Although some people like to call them a Viking Metal band, these Swedish metal superstars prefer to be known as a melodic death metal band.
Now, confusion and differences aside, what I can say is that with a handful of riffs that could demolish an entire building and a take-no-prisoner attitude, Amon Amarth has won a place among metal’s greatest bands.
Sounding like these Nordic legends will not break the bank, but you do need to take care of a thing or two. So, read on, stretch those fingers, put on your Viking helmet, and get that melodic death metal vibe flowing as I go over the gear needed to sound like an angry Viking taking over the planet.
Get your six-stringer because this metal fest begins right now.
Table of Contents
Olavi Mikkonen & Johan Söderberg Guitars
Amon Amarth guitar players favor one of the most widely used metal guitars of all time: the Explorer. Yes, both guitarists use black Explorers with minimal differences and some details that set them apart. For example, while Olavi favors Jackson Explorers (Fury model), Johan plays ESP James Hetfield signature guitars.
Eventually, they might be spotted on the stage using a Gibson Explorer or a Flying V but that is only for certain material and happens very seldom; for the most part, both guitarists are using Explorers with 0.13 strings on them for that extra-heavy tone.
A guitar that’s worth mentioning is Johan’s ESP EXP that he modified himself adding a glowing A on a metal pickguard where the neck pickup should be.
If you can’t make it with your budget to these amazing guitars, getting a Jackson Kelly is a great way to start.
Olavi Mikkonen & Johan Söderberg Amplifiers
Both guitar players share taste in amps besides sharing their taste for heavy music, Viking legends, and pointy guitars. Yes, these Swedish metal legends have entered the digital era, and both use (and abuse) Kemper Profiler Amps.
Moreover, both players prefer to play through the rack version of the Kemper which can be operated from the front of the stage with a foot controller.
Besides using the Kemper, Johan still carries around his trusty Peavey 6505 valve head. In case you didn’t know, this is the amplifier that Peavey developed with the great Eddie Van Halen.
If you’ve ever played through one, you’ll know that it does take everything to 11 eighties style. There’s more gain at hand in one of these heads than most of the modern Diezels, Mesa Boogies, and Bogners.
During live Amon Amarth shows, the stage is completely clear; there are no speaker cabinets in sight. This means the band is either on in ears or relies solely on the wedges at the front and sides of the stage.
If you can’t afford the Kemper or the 6505, you can get a Blackstar HT20RH and get some decent heavy tones from it.
Olavi Mikkonen & Johan Söderberg Effects Pedals
The pedal work for this band is truly minimalistic.
In the case of Olavi, all he uses besides the Kemper is a Maxon OD808 Overdrive to push the guitar to the extreme while soloing. This is a simple overdrive pedal that is very close to a Tube Screamer TS-808.
In the case of Johan, he adds the same Maxon OD808 to his setup besides the classic Maxon Phaser Tone (very close to an MXR Phase 90, perhaps the best-known phaser pedal of all time).
Also, he uses some delays here and there to embellish the compositions and for that Johan picked the Digitech X-Series DigiDelay, which is Digitech’s version of the classic Boss DD-3 Digital Delay.
For more sound alterations, Johan adds the TC Electronic Shaker Vibrato to his setup. This pedal is capable of some vibrato effects and is very close to the TC Electronic Tailspin Vibrato.
That’s it for effects on Johan’s side, but he also rocks two extra very important pedals such as the Boss TU-3 Chromatic Tuner and the MXR M135 Smart Gate to keep it all in tune and silent until he unleashes mayhem with his hands.
Finally, all of Johan’s pedals are powered with a DC Brick and operated via a Tech21 MIDI Moose.
Amon Amarth Amp Settings
Once Sent from the Golden Hall (1998)
- Volume – 7 to 9
- Gain – 8
- Bass – 7
- Treble – 9
- Mid – 4
Fate of Norns (2004)
- Volume – 7 to 9
- Gain – 7
- Bass – 7
- Treble – 7
- Mid – 6
Deceiver of the Gods (2013)
- Volume – 6
- Gain – 9
- Bass – 8
- Treble – 7
- Mid – 7
The Great Heathen Army (2022)
- Volume – 9
- Gain – 6
- Bass – 7
- Treble – 7
- Mid – 7
The Bottom End
Amon Amarth took a known concept and turned it into something completely inimitable that resonated with legions of metal lovers around the planet. Take this example to build your tone and dare to be unique; the rest will be heavy music history.
