and we really enjoy working with those guys.
MikeL: Who made your leather wristbands?
Johan: It’s a guy we know over here who made them. I’m actually on my third pair right now. The first pair I made myself and I had them for years but they started to stink so I had to get new ones made. This guy we know made me a pair and they turned out really good, but I lost one of them. So now he’s made me another pair.
MikeL: Who sponsors the band?
Johan: Crank Amps, Gibson Guitars, Vic Firth, and In Tune Guitar Picks. We’re also working with AKG for wireless systems like microphones and stuff. Really good stuff actually.