RMR already crewed two of Amon Amarth’s mighty warparties, Jomsviking and Berserker. Both records were – unsurprisingly – typical handiwork of one Johan Hegg, albeit with a rusty bite and action galore.
Now, their 2022 piece, The Great Heathen Army, sailed right past RMR’s tiny shark-infested island. Back into the swamp, it was sent, where strange records slither unchecked. And it was the dime-a-dozen type of delivery that did it. Sure, you’ll find sturdy metal of the type the Amon Amarth crowd will relish. But it felt – generic, even for a Viking Metal piece.
So, here we stumbled across We Rule The Waves, AA‘s latest clip. And curiosity got us to find out what Hegg‘s crew was up to these days. Often bands use simple tracks to transform into clips, and this one is no different. But they usually overcompensate with outstanding filmography to make it worth your while. Very few really excel in both, the crafting of the song, and the arrangement of a stellar storyline expressed in moving pictures.
We Rule The Waves is typical, yet disappointingly boring and predictable Amon Amarth fare. Sure, it might give the band some airtime on rock radio. The song will also sound great on a lonely, hot highway, that’s for sure. And some non-metal fans might find this morsel alluring with that delicious shudder of having listened to the devil’s music, especially if the ditty emerges from that Viking section.
Now, did the cinematography blow us away, then? The short answer is no. The band put a lot of effort into the scenery, incorporating a great deal of detail. The recreation of a Haithabu-like Norse village, complete with kids playing in the dirt, is one of them, for instance. But the storyline of the sword with magic runes running alight is worn thin. And the revered hero strutting about the scenery didn’t look as spry as in earlier times either.
In other words, even a high-level set of moving pictures will be at pains to spiff up a run-of-the-mill track with lukewarm lyrics. And that is where we stand with We Rule of The Waves. Good on stage to warm up the crowd and great in the beer tent. But it won’t garner a ton of playtime on our internal music machine, that’s for sure.
Label: Metal Blade | Web: Official Band Site
Release Date: 17 July 2025