Unleashed
Where No Life Dwells
Century Media, 1991

Where No Life Dwells inhabits the third place position in the triumvirate of early 90s Scandinavian death metal, with Entombed’s Left Hand Path and Dismember’s Like An Ever Flowing Stream coming in at numbers one and two, respectively. Together, these works, along with efforts from Carnage, Therion and Grave, defined the sound of Swedish death metal of the time. The simplistic song arrangements of a rock/hardcore nature, menacing grooves of thunderous current and atmosphere of winterdark nightmares, all fundamental elements of the genre from this era, were in part formulated by Unleashed and can be discovered on this debut disc. What set Unleashed apart from the rest of these pioneers of ScanDeath was their minimization of melodic flourish in favor of a more savage execution, which resulted in the most barbarous sound generated by the region’s acts at the time. Indeed, the music of Unleashed embodied a lethal coldness of a brutal winter storm, offering no mercy in its attack while rampaging through all in its path. Perhaps the most unforgiving of their regional genre peers.

A brief, delicate acoustic guitar intro has its fragility torn to shreds by the storming cavalcade of "Dead Forever", a fitting portrayal of the conceptual spirit and focus of Unleashed’s music. Much of this disc races by at a furious pace, shifting downwards to thrashing speeds similar to the rhythmic foundations of early hardcore (which oddly exerted its influence on much European death metal of this era, as opposed to the more complex approach of most American death) tempered by occasional descents into slower passages usually anchored by mid-paced double-bass runs over which guitars dive into ice pools before emerging to revisit a previously established theme within the song. The sound of this disc is immensely heavy, with the drums given a pounding, hammering presence in a relentless presentation of stamina and control through music that takes on the form of a deadly nighttime blizzard. The vocals of Johnny Hedlund (formerly of the pre-Entombed act Nihilist) are like dry ice in the throat of an enraged Viking, gruff and brutish with occasional piercing screams of mortal horror. The music is of a powerful, confrontational presence, its sound thick with the rage of madmen in the air.

"I detest your sanity
You’re blinded by the light
Empty eyes of suffering
Get out of my life"

A representation of life’s struggle in the face of mortality reflects in this music, in the understanding and acceptance that death is an unavoidable fate for all who live, and the struggle through life to be met with courage and might, as in the moment of one’s death. Unleashed find this approach to existence most inspiringly carried forth by their Viking ancestors, and hence reference these ancient values within lyrical themes. The mythology and heritage of their native land are embraced and drawn upon for inspiration by Unleashed more so than their genre peers of the time, who were more preoccupied with traditional themes of death metal concentrated on human mortality through conceptual depictions of gore and horror. Unleashed have a spiritual essence more in line with black metal, though musically are clearly a death metal act, and because of their lyrical mentions of Valhalla, Odin, Thor and other references to Scandinavian mythology, were tagged as "Viking death metal". Unleashed seek to apply what they view as honorable and noble ideas of being to a time when man has an increasing disregard for nature and a frightening idea of what it means to be mortal.

Like most bands of almost any era or genre, Unleashed made their most effective statement with their earlier work, most specifically, Where No Life Dwells. In simplest terms, this is cold, dark and brutal death metal of the Northern European variety during the early stages of the 1990s. There is no song here that reaches the five-minute mark, as the band attack with urgency and a clear focus of their own compositional concept. There is unity among each aspect of Unleashed’s representation, a product of their belief in what is being portrayed through their craft. A strong will in the face of opposition, honor and pride in one’s actions, and triumph in the encounter of death’s fatal grasp form the philosophy of Unleashed in both musical and lyrical approach, through an expression as violent and merciless as the nature of existence itself. If only one album from this band is to be owned, this is it.

2/12/05

1. Where No Life Dwells
2. Dead Forever
3. Before The Creation Of Time
4. For They Shall Be Slain
5. If They Had Eyes
6. The Dark One
7. Into Glory Ride
8. ...And The Laughter Has Died
9. Unleashed
10. Violent Ecstasy
11. Where Life Ends

Unleashed
Shadows In The Deep
Century Media, 1992

The second offering from Unleashed finds the band tightening the song structures, as well as their execution, with a clearer focus on where to take certain passages, and developing smoother transition skills. The simplicity with which this music functions gives allowance for a warlike brutality quite distinct from other Swedish death acts of the time, mainly due to the more rhythmic nature of the music and the thematic core within these compositions, clearly suggesting the members of Unleashed were striving for something more central to human existence in a decaying modern time, specifically strength and honor in the presence of the enemy who seeks to crush those of such attributes in favor of the weak-willed and apathetic. Rather than viewing Unleashed as an instrumentally limited collective in terms of skill and vision for their simple constructions and unchanging formula, the truth of this act lies in the appropriateness of this recipe in regards to what they stand for and express.

