Amon Amarth is a Swedish
melodic death metal band from
Tumba, founded in 1992. The band takes its name from the
Sindarin name of
Mount Doom, a volcano in
J. R. R. Tolkien's
Middle-earth. Their lyrics mostly deal with Vikings, their mythology and their history, leading to the band often being labeled as
Viking metal. The band is composed of vocalist Johan Hegg, guitarists Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Söderberg and bassist Ted Lundström. Amon Amarth has released nine
studio albums, one
compilation album, one
EP, one
video album, and eight
music videos. Their first studio album,
Once Sent from the Golden Hall, debuted in 1998. Four more studio releases followed, before the band saw their breakthrough with the 2008 album
Twilight of the Thunder God, which debuted at No. 11 on the Swedish album charts and No. 50 on the US
Billboard 200. Two more albums,
Surtur Rising and
Deceiver of the Gods followed in 2011 and 2013, respectively.