Before I get into the music, I have to start off by saying that the artwork for the past two Amon Amarth records are somewhere between pathetic and hysterical. One look at the cover and you’d swear it was intended for a Manowar release. If you’re able to get your laughter under control and get the CD into your stereo what you’re hit with is some of the most solid and heavy blackened deaththrash being released today. The band’s fourth full length effort on Metal Blade, Versus The World, is nine tracks of crushingly heavy groove-laden death metal. What do I mean by crushingly heavy? Slow to midpaced downtuned Swedish death metal with an emphasis put on writing catchy songs with a production that makes you feel like you’re getting an anvil dropped on your chest with every riff and every beat. Normally slower paced music doesn’t appeal to me, but Amon Amarth find ways to turn a simplistic musical approach into great music. With each passing album Amon Amarth mature as songwriters, and while the music they create is slower-paced and more simplistic death metal, along the lines of Bolt Thrower, the delivery is much more emotive and reminds me, in a way, of early Aeternus, just in that the emotions are so obviously displayed in the music. The unfortunate thing about Amon Amarth is that so many people will get caught up in the artwork and the image they portray and ignore the fact that the music is really solid. Granted, there are bands who are better musicians, there are bands that are far more complex, there are bands that are heavier, and there are bands that are more emotive, but very few can write songs as solidly as Amon Amarth, and that’s what sets them apart from so many bands today. I feel no shame in admitting that I’m a fan of theirs, but I’m not yet comfortable enough to wear their Manowar-esque artwork on a t-shirt. I work in the gay porn industry and there are limits even I am not willing to cross. Written By: Teufel