It was a quiet October Sunday afternoon when the battle cry was heard. And I did go. I boarded my trusty four wheeled steed, and with Odin by my side, did travel through fire, wind and rain to the battlefield of Kentish Town's Forum to join my brothers in metal for a date with destiny. The prize? Ninety minutes of scorching melodic death metal from Sweden's very own Norse Metal Gods, Amon Amarth.

Tonight's show was something of a double bill, with California's As I Lay Dying, currently celebrating their 10^th anniversary, playing a lengthier opening set of their brand of brutal metalcore. They get a great reception throughout, and judging by the amount of As I Lay Dying t-shirts about, there's a strong element of the audience here tonight specifically for their set. The likes of 'Nothing Left' and set closer '94 Hours' go down a treat and there's even a wall of death mosh frenzy, instigated by frontman Tim Lambesis, thrown in for good measure.

As the strains of Judas Priest's 'Exciter' fill the hall, you know there's metal in the air as the lights dim and Amon Amarth hit the stage and launch into 'War Of the Gods', the opening cut from their rather fine latest album 'Surtur Rising'. "Are you ready for some metal tonight?" shouts burly bearded frontman Johan Hegg. Of course the answer is a resounding "yes". The set tonight is rather heavily weighted towards the new material with no less than six out of 'Surtur Rising's ten tracks on offer, and a fair chunk of material from previous album 'Twilight Of The Thunder God' making up the bulk of the rest of the set. The new album material sounds great, especially the awesome 'Destroyer Of The Universe' and the anthemic 'Live Without Regrets', as well as the supercharged thrash of 'A Beast Am I'.

As good as the newer material is, it's 'The Pursuit Of Vikings', going back to 2004's 'Fate Of Norns', that gets the biggest reception from the crowd, and a heartfelt rousing singalong that genuinely seems to stun the band themselves, prompting Hegg to raise his drinking horn to toast the crowd. 'Asator' is another fine full throttle thrashy moment that gets fists pumping, whilst 'Embrace Of The Endless Ocean' adds a classy epic vibe into the mix. 'Death In Fire', the only track included from 'Versus The World', is a suitably awesome way to close the set.

'Twilight Of The Thunder God' and the anthem that is 'Guardians of Asgaard' provide a skull-crushing encore to send the troops home happy. Amon Amarth delivered an awesome performance of top class metal tonight - Death, Viking or however you choose to brand it.

This was a battle well fought, and a victory well won.