Unleashed have been undergoing a strong resurgence since the release of 2006’s “Midvinterblot”, an album which saw them in particularly vital form. Each subsequent release has been an improvement on the former. Of course, there is a finite amount of times that a band can improve; the ordinary natural law is that sooner or later your favourite band is destined to suck ass or split up – or potentially both. With such a run of great albums to their name, could “Odalheim” be the start of the slippery slope to Sucksville?

In a word, “no”. Odalheim is the best Unleashed album yet. Yes, I am aware that their earlier works command a sort of hushed respect for being among the first to combine Viking themes and heavy metal, but this platter sees them in particularly fine form. Consider the massive churning riffs of “The Soil of our Fathers”, which has a huge, dense sound that brings to mind marching armies with its dark, deep guitar tones. It also has some tasteful acoustic guitars, before the thunder and lightning bombast of the main chorus. Johny Hedlund puts that distinctive rumble to work, and he sounds better than ever – his voice a martial growl – a warrior’s take on the Lemmy rasp, if you will. In fact, his vocals perfectly fit the new-found sophistication which also accompanies the rather better known brutal take on old school death metal. There’s a loose theme to the album too – which follows on from their last effort, “As Yggdrasil Trembles”, and produces tales which apparently reflect the ongoing saga of the Viking warriors left alive in the wake of Ragnarok. Which is nice.

There are a couple of stone cold, solid belters here for your delectation. The two tracks go together as nicely as a battleaxe and a monk’s barnet. “By Celtic And British Shores” uses choice phrases from Churchill’s famous “we shall fight them on the beaches” speech to the best effect since the first track, side one of “Live After Death”, while “Germania” locks into a mid-paced groovy death metal riff that is almost more Bolt Thrower than Bolt Thrower. This is a good thing. As one would expect from a Nuclear Blast band, the production is thicker than the cast of “The Only Way is Essex”, and more in your face than a Glaswegian gang member on crack and Buckfast. In summary then, this is the perfect refinement of the true survivors of old school Swedish death metal, with enough new tricks up their sleeves to make the also-venerable Debbie McGee blush: in other words, “that’s fucking magic”.

(8.5/10 Chris Davison)

http://www.unleashed.se