This is real back-to-basics stuff. It is heavy metal with slight doom and stoner influences, and coarse baritone vocals yelled with balls-to-the-world sincerity.
Think Evergrey meets Metallica meets Korn. Michael Hansson's vocals have a Thomas (Evergrey) Englund quality to them – that unsophisticated but gut-wrenching emotion-ridden mid-range delivery. The Metallica comparison is in the instrumentation. Hard-hitting, riff-laden dual guitar double-bass-driven stuff that leaves no room for ballads or progressive twiddling. And there is a nu-metal / stoner aggression behind every song that recalls Korn. As attested by song titles like "Holy Caravan", "Symphony For The Unholy", "Hellraiser" and "Soulcollector", the doomy atmosphere pervades each song but it is carried principally by the lyrics rather than in the chord progressions.
The songs are well written, simply but effectively structured, and very well executed. "Symphony For The Unholy" is the standout track and the longest at nearly 7 minutes. There is a soft intro with Hammond and acoustic-styled guitar over chanting male vocals, followed by the full-power metal set. The song is characterized by tempo changes, vocals that cover the whole spectrum, a mid-tempo driving rhythm, and the outro is a wonderful if simple guitar duet giving way to a growling Hammond.
Unleashed is well written, well played, straightforward Metal with a capital "M". This is metal with balls!
Track Listing:
- Holy Caravan
- Pleasuredome
- Restrained
- Elected
- Inordinate Desire
- Schizofrenia
- Symphony for the unholy
- The blood remains
- Hellraiser
- Soulcollector
- Unleashed
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