Review by Rexorcist for Amon Amarth - Once Sent From the Golden Hall (1998)

Going over some older spins to flesh out my lists, it occurred to me that my re-evaluations of several Dark Tranquillity albums should've brought me to re-evaluations of Amon Amarth as well, considering that I am now bothered by samey albums more than ever.  To be fair, I wasn't sure if I'd still like this one or not.  From the beginning, however, Amon Amarth have been a "good but not quite great" act for me, as everything (or maybe both things) they try, being done with some obvious skill and beautiful production, have been done to literal, no-pun-intended death by this point.  Now Amon Amarth seem to be one of the more popular melo-death bands (I've seen a few customers wear the shirts when I was at work), but on this debut, for every good song there's a decent one following it.  Without Fear is a wonderful peace which captures both the traditional spirit of extreme metal while being conventional and even poppy enough to balance the two extreme out.  But there are only a couple of ideas boasted on side A, and side B is mostly just doing the same: basic prog instrumentation at times, black metal undertones, reliance on lyrics and production.  Don't get me wrong, though.  I could almost get lost in that metal production.  Everything comes out crystal clear. So if you like melo-death, this is a standard fun time with some major strengths that manage to overcome any generic or familiar traits.  Sometimes things progress very well, sometimes it's pretty good, and sometimes it's drawn out.  I don't feel a need to return to this one,