Fate of Norns is the fifth full-length studio album by the Swedish death metal band Amon Amarth. It was released on 6 September 2004 through Metal Blade Records. This album continued their slower, heavier sound which started on the previous album Versus the World. Before Fate of Norns was officially released by Metal Blade, promo copies were distributed with CD-ROM extras including pictures, biographies, sheets and logos. The album was released in conventional LP format as well as a limited digipak edition. The latter includes a live bonus DVD, Amon Amarth Live at Grand Rokk, which features live recordings and three-camera footage of a live performance in Reykjavík, Iceland on 5 March 2004. "The Pursuit of Vikings" was also made into a music video.
When asked to comment on the album, lead vocalist Johan Hegg, remarked:
The sound is more mature than on previous albums. I think the foundation for this sound started when we changed studios from Abyss to Berno when we got to working with Berno Paulsson. We improved the sound a lot for this album. We were able to make all the instruments work better together and still make them prominent one by one in the production as well. We were also able to keep the heaviness and brutality we need to be Amon Amarth.
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