Versus The World

It might not be the most well known name inspired from J.R.R. Tolkien's book - Amon Amarth means The Mountain of Doom, taken from the Lord of the Rings- but this Swedish epic/war metal band is different from the melodic death metal generation. Amon Amarth plays a primitive form of melodic death metal, reminding me very much Bolt Thrower ... a kind of epic Bolt Thrower to be precise. Like it was the case with their previous excellent release - The Crusher, 2001 - Versus The World is full of guitars inspired by the traditional heavy metal and is a piece of masterpiece. The diversity inside the song are really impressive : when you listen to Where Silent Gods Stand Guard -3rd track- Paradise Lost's atmosphere comes immediately to your mind, with aggressive vocals of course. Versus The World is another fast/dark song - especially the guitar & the bass - reminding me somehow the US death school and the traditional Gothenburg sound. Amon Amarth sounds "sometimes" like Dark Tranquility, but the band as a more classical song-writing "touch". Today, I would rather say that Amon Amarth has created its own sound : melodic, death, oppressive atmosphere, epic and believe it or not ... gothic. It fully deserve your attention my friends. Without any doubt here, the best record of the band. The vocalist has made a big jump and the band progresses from album to album. The Crusher was a bomb, Versus The World is a masterpiece of oppressive brutal melodies that will hunt your mind long time after you have hit the stop button. They proves - once again you gonna tell me - that melodic death metal has not yet attain its full potential and will continue to shine for long ... and surprise us such quality records. Just listen to For The Stabwounds In Our Backs- second track - with its Hells Bells intro and you will agree with me that Amon Amarth has impressively grown. Cross The Rainbow Bridge - where Bolt Thrower meets Paradise Lost - sees the talented Swedish band scoring note after note. The next track, Down The Slopes Of Death, is also another impressive track confirming Amon Amarth has found its path. Excellence and quality comes only from hard work and perseverance. There is absolutely no doubt the band has worked very hard for this one and after fourth records, the time has come to recognize Amon Amarth as a must for your discography ... at least this Versus The World must be part of it. This brutal & melodic death metal - where the Viking inspiration has been put aside for a "gothic/epic" approach - is very well produced as the enormous sound is another pleasant surprise for the listener. The Berno studios at Malmö have replaced perfectly the 'usual' Abyss studios and it has been an excellent choice - knowing Peter Tägtgren has stop to produce -. The terrific drums sound, the clear and heavy guitars wall sound and the "destructive" bass comes now from ... Berno in Malmö :) Don't miss this record, especially if you claim yourself as a death metal fan. Amon Amarth stands proudly Versus The World. Trust me ... they can.