Sheep in the Box next mentioned Amon Amarth. They are a Viking-themed heavy metal band that has been around for almost 30 years.

If you’re like me, you might think that a Viking-themed band was unusual — like a band that only performs songs about Toonces the Driving Cat. But no.

Wikipedia lists over 5 dozen Viking metal bands. Not surprisingly, most of them are out of northern Europe. A number of them started in the 1980s but the vast majority started in the 90s.

Over-Serious Metal

I’ve never been much a fan of metal. This can seem odd because I really like punk and in a purely musical sense there often isn’t much that separates them. But there is something very important that separates the punk I like (eg, Minutemen) from the rest: sense of humor.

So much of metal is so serious that I would find it funny if there were any indication at all that it was intentional and that I wouldn’t be beaten up for laughing.

The Way of Vikings

Amon Amarth is fully in this tradition. There is not even a hit that this should be fun. It is filled with self-importance. But what else would you expect from Vikings?

This is on me, but I don’t hear much difference between any of their songs. Or albums. The earlier ones seem a little more raw and that’s about it. Otherwise, it’s the usual kind of death metal with lots of tremolo-strumming and lyrics that I can’t even begin to make out.

They are clearly a great band in terms of musicianship. I can see why they are still going strong after all these years. But I won’t be checking in with them in the future.

Here is “The Way of Vikings” off their 2016 album, Jomsviking. I can actually make out the lyrics on this. It also has a nice guitar solo.

Jomsviking album cover via Wikipedia under Fair use.

Today we listen to another song that has millions of YouTube views and I missed it because I haven’t gone outside much the last twenty years or so.

The band is Flogging Molly out of Dublin. They are more or less Celtic Punk. Their 2002 song “Drunken Lullabies” sounds a lot to me like The Pogues with a sprinkling of The Clash.

Their palette is broader than that, however. I’ve been connecting more with their softer stuff but that probably says a lot more about my mood than anything else.

Float

I want to highlight their song “Float” off the album of the same name. It has a certain American Music Club feeling to it and I am not simply referring to the opening lyrics.

But I’m most taken with the chorus:

But don’t, don’t sink the boat
That you need, you build to keep afloat

That’s heavy stuff. To me, this says that we do things in order to do things. There is no meaning to life. We simply pretend. We build a boat so we will have the act of keeping it afloat to occupy us.

Cue some idiot, “I heard the lead singer on MTV Dipshits and he said it was about the break-up of his fifth marriage!”

I haven’t spent that much time with the song so I can’t even say what it means to me. It may just be my mood affecting what I hear. Or it could be my mood caused me to pick this song.

Regardless, it’s a good song!

Float album cover via Amazon under Fair Use.