When you think about the country of Sweden, what pops to mind? Pay equality? Check. The Frozen movies? Kind of (check). Tall blonde people with blue eyes? Vikings? Check and check! Notice that we didn’t say heavy metal bands, though. Their intensity doesn’t go along with the vision that most of us have of the Northern European country. But that doesn’t mean Swedish metal bands don’t exist!

Tak Amon Amarth, for example. Not only are they the most famous metal band to come out of Sweden that we know of, but they manage to add some historical significance to their music as well. Metal music with a history lesson? Don’t click away yet – it’s better than you think!

Scum

In the late 1980s, Paul Makitalo, Olavi Mikkonen, Petri Tarvainen, and Vesa Merilainen put together a band called Scum. It didn’t last long, but it did serve as the petri dish for Amon Amarth, which came a few years later. In 1992 part of the original group got back together. They added Anders Hansson, Ted Lundstrom, Niko Kaukinen, and Johan Hegg, to officially create Amon Amarth, the Viking metal band we never knew we needed.

Arrival of the Fimbul Winter (and Success!)

The first set of songs the band put out was on a demo album called Arrival of a Fimbul Winter. It sold out almost immediately, as the group had only made 1000 copies. It was pretty much all smooth sailing for the band from there, success wise. People all over the world loved their Viking references (and resemblance), paired with classic death metal sound. And as much as we love their dedication to their country’s history, we (and probably they) ask that you don’t wear a Viking hat to their concert. Who needs a hat? You’ll be moshing too hard, anyways!