Swedish death/viking metal legends Unleashed return with another powerful platter of mayhem, this one called Odalheim, and it's a very successful follow up to their last winner As Yggdrasil Trembles. With Unleashed, you basically know what you are going to get time in and time out, but damn if Johnny Hedlund & crew just are able to create tasty, melodic, but plenty brutal death metal on a consistant basis.
Norse Mythology, battles, and destruction are once again the lyrical themes here, and the band surround that with memorable songs that don't push the envelope much but still deliver quite a punch. " Fimbulwinter" and "White Christ" are chock full of twisting riffage and Hedlund's evil growls, while on "The Hour of Defeat" somber acoustic guitars give way to galloping rhythms and layers of melo-death guitar riffs. It's hard not to get completely in headbanging form on the blistering "Rise Of The Maya Warriors", and "By Celtic And British Shores" sees the band inject some complex arrangements and tasty guitar solos into their death metal recipe. Of course, it wouldn't be an Unleashed album without a bit of crushing, epic Viking metal, which they've saved for the album closer "The Great Battle Of Odalheim", a real beast of a tune that shows not only how brutal these guys can be but also they are able to add a bit of class to the genre as well.
Good stuff all around here on Odalheim, from a band that just keeps churning out one solid album after another.
Track Listing
1. Fimbulwinter.
2. Odalheim.
3. White Christ.
4. The Hour Of Defeat.
5. Gathering The Battalions.
6. Vinland.
7. Rise Of The Maya Warriors.
8. By Celtic And British Shores.
9. The Soil Of Our Fathers.
10. Germania.
11. The Great Battle Of Odalheim.
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