Ted Lundström, bassist and founding member of Amon Amarth, spoke to the «KillerTube» channel about the group’s 13th album, «The Allfather Awakens», which came out on 2 October via Metal Blade. The Swedish musician says he is happy that recognition arrived gradually rather than all at once.
“`«I’m very happy we got to experience that», he says. «I don’t want us to become a band that suddenly blows up.» He remembers sleeping in a sleeping bag in the van or on the venue floor, and lunch being a beer with a packet of crisps. We worked hard and were completely committed, he adds, always aiming at the next step, new countries, bigger records.
Amon Amarth formed in Tumba, Sweden, in 1992. As Lundström puts it, the things the band does today would have been unthinkable back then. At one point, halfway along the road, they realised this was something real and quit their day jobs to commit 100% to music.
As an example of the change he points to «Upphaf», the acoustic track on the new album. Something like that they would never have dared in the early years, when metal had to be «very true» and the black metal scene imposed strict rules. He also recalls the tour with Children Of Bodom in 2005 or 2006 as the moment they felt they could gain ground in the US too.
«The Allfather Awakens» was recorded by Jacob Hansen at his studio in Denmark, with «Upphaf», «Gjallarhorn» and «Eight Legs Of Thunder» as singles. Lundström and guitarist Olavi Mikkonen are the two remaining founding members, and the band has worked with Metal Blade since 1998. Their 2008 album «Twilight Of The Thunder God» reached No. 50 on the Billboard 200.
Amon Amarth’s European tour begins on 9 October 2026 at the O2 Apollo in Manchester and ends on 15 November 2026 at Sala Tejo in Lisbon.
See also: what Johan Hegg said about the recorded song that stayed off the album and how «The Allfather Awakens» was written and recorded.
Source: https://blabbermouth.net/news/ted-lundstrom-reflects-on-amon-amarths-slow-but-steady-climb-i-dont-wanna-be-a-band-that-gets-big-overnight
