Olavi Mikkonen — born in Sweden in 1973 — is Amon Amarth's founding guitarist and the person chiefly responsible for the sound that made the band recognisable. His contribution is an arrangement solution that looks simple and is not. Amon Amarth plays melodic death metal but avoids the speed and density the subgenre usually demands. Mikkonen writes riffs at mid tempo, played in unison or in harmony with the second guitar, with long, clear melodies that develop across several bars — closer to singing than to an instrumental figure. The effect is what the band sought. The lyrics narrate episodes of Norse mythology and the Viking age, and recognisable melodies let the music sound epic without depending on orchestra or choir. It is power metal in spirit and death metal in execution. That choice also explains the group's reach: the tracks are heavy enough for the extreme metal audience and melodic enough to work at large festivals, where the band became a recurring attraction. He has shared the guitars with Johan Söderberg since 1998 and has been in the band since its founding in 1992.
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