Amon Amarth headline Wacken: Metal Hammer review

Metal's favourite guitar-wielding, serpent-bashing melodeath Vikings, Amon Amarth have a long history with Wacken, first playing at the site in 1999. In the 25 years since, the crowd have seemingly exploded with each return appearance and even a surprise slot in 2022 - playing on a specially erected stage between the two main stages - saw them greeted by a sea of eager, expectant bodies.

Looking at the crowd out to greet them for their Saturday night headline performance, it feels like Wacken's full 85,000 capacity audience have turned out in force - the Swedes not only attracting the biggest crowd of the weekend, but almost definitely their careers.

Geysers of flame spray towards the heavens as the band roar to life with Raven's Flight , Johan Hegg bouncing with barely-suppressed excitement. And why the hell wouldn't he be? 25 years ago the idea of melodic death metal conquering venues like Brixton Academy or Wembley would seem laughibly implausible, but Amon Amarth have led the charge with a stage show worthy of legend and anthems that push the boundaries of just anthemic you can get before you depart death metal realms.

That's all on full display in the band's epic, 19-song masterclass in unbeatable, undefatiguable force. From the fist-pumping chug of Guardians Of Asgaard to the grandstanding guitar god theatrics of The Pursuit Of Vikings and jaunty rhythms of Heidrun , Amon Amarth have been building a repertoire of songs that can conquer the biggest crowds on the planet.

Underpinned by a near constant barrage of explosions, flames and on-stage Viking battles, their show is heavy metal theatre at its finest, killer visuals helping sell the sense that this band are epic in the truest sense of the word. Older songs like The Last With Pagan Blood highlight how the band's sense of extremity has steadily evolved to become something unifying; that song's blistering blastbeat energy might be absent from the likes of the chugging Find A Way Or Make One , but there's a sense of heft that remains unchanged.

The crowd greet each new track with enthusiastic roars, portions of the crowd dropping to the mud to row along with Put Your Back Into The Oar , or otherwise initiating colossal circle pits for First Kill. There are even honest-to-god sing-alongs throughout the set, Hegg's snarls not enough to deter the impossibly massive hooks that see fans howling along to the likes of Shield Wall, Raise Your Horns and Crack The Sky, songs with choruses so impossibly joyous you'd think they came from the power metal sphere if Johan wasn't growling like an angry bear.

By the time they depart - on the absolutely spectacular Twilight Of The Thunder God - there's absolutely no denying this band are now one of metal's top tier players, underdogs done good who proved that heavy metal can still conquer the world - or at least this part of it.

Amon Amarth headline Bloodstock Festival in the UK on Sunday August 11. Tickets for Wacken 2025 are on-sale now.

Amon Amarth Setlist Wacken Open Air 2024

Raven's Flight
Guardians Of Asgaard
The Pursuit Of Vikings
Deceiver Of The Gods
As Loke Falls
Tattered Banners And Bloodied Flags
Heidrun
War Of The Gods
The Last With Pagan Blood
Death In Fire
Find A Way Or Make One
Put Your Back into The Oar
The Way Of Vikings
Under The Northern Star
First Kill
Shield Wall
Raise Your Horns
Crack The Sky
Twilight Of The Thunder God