The Adversary is the debut studio album by Norwegian black metal musician Ihsahn.

Without trying to duplicate it musically, I have been wanting to create a similar atmosphere and feeling from what I remember back then.

[7]Ihsahn described his intention with the production as realizing "a more sparse sound picture, inspired by more '70s metal.

I also mixed that album in an analog studio with equipment from the '50s, '60s and '70s and didn't overdub any guitars.

"[6] Several songs quote Friedrich Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, which Ihsahn has cited this as a key influence "not just because of the philosophical themes, but also the beauty of the language, the whole kind of religious undertone in this very ungodly philosophy.