REVIEW: UNLEASHED - ''As Yggdrasil Trembles''

TRACKLIST:

1.''Courage Today,Victory Tomorrow!''
2.''So It Begins...''
3.''As Yggdrasil Trembles''
4.''Wir Kapitulieren Niemals''
5.''This Time we Fight''
6.''Master of the Ancient Art''
7.''Chief Einherjar''
8.''Return Fire''
9.''Far Beyond Hell''
10.''Dead to Me''
11.''Yahweh and the Chosen Ones'' 12.''Cannibalistic Epidemic Continues''

TRACK BY TRACK ANALYSIS:

1. ''Courage Today,Victory Tomorrow!''

I approach this album while being fully conscious that these guys really aren't your typical death metal band.Each of their offerings are a nice eclectic brew of sub-genres,and the emphasis on the melody takes the front of the stage,rather than being buried within a maze of blastbeats and the typically razor-sharp,wall-to-wall guitars you would expect from a death metal offering.Keeping in mind that this is the introductory track,I can safely say that it is a sweet melodic thrasher that does set the mood for the carnage to come.It gets your head nodding,while not exactly pushing you over the edge.Nifty little intro to an album I hope will know to impress me.

2. ''So it Begins...''

I am immediately reminded of Amon Amarth's absolutely mind-numbing skill at choosing a main riff when headbanging along to this smoker of a track.The attack we have here is of a purely swedish viking metal fashion,with incredibly spot-on blastbeating,impressively elaborate leads,and nothing short of an absolutely epic driving melody.I have nothing negative to say about where I'm being taken with this,and I am extremely enthusiastic about what's coming.

3. ''As Yggdrasil Trembles''

Certainly the most fucking grandly epic and face-meltingly kickass tune I've ever heard coming from these guys.Since their last album ''Hammer Battalion'',their sound has most definitely matured and the band's knack at creating a spectacular ambiance and integrating absolutely gigantic hooks into their songwriting is much more present than ever,and cuts like this are bound to remain on your mind through the years,the very same way Amon Amarth has managed to conquer the hearts of all fans of the sub-genre with their most classic albums.Absolutely unforgettable.

4. ''Wir Kapitulieren Niemals''

This not being the most mind-blowing follow-up to the blinding quality of the third track,it is still a nice little slab of melodic metal delivered with such precision you can hardly refuse to crank it up and appreciate the harmonious little keys emphasyzing the swaying little choreography of the guitars.I must admit I find it more or less fitting to hear Dimmu Borgir type-riffage within the Unleashed enveloppe,and this makes the track seem much less vicious and kind of makes me grin a little.I can hardly call a track like this one death metal to the bone,since it does sound much more symphonic and progressive than each of the other cuts present on the disc,but it still is an enjoyable and amusing little interlude that will most probably be followed by something slightly more straightforward.

5. ''This Time we Fight''

A very quick and razor-sharp delivery that does work wonders,even though it is far from displaying quite as much originality than the previous tracks.It is pretty much your classic swedish death metal war song,with less emphasis on the ambiance,much more focus on charging straight through,throwing you out of the way with its somehow thrashy riffage that does fit beautifully within this viking-esque ensemble,bringing to the forefront the signature Unleashed sound.

6. ''Master of the Ancient Art''

Score.I never expected to hear a stoner doom influence within a viking death metal context my whole life,and Unleashed totally managed to give me this happiness.The dirty guitar sound immediately got me hooked,and the absolute genius in the catchiness of the entirety of the song is undeniable.We obviously still hear the primal,galloping swedish death metal entity of the band within the choruses,but this is a passing ghost within the very doom-ish,Sabbath-y feel of this rockin' cut.Very surprising and satisfying to these doom metal fan's ears.

7. ''Chief Einherjar''

Absolutely massive guitars grab you by the throat and suck you into a wall-to-wall and vicious fuckin' world of perfectly spot-on serpentine and melodious leads supported by this same dirty-and-sexy rythm section being a brilliant foundation for everything else to lay on,adding considerable depht to the root of the sound.This is an incredibly well-crafted shitkicker.

8. ''Return Fire''

Impressive drumwork drives the punches for this face-melter.Another very efficient war-tune going straight for its aim without any sort of slowdown or distraction.The guitar work displayed here doesn't go for a melodious angle,but rather provides a steel-solid foundation for the drum to crash on as it fucking drops tons of bricks on your head,never giving you a single second to breathe,making your head fuckin' spin the way any fan of this style of music craves for it.

9. ''Far Beyond Hell''

Another very Amon Amarth-ian pace defines this track which isn't exactly the most impressive on the whole album,but does hold its own as it thrashes forward without any signs of weakness.I think the main letdown here is the obvious patterned fashion of the track,and a bit of a lame-ish chorus that does have some nice fleeting little melodic guitarwork but fails to hit home when it comes to the instant efficiency this band is capable of.

10. ''Dead to Me''

More of a nuanced,progressive stabber,with yet again some very addictively violent drumwork,and venomous,soaring leads that erupt into full fuckin' madness all through the track.I raise my horns very high to the lead guitarist who definitely is on fire all through this tune,elevating it far above orgasm-level.I would say this song has more of an obvious hate and darkness to it than the previous cuts,with the vocalist's harsh delivery and the very straight-forward lyrical approach atop of the dizzying chemical reaction within the musicianship.

11. ''Yahweh and the Chosen Ones''

Another nice charger I have nothing additionnal to say about.It doesn't leave the main swedish death metal mold in any shape or form which is a bit upsetting considering the melodic chops at work within the body of this band,but it doesn't let me down when it comes to precision,and knowing how to keep my attention.It's a heck of a headbanger,with yet again amazing leadwork within,but it doesn't top what this band can do when they're being more audacious with the riffage.

12. ''Cannibalistic Epidemic Continues'' When it comes to originality,and theatrical ambiance,this cut smokes.When it comes to spectacular riffage,it misses.I must admit that the war drums,and the filthy vocals,and the macabre aura around this song definitely brings it upwards on the quality-meter,but I've spent better moments with the technical songwriting of the beginning of the album.

RATING: 7.5/10 Everything I could possibly say about this disc has been summed up within the review.I can safely say that Unleashed has strongly matured as a band when it comes to ambiance,melodies,and the technical progressivity of a track.The chemistry between the band-members is brought to the forefront,taking you along for a joyful ride,but dropping you off at about the eighth track to pick you up again for the tenth,with nothing interesting to see but plain land after that one is over.Quite a handful of tracks could've been left out,but I won't pretend I would classify this as pure filler,only that they sound a bit fatigued and uncreative.The first half of the album should get all the praise in the world,though,and rightfully so.

-Noch