The tightening process has not crippled the fierceness of Unleashed’s attack. This is raging, thunderous death metal performed with an annihilating power and hatred that swings a battleaxe to the skull of the weak. The sound again is monstrously heavy, giving a powerful presence to the drums and harnessing the band’s evolved, sharpened chemistry. More emphasis has been placed on varying tempo for songs, with a balanced set of the fast, the mid-paced and the slow. The slow songs for example, such as "BloodBath" and the title track, remain so in an effort to provide each song with a unique presence in relation to its placement on the recording, as opposed to the debut where the reliance on high-speed for most songs made it sometimes difficult to recognize particular tracks. Unleashed are masters of rhythmic command and use this attribute to steer their songs towards a destination, never falling out of an established foundation into the murky waters of meandering to the point of drowning the song in a sightless blur.

Aside from the logical progression in compositional structure, instrumentation and chemistry, there is not much that differs here from the debut. Unleashed know who they are and where they stand, and see no point in journeying elsewhere for the sake of listeners for whom boredom finds easily. This is music that is driven by forces beyond its base tools of construction, and this hits the listener who seeks for the soul in music like a tidal wave on bloodstained shores. More than tales of Viking battles and mythological entities, these songs read like a warrior’s guide of how to survive in a world of falsity and helplessness in the age ruled by men who have lost all respect and fear of nature, driven instead by greed and ultimately meaningless endeavors. Unleashed are such modern day warriors drawing from their ancestral past for insight in truth to the self even in the unflinching shadow of stalking death.

2/13/05

Tracklisting:

1. The Final Silence
2. The Immortals
3. A Life Beyond
4. Shadows In The Deep
5. Countess Bathory
6. Never Ending Hate
7. Onward Into Countless Battles
8. Crush The Skull
9. Bloodbath
10. Land Of Ice

Unleashed
Across The Open Sea
Century Media, 1993

Three albums into their recording career, Unleashed do not budge from their initial formula of simply constructed death metal of a savage nature that draws heavily from Scandinavian mythology for its conceptual theme of a warrior spirit amongst degenerate civilization. However, on Across The Open Sea, individual songs are more pronounced than on previous works, which more clearly separates the good material from the less effective and as such, exposes the album as less of a consistently powerful work than its predecessors. Although the first two discs lacked a certain diversity and distinction between songs, the similarity spread a consistency throughout the duration of the recording that resulted in the whole standing as greater than its individual components. In attempting to further differentiate songs to provide them each with a unique identity to the others, and succeeding for the most part, Unleashed have become stronger composers of song, but have lost the consistency, and in effect, overall impact, of previous albums.

Speed has become less of an emphasis for Unleashed at this point, as most of this material is of a bouncy, mid-paced variety. The furious pace at which this band formerly utilized as their primary operating point is now relegated to but a few songs such as "I Am God", "Forever Goodbye (2045)" and "The General" which are smartly spread out in the tracklisting, as the band now work in more crawling, slower numbers, some of which are good ("Open Wide", "In The Northern Lands") and some of which fall flat ("Captured"). For the first time since the short intro to their debut, acoustic guitars show up in the title track, a nearly three-minute instrumental complete with haunting organ backdrop that makes for an interestingly gothic atmosphere not common to Unleashed’s repertoire. For this band, it’s about as experimental as it gets, and it serves as a nice break in the middle of the album. "Execute Them All" is perhaps Unleashed’s most effective blend of their trademark fury and a mid-paced attack, a raging number that harnesses the ferociousness of their faster works within a double-bass driven assault over which chugging guitars and Hedlund’s familiar dry-throated growl form the pulse of the track.

"I hate the sight of you
fashion-faced joke
I detest every man
that cannot stand alone"

Again, the conceptual theme centers around the ancient ways of the North and tales of Viking battles, perhaps more heavily this time around. In this, Unleashed have found an identity in the death metal genre, and seem to buy into it more fully here, coming dangerously close to allowing that identity to define them rather than defining it for themselves. There is no question that it was always genuine with this bunch, and that they never held the actual stories up as more important than what the stories meant and how to apply them to a modern age. But at this point it seems Unleashed may be settling a little for what others say they are instead of pushing for something beyond the words of mortal men.

The third album is always a tricky one for a band. Having established an identity and a standard course of operation on the first two releases, Unleashed opt to not alter the formula in any drastic way, instead choosing to strengthen their approach to songwriting and progress in the logical areas as a band and musicians. There is nothing wrong with this decision, of course, if the band hold true to the passion of the past and avoid the career-killing process of treading water. Unleashed still rage, but their attempts to emphasize the components of their work as opposed to the work as a whole have exposed some chinks in their armor. Across The Open Sea is a collection of mostly enjoyable songs in the Unleashed tradition, but offers nothing new in the way of further solidifying their statement to the world or significantly enhancing their overall expression. It is, essentially, the last worthwhile effort to be released by the band, leaving it as an optional rather than mandatory choice once the first two albums (both mandatory in Unleashed’s legacy and that of early 90s Swedish death metal) have been acquired.

