Unleashed – Odalheim

The hounds of “Hel” are unleashed for the eleventh time. No rest for Johnny, for whom time has no other meaning rather than waiting for the next brutal assault. Over 20 years have been more than enough to show their consistency and dedication to the legendary Gothenburg scene, by gaining the “no-experimentation” respect from the die-hard death metal fans.

The band’s style, confidence and self-awareness seem more than enough for bringing to life with ease mythological originated concepts of apocalypse in earth as the one in Odalheim. Generating battlefield soundtracks, in both studio and stage, comes out like a natural instinct for Unleashed.

As said above, no place for diversions here. Masterly produced, the album opens furiously with “Fimbulwinter”, with the band leaving you no choice and time to wonder what “Odalheim” is about. Tremolo picking smartly scattered all over the album giving a black metal aura and acoustic interludes acting like calm before storm are simply the record’s highlights. The self titled track could well be a fan hymn. The escalating song-writting, with the acoustic intro, the epic chorus and the nice leads on the second half of track, is actually the band’s statement, that along with aggression, Unleashed have been really thorough with their work. Nothing seems to be randomly placed and that results to a stiff and intense sound. Heavy, thrashy and black moments give their place to one another, holding a steady sound pace, yet, there are some moments that stand out such as “The Soil Of Our Fathers”, a devastating mid tempo track with good work on the guitar leads. Hedlund does his best with his trademark vocals. Neither guttural nor growling, rather barking out the lyrics-commands to his Battalions.

“Odelheim” is a fine record. It’s well known that Unleashed have sacrificed innovation many years ago to the altar of self awareness. Thus being they know what they’re good at and they simply do it. That’s sincere and the main reason that the band stands out from the death metal mob all over these years. Needless to say the fans have already loved the record. It’s a matter of trading respect. But, whoever wants to reach out for the older stuff, could well do it and would also be understood. But if you want sincere, fresh-sounding viking death metal , I can assure you that you will not find much of this in 2012.