★★★★★
The 11th studio album from Sweden's Unleashed, Odalheim furthers their post-doomsday concept, which is rooted in Norse mythology and Viking history. While the lyrical storyline is intriguing, it's the band's unique blend of death, black and thrash metal that makes Odalheim worthy of repeat listening. "Fimbulwinter" starts the record off with a sonic attack and features some intense, blackened death metal-esque, speedy riffs...
- exclaim.ca
2012-05-17
★★★★★
"Long-time fans will know what to expect, but virgin ears will discover a rough-and-tough death metal album loaded with zesty Viking flavor." It's not everyday that a band can say that they invented a sub-genre of music, but Sweden's Unleashed pioneered the concept of "Viking death metal" during the mid-90's. There were Viking metal bands and death metal bands, but the two never seem to correlate very well before Unleashed came around...
- www.metalunderground.com
2010-12-21
★★★★★
Norse mythology is an interesting one to follow. For those unfamiliar with Norse mythology, a lot of it centres around Vikings and their beliefs and code of conduct. The story of Thor, the god of thunder and his father Odin also stems out of Norse mythology and were also the source of inspiration for the Marvel comic's character. Which brings me to the part of Norse mythology I'm going to be discussing in this the review. Yggdrasil...
- hangout.altsounds.com
2010-11-02
★★★★★
Sound: Bassist and vocalist Johnny screams "Viking death metal! Viking death metal!" on the third track, "Wir Kapitulieren Niemals", and that's really as quick a rundown of Unleashed's sound as you'll get. In 3:27 you get the core of their sound, the raw old school death metal production, the lyrical approach and the general take-no-prisoners attitude...
- www.ultimate-guitar.com
2010-06-19
★★★★★
Snatching back their bloody crown from deathly pretenders and black metal johnny-come-latelies, Swedish metal icons Unleashed remain resolute and all Dorian-Gray. Fucking seriously, Johnny Hedlund and company attack the material on Hammer Battalion with the vicious verve and fury of a much younger band. It's unfettered power from the word go; a few seconds into the sawing "The Greatest of All Lies," heralded by a bloody scream and slashing riffs...
- www.ink19.com
2009-07-20
★★★★★
These days, death-metal bands push the envelope by getting faster, more technical and less approachable. All praise to the mighty Thor that Swedish veterans Unleashed are still around to prove that there's more to quality death-metal than BPM. While the Swedish veterans don't hold a candle to Brain Drill or Origin in terms of speed or virtuosity, their ninth album, Hammer Battalion, rests its Viking battle odes and anti-Christian screeds on a bedrock of stellar songwriting...
- www.prefixmag.com
2009-06-08
★★★★★
On Unleashed's 1991 debut, Where No Life Dwells, the Swedish outfit reveals a commitment to two kinds of death metal: fast and faster. Pure and enthusiastic, this disc plays like an audio textbook for those interested in the state and design of early-'90s death metal excess...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
While a new breed of death metal bands reared their collective heads shortly after the dawn of the 21st century, there was still a healthy amount of veteran acts in existence that miraculously weathered the '90s (an era which proved to be a bit harsh on the genre). Case in point, one of Sweden's longtime death metal exports, Unleashed. Their first release for the Steamhammer label (and eighth overall), 2006's Midvinterblot, shows the band continuing to stick to their metallic guns...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
★★★★★
There are some artists who love to be chameleonic and yank the rug out from under their fans; Prince, David Bowie, and the late Miles Davis are three of examples of risk-takers who had no problem coming out with albums that jolted fans right out of their comfort zones. But others make a career out of finding a comfortable groove and pretty much sticking with it -- AC/DC, for example -- and Unleashed are clearly of that mindset...
- music.aol.com
2008-08-27
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