AMON AMARTH's OLAVI MIKKONEN On Songwriting: 'We Don't Waste Time Working On Stuff That We Don't Believe In'

July 7, 2014

Shure, maker of microphones and audio gear, recently conducted an interview with Swedish melodic death metallers AMON AMARTH. You can now watch the chat below.

On whether they are happy with their longtime record label, Metal Blade:

Johan Hegg (vocals): "As far as Metal Blade goes, they are doing their best. But I think any band, really, no band today can sit back and relax and think that things are just gonna happen by themselves. You have to take part in the process yourself — very much so. I think it's a different business now than 20, 25 years ago."

On how they keep their songwriting fresh and inspired every time they go into the studio:

Olavi Mikkonen (guitar): "If we don't have anything good, we just wait until we have it. We don't have any time pressure. I think that's the key. I mean, we don't waste time working on stuff that we don't believe in. Sometimes it's easy to come up with stuff, but sometimes it takes a little longer. Eventually it will all come around."

AMON AMARTH and SABATON will join forces for a North American tour this fall. The trek kicks off on September 25 in Riverside, California and visits a total of 35 North American cities before coming to an end on November 9 in Tucson, Arizona. Thrash metal band SKELETONWITCH will open each show, except in New York where fans will be treated to the first-ever, and exclusive North American performance by extreme metal supergroup VALLENFYRE.

AMON AMARTH's ninth studio album, "Deceiver Of The Gods", sold around 17,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 19 on The Billboard 200 chart. The record, which arrived in stores on June 25, 2013 via Metal Blade, was recorded at Backstage Studios in Derbyshire, United Kingdom, and was produced, mixed and mastered by Andy Sneap (OPETH, MEGADETH, EXODUS, ARCH ENEMY, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE).

Find more on Amon amarth
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).