AMON AMARTH - Mainstage, Den Bosch (2026)

Amon Amarth turned Mainstage Den Bosch into a golden hall on Tuesday 20 October. It was the only Dutch date of The Allfather Awakens tour, barely three weeks after the release of their thirteenth album. The band promised a brand new stage production and an extended headline set, and they delivered on both. Fellow Swedes Soilwork and Orbit Culture completed the bill, making it a strong all-Swedish night from start to finish. Pics bij Tara Walraven Borst

The Allfather Awakens is a record with something to prove. The Swedes wrote on the road for the first time, treated every song as a potential single, and swapped their trusted high-gain amps for Marshalls. The result is a warmer, more classic sound. Tonight was the test: does that new material hold up next to three decades of Viking anthems?

Welcome to the Golden Hall

The crowd is already singing along to Iron Maiden’s “Run to the Hills” on tape when “Gjallarhorn” kicks in. Johan Hegg stands in the middle of a set modelled on Odin’s Golden Hall. It is the band’s most theatrical production yet, but the music never gets buried under it. Every prop and every effect serves the songs.

The opening stretch is relentless. “War of the Gods” and “Death in Fire” keep the pace high, and the return of “Free Will Sacrifice” from Twilight of the Thunder God is a gift to longtime fans. “Deceiver of the Gods” follows, and by then the room is fully warmed up.

Then comes the first real test of the new album. “The Allfather Awakes” sounds like a live staple from the very first chorus, heavy and anthemic at the same time. “Hermod’s Ride to Hel” brings a welcome dose of old-school melodic death metal before “Put Your Back Into the Oar” gets the floor rowing as always. It remains one of the finest rituals in metal.

“We Rule the Waves” and “One Thousand Burning Arrows” lead into the biggest surprise of the night: “Upphaf”, the band’s first acoustic song. It looked like a risk on paper. Live, it is a moment to breathe, and it makes everything after it hit even harder.

And what comes after is a closing run of real weight. “Guardians of Asgaard” and “Shield Wall” are crowd favourites for a reason, new single “Eight Legs of Thunder” slots in without effort, and “Raise Your Horns” turns the hall into one giant drinking song. “For Victory or Death” ends the main set. Hegg is a born entertainer throughout: big, warm, funny and always within reach of a drinking horn.

Encore and verdict

The encore is a pure celebration. “The Way of Vikings” sparks one last pit, “Saxons and Vikings” brings Saxon’s Biff Byford in on the screen, and “Twilight of the Thunder God” closes the night the way only that song can.

More than thirty years in, Amon Amarth still sound hungry. The new songs hold their own next to the classics, and the Golden Hall production lifts the show to arena level without losing the band’s down-to-earth charm. The question from the start of the night has a clear answer: The Allfather Awakens works on stage. Den Bosch got a show it will be talking about for a long time.