Bastards Of A Lying Breed
This song is a very aggressive one. Fast and melodic like many fans certainly will recognize as a typical Amon Amarth song. The lyrics deal with a slightly different topic then usually. This time around I chose to show my view of what has been going on in the U.S. for a couple of years. It all started with a TV program I saw about six or seven years ago where Judas Priest issued a law suite by a couple of parents for, as the parents claimed, putting subliminal messages on their albums causing their kids to blow their heads off with a shotgun. This law suite, and many following law suites on other bands that resembled this one, gave me inspiration for these lyrics.
Masters Of War
A powerful and heavy song of pure hate, aggression and heaviness. The lyrics deal with a pure urge to fight down all christian elements in the way of the pagan uprising, and to put them through the same humiliating treatment that pagan believers or people of other religions have been exposed to by the christians during the years.
The Sound Of Eight HoovesThe story of a pilgrim preacher who comes to the northern countries on a mission to preach the word of christ and god. He’s captured by northerners and made into a slave. Believing in the power of his god he thinks the way to get out of this thralldom is to teach the northmen the ways of christ. After a while the northmen gets tired of his preaching and he has to flee. Eventually his brought down and hung in a tree as a sacrifice to Oden.
Risen From The Sea (2000)
An old demo song from the "Thor Arise" demo, re-recorded for this release as a bonus track, but after due consideration we decided to keep it as an original track on the album. The only lyrics I’ve ever written dealing with Satan, and believe me, the lyrics for this song suck. That’s why we decided not to print them in the booklet.
As Long As The Raven Flies
A slower song. Not so much to say about it, most is in the lyrics already. Inspired by the movie "The Raven Flies" by Rafn Gunnlaugsson.
A Fury Divine
Once again a faster song, more aggressive and hateful. The story being of a man who refuses to kneel to the new god and therefore is sentenced to death, but also of my own personal belief that one should stand up for what one believes in.
Annihilation Of HammerfestThe first song of three in a small concept on this album. This is perhaps the most epic song of the album, comparable to songs like ‘Victorious March’ and ‘Avenger’. Lyrically it can be seen as just a story of how the Hammer of Thor is reclaimed, but metaphorically it tells of how the ancient Gods was pushed aside into oblivion when christianity made it’s way into Scandinavia. Which brings us to the next song in the concept:
The Fall Through Ginnungagap
This song is by far the most spaced out song we’ve ever recorded. The lyrics are about the warrior from the previous song floating through nothingness – Ginnungagap. Ginnungagap is the void in which the universe was created in northern mythology. It’s the story of the dark years that followed after christianity made its way into Scandinavia. How the ancient Gods were forgotten by most people and how those who still worshipped them had to do so in secrecy.
Releasing Surtur’s Fire
Surtur is the giant who in northern mythology comes at the end of Ragnarök, the end of the world, and consumes the old world in fire. Surtur is ancient and has been around since the dawn of the universe. This song is faster and more aggressive. Lyrically it deals with how paganism and the interest for the old Gods are growing in Scandinavia again. How christianity is at last on an incline and how the ancient traditions are being revived.
Eyes Of Horror
The first cover song we ever released. About one and a half years ago we were contacted by a label that was going to release a tribute album for the legendary band Possessed, and they asked if we were interested in contributing with a song. We accepted and entered Das Boot studios in Stockholm for just one day and recorded this song. The reason it ended up as the bonus track on this recording is that we chose to use the re-recording of ‘Risen From The Sea (2000)’ as an original song. Thus we were a bonus track short, but as it seems the tribute album will never be released, we decided to use this cover for this purpose.
Johann Hegg