Amon Amarth is currently out on their North American headline tour. The Metal Crushes All Tour, which began on April 21st in Albequerque, NM is set to wrap up on May 25th in Anaheim, CA. We were absolutely stoked to catch this tour last week when it hit up Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, NC.
Harrah’s Cherokee is a huge event center in downtown Asheville, North Carolina. When we arrived to the venue an hour before doors were set to open, there was already a huge line waiting to get in. Not just down the block, but around the corner and down to the next block. The line was HUGE! And why not, while the venue does have a nice seated area upstairs for fans, that’s not what most metalheads are all about. There’s also a gigantic general admission floor and everyone wanted a good spot down in the pit in front of that stage.
Shortly after doors opened, the floor was filling with excited fans awaiting this show. Frozen Soul got the show started. Frozen Soul is a death metal band out of Texas and while the band has released a couple of albums, most fans in the crowd were only just seeing this band for the first time. It’s hard being the somewhat new band on such a classic line up, but they had absolutely no problem winning over this crowd with their “cold school death metal” sound.
Obituary were next to hit the stage after only a short break. The band started the show with “Redneck Stomp” off of 2005’s ‘Frozen In Time.’ Obituary played a short but brutal set which included several tracks off their latest album ‘Dying of Everything.’ When Cannibal Corpse hit the stage next, the band launched straight into “Scourge of Iron.” Cannibal Corpse left no down time in their set, constantly hitting back with another track and the crowd never stopped moving through out their set.
When it was time for Amon Amarth to play, a huge black curtain covered the entire stage. Previous bands only had their backdrops on display during their sets, but Amon Amarth filled the stage. When the curtain dropped, it revealed a giant gold viking helmet as well as warriors on each end who reached the ceilings. This was the biggest display I’d personally seen yet at an Amon Amarth concert.
When the band dove into “The Pursuit of Vikings” they were met with a sea of fans already crowd surfing to the front of the stage. Amon Amarth played an awesome set including all of our favorite tracks. The crowd was headbanging and rowing through the very end. Check out some incredible live shots of this show in action by I’m Music Magazine Photographer Daphne McKinney.
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