Amon Amarth - 'The Crusher'

Metal Blade continues their deluxe reissues of Amon Amarth’s back catalog with the band’s 2001 release, The Crusher.

Amon Amarth are, simply put, one of the best metal bands of this generation, though they’ve been on the scene for two decades. Granted, each release is like a Motorhead or Overkill album in their successive familiarity, but Amon Amarth knows their way around a metal cut better than many of their ilk. Death metal, Viking metal, whatever you want to call it, these guys are quintessential pros of their trade, exhibited by last year’s Twilight of the Thunder God and seven years beforehand on Amon Amarth’s 2001 album, The Crusher.

In the liner notes of this expanded reissue, the band notes how insanely heavy they strived to make this album. They also relay having full-time jobs, which accounts for The Crusher’s lengthy writing and recording process. While Amon Amarth has only grown heavier over the course of time, The Crusher remains, in retrospect, one of the heavyweights of its original release year.

Despite a few tempo slips spotted throughout, The Crusher finds Amon Amarth still ironing out a few kinks, yet still managing to stamp down a large portion of their competitors with massive cuts now regarded as fan classics such as “Bastards of a Lying Breed,” “Masters of War,” “A Fury Divine” and “Releasing Surtur’s Fire.”

Though not as precise and pinpointed as With Oden On Our Side and Twilight Of The Thunder God, as they say, every band has its comeuppance over time. The Crusher is as fine as any in this band’s catalog, featuring not only the re-recorded “Risen From the Sea,” a track originally appearing on the never-released Thor Arise demo, but also a ratchety cover of Possessed’s “The Eyes of Horror.” A bonus disc of The Crusher recorded live in its entirety last year at Zeche Bochum, Germany extends this redux’s buying power.