The first publicly available concert film from Amon Amarth is an absolute gem. Sweden’s foremost Viking metal band is more active in Europe than America, but this DVD release captures their live shows with such sweeping vision, sound precision, and intelligence, that its quality cannot be overstated.

I remember seeing Amon Amarth for the first time at The New England Metal and Hardcore Festival a few years ago, and watching this DVD set confirms what I decided back then: this band is one of the most engaging live metal acts ever. Their banter is sparse and unpretentious, the energy they sweat out is infectious, and what sets them apart from other death metal acts is those evocative melodic guitar lines. If you’re going Viking, you must summon the actual BATTLE SOUNDTRACK. Amon Amarth are presently the star pupils in that class.

Metal Blade has invested a great deal of time and energy in this band over the last decade, and the fruits of that labor can be viewed right here: five FULL-LENGTH concert films, at least three presented in Widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio, add up to more than SEVEN HOURS of Amon Amarth playing live. The mead hall is a million miles long. Fuck, yes.

Occasionally heard among some of my U.S. countrymen: that Amon Amarth’s material is interchangeable, idle, and linear. This DVD set (really, any of their good live sets) disproves that assessment. You underestimate Amon Amarth to your own detriment, not theirs. Spanning over five albums, their songs have an identity drenched in the orange glow of fire, a motif repeated on every cover like Iron Maiden’s Eddie, or Motorhead’s Motorskull.

Admittedly, much of Amon Amarth’s material is steadily mid-paced, but the sets presented here (especially the 2005 Stuttgart set) remind me of just how thrashy they get! Crisp, brutal, evocative, unwavering, integral, and highly entertaining.

Wrath of the Norsemen’s three DVDs are handsomely presented in a foldout digipak (orange and gold color scheme, of course). This is actually quite a triumph of packaging: durable, ornate, with no loose booklets to lose or those idiotic proof-of-purchase tabs that get in the way of closing the case. The only plastic contained here is on the inside disc cradles, which are clear and reveal grandiose live footage when you remove the DVD.

The hard realities of trying to make it as a metal band are legion. Despite HUGE technological advances that make demo trading instantaneous, today’s music business is an even bigger challenge than ever before. Gasoline prices (for touring bands and fans alike) are unreasonable and will only get worse, alas, along with world events behind all the woe. Day jobs are an unwavering must, and giving up health insurance rolls the black dice of fate. And the triumph of mediocrity, metalcore-emo-and-worse, hath usurped the throne originally constructed by 1980s thrash metal (at least in The States). Some of us can barely remember when MTV’s "Headbangers Ball" was worth watching.

But let’s remember how huge Cliff-era Metallica got without initial airplay. Iron Maiden became a business model only after spilling OCEANS of sweat (and landing a superb manager). Ozzfest — while it may feel spotty, touristy, and impersonal — still showcases one or two redeemable bands each year, opening the uninitiated (hopefully) to something better than the first page of the menu.

All comes full circle to the experience of watching this excellent DVD set, a gift and hails for years of road work. Amon Amarth’s strength has transcended past the hardships mentioned above (although I’m sure shit still happens, heh), and you need look no further than Wrath of the Norsemen for proof. Odin is on their side. (Valhalla = 10/10)