Against all odds, a melodic death metal band from a small town on the East Coast of Sweden, named after a mountain in The Lord Of The Rings and packing lyrics almost entirely focused on Viking mythology, ended up being one of the biggest metal bands in Europe and one of the biggest rock bands their country has ever produced. Amon Amarth have got where theyrichrich are doing things entirely their own way, and ahead of their October tour with fellow Swedish metal veterans Soilwork and rising countrymen Orbit Culture, we sat down with frontman-mountain Johan Hegg for a quick chat.
Vikings are all well and good, but doesn’t the name Amon Amarth come from Lord Of The Rings? Shouldn’t you be a Hobbit metal band?
“It does indeed. Amon Amarth formed from a band called Scum. We changed members, musical direction…pretty much everything, so figured we weren’t the same band anymore. I suggested the brilliant name ‘Nifelheim’, but it turned out there’s already a band called that. Our bassist Ted Lundström is a massive Tolkien fan and came up with the name Amon Amarth [another name for Mount Doom] and it stuck. Besides, Tolkien was heavily inspired by Norse mythology, right?”
It’s hard to imagine wee Johan sitting in a library growing up – were you more of a nerd or a jock?
“I didn’t read Tolkien until much later. I’m not really into fantasy, but when I did read them I enjoyed them.”
Is it true you got the Amon Amarth gig because you were drunkenly grunting in a Greek pub?
“Yes, it is. I was best friends with Scum’s guitarist, Anders Hansson, so when we graduated high school we and Olavi Mikkonen, our other guitarist, decided to go to Greece for a two-week vacation. We were partying, sunbathing and driving around way too fast on mopeds. We went to this metal bar in Kos and The Final Countdown by Europe came on and I just started growling along to it. The guys were like, ‘Maybe you could sing in our band.’ I’d never sung in a band before, but -wait, is that a red cat?”
I didn’t read Tolkien until much later. I’m not really into fantasy
Yeah that’s Freyja. She likes to invade interviews.
“A she? That’s very rare for red cats! Look, I have a red cat too. His name is Paisley. We’re his emergency home. He’s gonna be adopted this weekend – my wife helps out with a cat shelter.”
How long have you been fostering cats?
“Off and on for about 15 years. Maria rescued cats when I met her, so when we got married and moved in together, we went to a house in the countryside where she grew up and figured we could use this massive place to help foster cats. Only problem is, you end up adopting half of them.”
This is all getting too cuddly. Word on the street is you’ve trained in MMA…
“Again, its my wife who got me into it. She used to both box and do kickboxing, and we work out together. We got offered the chance to meet Josh Barnett, the former UFC heavyweight champion and I don’t know how, but my first MMA training session was with him!”
You do like these steep learning curves, don’t you?
“It was rough! When we got back home we joined an MMA gym. But after a session you’re so wasted it takes two days to get back on track. I mainly do weightlifting now.”
Have you heard of any fighters using Amon Amarth for their entrance music?
“Not in the bigger leagues. I know Angela Hill from UFC, she wanted to use Amon Amarth but the organisers said no – we were too growly.”
What’s the worst fight you’ve ever got into?
“Going back to Josh Barnett, he said, ‘Nobody should fight, but everybody should know how to fight.’ I agree with that. I manage to stay out of fights most of the time. The one I remember is that me and Ted were drunk on the bus and he was being really annoying. We threw punches at each other and eventually forgot what we were fighting about. Living on top of each other, it’s bound to happen.”
Angela Hill from UFC wanted to use Amon Amarth but the organisers said no – we were too growly
What’s your least favourite Amon Amarth stage prop? You’ve given that world serpent a good beating live a few times.
“Oh I actually love that thing! It’s the first inflatable we used and is still one of the better ones. We had two giant dragon heads that you could walk up and they breathed CO2 smoke. They were always a pain in the ass because they were unstable. It was a good three metre drop if you were to fall.”
Biff Byford says the Saxons beat the Vikings at Stamford Bridge but do you reckon you could batter Saxon?
“Ha! It’s good for them they got one win, at least.”
A new Amon Amarth album is expected later this year. The band tour the UK in October with Orbit Culture and Soilwork
