Amon Amarth "Versus The World (2CD, 2009 Reissue, Remastered, Limited Edition Digipak, Germany, Metal Blade Records, 3984-14791-0)"

Versus the World is the fourth full-length studio album by the Swedish death metal band Amon Amarth, released on November 18, 2002 by Metal Blade Records. It was also released with a bonus disc featuring the Sorrow Throughout the Nine Worlds EP as well as their two demos; Thor Arise, The Arrival of the Fimbul Winter (the first being unreleased before) and a German version of "Victorious March" entitled "Siegreicher Marsch" which was on Once Sent from the Golden Hall. The song "Death in Fire" was made into a music video. Versus the World was the first Amon Amarth album to showcase a more midpaced and heavy sound, unlike their earlier faster works. A deluxe edition was released in 2009 that featured the album remastered by Jens Bogren, and a bonus cd of the original album played live in its entirety in Bochum, Germany.

When asked to comment on the album, vocalist Johan Hegg remarked:-

“ This is the darkest, heaviest and most melancholic album we've ever done and the atmosphere can be felt through the whole album. I would say it's the most even album we've done so far and that the concept can be recognized in every song. ”

— Johan Hegg interview with The Metal Web

In 2005, Versus the World was ranked number 413 in Rock Hard magazine's book of The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Amon Amarth

1. "Death in Fire" 4:54
2. "For the Stabwounds in Our Backs" 4:56
3. "Where Silent Gods Stand Guard" 5:46
4. "Versus the World" 5:22
5. "Across the Rainbow Bridge" 4:51
6. "Down the Slopes of Death" 4:09
7. "Thousand Years of Oppression" 5:42
8. "Bloodshed" 5:13
9. "...And Soon the World Will Cease to Be" 6:57

Total length: 47:49

2009 remastered edition bonus CD Live - Zeche Bochum, Germany, Dec. 31, 2008 

1. "Death in Fire" (live in Bochum, Germany in 2008) 5:08
2. "For the Stabwounds in Our Backs" (live in Bochum in 2008) 5:20
3. "Where Silent Gods Stand Guard" (live in Bochum in 2008) 5:49
4. "Versus the World" (live in Bochum in 2008) 5:58
5. "Across the Rainbow Bridge" (live in Bochum in 2008) 5:07
6. "Down the Slopes of Death" (live in Bochum in 2008) 4:38
7. "Thousand Years of Oppression" (live in Bochum in 2008) 6:07
8. "Bloodshed" (live in Bochum in 2008) 5:43
9. "...And Soon the World Will Cease to Be" (live in Bochum in 2008) 7:08

Total length: 50:58

Recording information:

Produced and engineered by Berno Paulsson.

Mixed and mastered by Henrik Larsson in September 2002.

Cover by Tom Thiel and Thomas Everhard

Recorded at Berno Studio, Malmö, Sweden in August 2002.

Disc 2:

Recorded December 31, 2008 in Zeche Bochum, Germany.