by Steve Huey

The Avenger is Amon Amarth's second album for Metal Blade, and it features new guitarist Johan Söderberg in place of the departed Anders Hansson. It's not dissimilar to Once Sent from the Golden Hall -- basic Scandinavian death/black metal, somewhere in between the predominant flavors of the Norwegian and Swedish scenes, mixing lightning-quick rhythms and noisy guitar textures with deep, growling grooves.