Amon Amarth, Creeping Death, 200 Stab Wounds
August 10th, 2023
The Admiral
Omaha, Nebraksa
The announcement of Amon Amarth’s two one-off headlining shows during their current trek with GHOST for the Re-Imperatour USA came as a bit surprise for many fans, and Omaha, Nebraska was lucky enough to have been chosen as one of those dates.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from tonight’s show. I hadn’t seen Amon Amarth since their stop at Northern Invasion in 2017, and this would be my first time seeing 200 Stab Wounds, and Creeping Death. I knew this was going to be a brutally heavy show, but I wasn’t prepared for just how heavy the concert was.
200 Stab Wounds have only been around for a few years but that’s long enough for them to have gained a solid grass roots following outside of their native home state of Ohio. Tonight would be the second time the death metal band graced a Nebraska stage and they were the perfect opener for Amon Amarth’s headlining show. The band wasted no time whipping the crowd into a frenzy. While their style of music isn’t really my thing, the crowd gave the band a warm welcome. I even noticed a decent amount of people screaming along to their songs as the rest of the crowd swarmed into a sizable circle pit.
The energy 200 Stab Wounds had summoned continued through Creeping Death’s set. The Texas death metal band’s sonic assault pushed headlong into the seething mass of fans stuffed into The Admiral. As with 200 Stab Wounds, tonight was Creeping Death’s second time playing in Nebraska, but that was more than enough for a few thousand fans to openly embrace the band’s brutally heavy style.
I entertained the thought of using casual references to Norse Mythology and various Viking terms to describe tonight’s concert, but I don’t want to discredit the fact that Amon Amarth continues to put on an incredibly theatrical live experience for their fans. Ok, I’ll use one Norse reference. Sweden’s Gods of Viking Metal pillaged a nearly sold-out crowd on rowing Omaha fans.
The band hammered through an impressive performance that included songs from nearly every album released during their lengthy career. With a show lasting nearly two full hours, Amon Amarth’s stage presence was heightened by Viking Warriors battling on stage, several hundred fans rowing with the band, and vocalist Johan Hegg’s confrontation with a horned demonic ancient evil.
Don’t let the Swedes’ gruff and imposing image fool you. This melodic death metal band is really a bunch of cool dudes that are more interested in sharing stories about their love of JRR Tolkien’s Middle Earth than fitting into the typical genre norms.
Words and edits by Adam Tibbott, and Dori Wiater
