AMON AMARTH ARCH ENEMY/ HYPOCRISY

BRIXTON ACADEMY, LONDON

Beloved Viking metallers bring a Swedish horde to our shores

SOME 5,000 MILES

away, Slayer are about to play their final show. But while many will lament the sizable hole in the metal scene this will create, Amon Amarth’s sold-out Brixton Academy appearance proves they aren’t the only metal heroes that can pack out huge venues on a global scale. That said, HYPOCRISY’S intro tape cutting out after 30 seconds paints shades more Spinal Tap than their near-30-year career deserves. It doesn’t matter a damn bit once the band actually get going, though, the likes of Fractured Millennium, Eraser and Warpath setting the scene nicely for tonight’s Swedish triple-threat. Clearly thriving on the energies of a crowd that receive them rapturously, ARCH ENEMY are on fine form, delivering the anthemic potential of songs like Ravenous, The Eagle Flies Alone and Nemesis with aplomb. At the heart of it all is frontwoman Alissa White-gluz, the metallic master of ceremonies stomping, stalking and bounding her way around the stage to fill every inch of available space.

A rammed-to-the-rafters Brixton Academy roars along to Run To The Hills to signal the arrival of AMON AMARTH, and the energy levels don’t get a chance to drop from that point on. Even without the inferno of pyrotechnics and stunning visuals that mark the start of the show (“Everyone has to start somewhere, right?” frontman Johan Hegg later deadpans), the band’s epic take on melodic death metal provides an immense sensory assault, Crack The Sky, Deceiver Of The Gods and First Kill more than enough to get the crowd roaring, bouncing and – at one point – rowing in approval. Pulling out everything from an onstage Viking battle to 20-foot Odin statues, a Loki with glowing eyes and a Mjölnir that fires sparks, Amon Amarth can’t help but look like conquering heroes. In short, this is heavy metal at its most ridiculous and glorious, and no-one here would change a goddamn thing. Tonight proves once and for all that even with the big names bowing out there are still bands waiting in the wings ready to carry this dynasty forward another 50 years.

RICH HOBSON