Two fantasy metal bands — one that explores the apocalypse and another that is viking-themed — performed at the Union Event Center in Salt Lake City on May 20th.
Dethklok and Amon Amarth performed in Salt Lake City for their tour AMONKLOK. Their performance was the second-to-last show in their combined tour, which celebrated Dethklok’s 20-year anniversary. Fellow fantasy-inspired band Castle Rat joined them as the opening band.
Dethklok
Dethklok is a quartet fantasy metal band based on the animated characters from the hit television show, “Metalocalypse.” The animated show first aired in 2006 on TV channel Adult Swim. The storyline culminated in 2023 with the movie “Metalocalypse: Army of the Doomstar.” The movie’s storyline includes themes of destruction, rejection, dealing with a lack of creative inspiration and anti-institutionalism.
The four members of the live band addressed the crowd in unclean vocals. Images from and inspired by Metalocalypse played in alignment with their music during their set. “20 years anniversaries of Dethklok, remixed and remastered for you,” the pseudo-Scandinavian character Toki said.
“I’ve been listening to Dethklok since the mid 2000s as a child that was too young to be watching something like Metalocolypse,” a concert-goer told the Chronicle. “To be able to see a band that technically didn’t exist, and see the people who made a live show happen. To go from something that you watch in your basement to a venue that’s filled to the brim. It makes you feel like there are so many people who live different lives than myself that we can connect with … to share a love for something like this [is awesome.],” he added.
The animated band’s manager came on screen at the end of Dethklok’s official set. He spoke to the fictional band, but the real crowd was listening. “You reached the point of the show where you don’t have to play any more music.”
Nathan Explosion, the fictional frontman responded on- screen, “You interrupted the show to tell me we don’t have to play any more music!?” This was met with loud booing from the crowd. When the character asked if the crowd wanted them to continue, the audience responded with an even louder cheer.
Dethklok finished off their set with their songs Murmaider, Thunderhorse and Go Into the Water.
Amon Amarth
Amon Amarth released their first full-length album in 1998, named Once Sent From The Golden Hall. Viking legends and Nordic mythology inspire their music.
After performing their second song, Shield Wall, Amon Amarth left the stage, goading the crowd. The crowd responded with an even louder cheer. During their performance, nearly 60 people crowd surfed.
While Amon Amarth played, the crowd lifted a girl into a crowd surf. Afterwards, she told the Chronicle, “That was the coolest thing I’ve ever done!” She later asked to be lifted into a crowd surf again.
“Amon Amarth had a lot of cool moments, but how much of the crowd sat down for Put Your Back Into The Oar [was the coolest],” another fan told us. “I know a lot of people knew what was going on, but I saw a bunch of people next to me in the crowd that seemed confused about what was happening. It’s pretty cool to be part of a [crowd experience like that].” During their concerts, Amon Amarth is known for asking the crowd to sit down during the aforementioned song and pretend like they are rowing a Viking boat.
At the end of the show, the vocalist raised his Viking horn once more, signaling a cheer from the crowd. “Let’s see those Viking horns!” he said as chugged the goblet. He also told the crowd he hopes to see them on the next tour.
Amon Amarth finished out their set with one of their well-known songs inspired by Thor, from Nordic mythology. The song is named Twilight of the Thunder God.
Castle Rat
The fantasy metal band Castle Rat consists of four members: the Rat Queen, the Count, the Plague Doctor and the Druid. There is an additional fifth member, who is known as the Rat Empress, who strictly performs. During the show, the Rat Empress takes two people’s lives, the Count’s, as a child, and the Rat Queen’s during the performance’s present time.
The Rat Queen and the Rat Empress duel on-stage with a sword and scythe. “I was blown away by their commitment to the story they were telling,” one new fan told The Daily Utah Chronicle. “As a band setup, you typically have your singer, drummer, bassist, guitarist, whatever, but they have a fifth member that isn’t actively playing any instrument. I thought that was really awesome.”
The band’s performance was very similar to their performance on KEXP’s YouTube channel. For the AMONKLOK tour, more story is added to the Druid and how he found the rest of the band. There was also a large costumed rat for this performance.
Castle Rat’s last song was The Serpent. However, they have a special Near the end of the show, the Rat Empress kills the protagonist, the Rat Queen. She is revived with both vampiric blood and the chanting of the crowd. The plague doctor yells, “Now is forever!” While the crowd chants back, “In this realm!”