2/13/05

Tracklisting:

1. To Asgaard We Fly
2. Open Wide
3. I Am God
4. The One Insane
5. Across The Open Sea
6. In The Northern Lands
7. Forever Goodbye (2045)
8. Execute Them All
9. Captured
10. Breaking The Law
11. The General

Unleashed
Live In Vienna ‘93
Century Media, 1994

This live recording of Unleashed in Vienna serves as a useful representation for those who wish to hear the band’s music in a live setting. The material is made up of the first two albums, with only "Open Wide" airing from the at- the- time soon to be released Across The Open Sea. The sound is excellent for a live recording, all instruments coming through the mix loud and crystal clear, the audience participation can be heard in-between each song, usually consisting of chanting of "Unleashed!, Unleashed!" or shouted requests for particular songs, and Johnny Hedlund’s hoarse tone interacting with the crowd in a somewhat festive manner, and introducing songs in a sometimes humorous manner ("I’m going to do a song for all the stupid-ass politicians in the whole fucking world. Fuck all the politicians, ‘cause this is "Never Ending... Hate"!) The performances are all spot on and if not for the in-between crowd noise and stage banter one could be forgiven for thinking this was a legitimate studio work, such is the immaculate sound and pinpoint accuracy of the band in replicating these songs, albeit in more raw and stripped down attack. In the grand scheme of things, this is ultimately an inessential release unless one simply must own everything the band has put their name to, or simply must hear these songs in a live environment. As live albums go, it does the job.

2/13/05

Tracklisting:

1. The Final Silence
2. Bloodbath
3. Before The Creation Of Time
4. Shadows In The Deep
5. Never Ending Hate
6. If They Had Eyes
7. Open Wide
8. Onwards Into Countless Battles
9. Dead Forever
10. Countess Bathory
11. The Immortals
12. Into Glory Ride
13. Breaking The Law

Unleashed
Victory
Century Media, 1995

The common criticism against Unleashed is that they "keep making the same album over and over again". Granted, the band have admittedly not strayed very far at all from the initial course, having found an order of operations that has both provided them with an identity in the over saturated death metal market and that is reasonable in regards to their philosophy. But the keen and astute listener will quickly recognize upon hearing the band’s fourth effort, Victory, that even though the stylistic tendencies and thematic ideas are familiar as the process of Unleashed, it is far from the band’s previous efforts in terms of quality, conviction and spirit.

The album begins on a fairly promising note with "Victims Of War", a tune that recalls "Execute Them All" from Across The Open Sea in its raging, double-bass/chugging guitar charged verse sections, opening with a heavy riff that highlights the album. However, once the blistering "Legal Rapes" follows, the rest of the album descends into uninspired and lifeless material. The slow, doom-oriented songs such as "Hail The New Age", "The Defender" and "Precious Land" are the main offenders here, as they plod along in a soulless march towards a pointless destination. Faster, near-punk exercises like "In The Name Of God" and "Scream Forth Aggression" do not fare much better in their failure to generate any sort of energy with a by-the-numbers form of execution. Even Johnny Hedlund’s vocals come across flat, as he has now adopted a hardcore-style shout in place of his ferocious growls, an approach that severely diminishes the ferocity of the band’s sound. Closing number "Revenge" raises the quality level with its fierce pace, but only slightly, as it is basically, like most of the album, a second-rate version of earlier material that established the particular formula.

"Odin guide my sword
and I’ll slay the enemy
Odin guide my sword
to eternal victory"

There is nothing inherently wrong with finding a formula and sticking to it, but once the passion and inspiration that fueled that formula fades, a lifeless formula is all that remains. This is a common fate for many a band, and one that has now befallen the once mighty Unleashed. Victory has all of the surface elements of the band’s past work, from the lyrical themes (which themselves have suffered along with the music) to the instrumentation/song-construction to the sleeve artwork, but it is sorely missing the soul and purpose of their earlier work. Victory is a disturbingly weak imitation of Unleashed’s powerful earlier output.

2/13/05

Tracklisting:

1. Victims Of War
2. Legal Rapes
3. Hail The New Age
4. The Defender
5. In The Name Of God.
6. Precious Land
7. Berserk
8. Scream Forth Aggression
9. Against The World
10. Revenge

Unleashed Discography

Where No Life Dwells (Century Media, 1991)
Shadows In The Deep (Century Media, 1992)
Across The Open Sea (Century Media, 1993)
Live In Vienna ‘93 (Century Media, 1994)
Victory (Century Media, 1995)
Eastern Blood: Hail To Poland (Century Media, 1996)
Warrior (Century Media, 1997)
Hell’s Unleashed (Century Media, 2002)
Sworn Allegiance (Century Media, 2004)