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Kalaratri
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 14, 2021 11:23 am 
 

Swedish death metal legends Unleashed will release their fourteenth studio album, No Sign Of Life, on November 12 through Napalm Records. From the press release:

Quote:
Swedish Death Metal Legends UNLEASHED are back to defend their throne! With the release of their 14th full length studio album No Sign Of Life on November 12 2021, the Death Metal pioneers that influenced a whole musical genre deliver another work of sheer brutality.

Formed back in 1989 by Johnny Hedlund, UNLEASHED have been delivering supreme Death Metal in the sign of their Viking ancestors from day one! The Einherjar legions of Asgard transfer Viking values and traditions into modernity and forge another uncompromising musical weapon.

The rage paves its way straight from the first notes of the album opener “The King Lost His Crown” and leaves no time to breathe during the entire playing time. The album unfolds as an unstoppable war battalion and builds up on UNLEASHED’s well established trademark sounds and lyrics. Accompanied by shouts hailing Odin, heavy guitar riffs take no prisoners on “The Highest Ideal”, until the album finds a glorious end on “Here at the End of the World”.

The Chief Vikings of Swedish Death Metal manage to play modern sounding old school Death Metal and leave no doubt that they are still true to their roots after 32 years of existence. UNLEASHED are and stay the unchallenged leaders of Sweden’s Death Metal forefathers. Hail Odin!


Image

Tracklisting:
1. The King Lost His Crown
2. The Shepherd has Left the Flock
3. Where Can You Flee?
4. You are the Warrior!
5. No Sign of Life
6. The Highest Ideal
7. Midgard Warriors for Life
8. Did You Struggle with God?
9. Tyr Wields the Sword
10. It is Finished
11. Here at the End of the World

The King Lost His Crown has been released as the first single:

Spoiler: show


Seems like they're continuing in the same direction as The Hunt For White Christ, which is fine by me.


Last edited by Kalaratri on Tue Sep 14, 2021 7:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Benedict Donald
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Joined: Tue Aug 24, 2021 10:36 am
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 14, 2021 11:30 am 
 

instant buy.

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LordOfTheGallows
Metal newbie

Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2021 3:36 pm
Posts: 178
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Tue Sep 14, 2021 1:09 pm 
 

Hell yes, these guys have been on a roll since Midvinterblot, I love the direction they've gone in.

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Cyrdarxes
Metal newbie

Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2020 7:59 pm
Posts: 32
PostPosted: Tue Sep 14, 2021 1:24 pm 
 

I see they're still using the same cover artist from the last two albums. Maybe I'm alone on this, but I don't like the bright colour schemes; it doesn't suit their music and looks cartoonish. They should use the artist they commissioned for their 4 albums released from 2006-2012 again.

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draconiondevil
Metalhead

Joined: Wed Mar 26, 2008 4:21 pm
Posts: 710
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Tue Sep 14, 2021 1:59 pm 
 

Big fan of these guys. Haven't even heard the track yet and I know it's going to rule.

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Floodland
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Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 4:58 am
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 14, 2021 2:00 pm 
 

Why are they legends? Boring, yes, but legends? Anything I have tried since Where No Life Dwells oh so many years ago was nothing, nothing, nothing but a spectacular snoozefest. No Sign Of Life would be a rehashed Where No Life Dwells? Same meaning anyways...
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ChildClownOutlet
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Joined: Fri Dec 16, 2011 4:52 pm
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 14, 2021 4:44 pm 
 

Im digging the eastern vibe from the single. I'm hyped, loved THFWC.
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Metal_Jaw
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Joined: Fri Sep 30, 2011 12:57 pm
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Location: United States
PostPosted: Tue Sep 14, 2021 6:15 pm 
 

I can't wait to listen to this and then completely forget it exists.

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praey
Metalhead

Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 1:33 am
Posts: 925
Location: United States
PostPosted: Tue Sep 14, 2021 11:52 pm 
 

Cyrdarxes wrote:
I see they're still using the same cover artist from the last two albums. Maybe I'm alone on this, but I don't like the bright colour schemes; it doesn't suit their music and looks cartoonish. They should use the artist they commissioned for their 4 albums released from 2006-2012 again.

I actually thought Hammer Battalion looked really cartoonish too, it was just less colorful. I don't know, I feel like their pure, no trends, stripped-down death metal sound actually fits this aesthetic pretty well. Never been a huge fan of Unleashed, but at least they are reliable and pretty fun live.

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Wombface
Metalhead

Joined: Tue Sep 25, 2007 3:28 pm
Posts: 415
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Wed Sep 15, 2021 12:00 am 
 

praey wrote:
Cyrdarxes wrote:
I see they're still using the same cover artist from the last two albums. Maybe I'm alone on this, but I don't like the bright colour schemes; it doesn't suit their music and looks cartoonish. They should use the artist they commissioned for their 4 albums released from 2006-2012 again.

I actually thought Hammer Battalion looked really cartoonish too, it was just less colorful. I don't know, I feel like their pure, no trends, stripped-down death metal sound actually fits this aesthetic pretty well. Never been a huge fan of Unleashed, but at least they are reliable and pretty fun live.


I think those last three artworks have been some of their best. Granted, Midvinterblot's cover is absolutely gorgeous but Hammer Battalion and especially Odalheim were pretty tame.

In any event, I'll be picking up this album. Love this band.

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jose_G
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Joined: Mon May 11, 2020 1:02 pm
Posts: 487
PostPosted: Wed Sep 15, 2021 10:14 am 
 

Awesome!

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draconiondevil
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Joined: Wed Mar 26, 2008 4:21 pm
Posts: 710
Location: Canada
PostPosted: Thu Sep 16, 2021 2:40 pm 
 

Floodland wrote:
Why are they legends? Boring, yes, but legends? Anything I have tried since Where No Life Dwells oh so many years ago was nothing, nothing, nothing but a spectacular snoozefest. No Sign Of Life would be a rehashed Where No Life Dwells? Same meaning anyways...


Have you heard As Yggdrasil Trembles or Odalheim? Both great albums imo.

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cultofkraken
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Joined: Tue Jan 11, 2005 1:18 am
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 16, 2021 2:53 pm 
 

Floodland wrote:
Why are they legends? Boring, yes, but legends? Anything I have tried since Where No Life Dwells oh so many years ago was nothing, nothing, nothing but a spectacular snoozefest. No Sign Of Life would be a rehashed Where No Life Dwells? Same meaning anyways...


Legends because they released a classic of Swedish death metal? Doesn’t matter if it’s one album or 18 that still makes them legends of the scene, your personal taste or interest does not alter that.
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MRmehman
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 16, 2021 4:28 pm 
 

Cool, Unleashed are usually really good. I'm looking forward to hearing this one.
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Floodland
Metal newbie

Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2021 4:58 am
Posts: 189
PostPosted: Thu Sep 16, 2021 5:13 pm 
 

cultofkraken wrote:
Floodland wrote:
Why are they legends? Boring, yes, but legends? Anything I have tried since Where No Life Dwells oh so many years ago was nothing, nothing, nothing but a spectacular snoozefest. No Sign Of Life would be a rehashed Where No Life Dwells? Same meaning anyways...


Legends because they released a classic of Swedish death metal? Doesn’t matter if it’s one album or 18 that still makes them legends of the scene, your personal taste or interest does not alter that.


So by that logic, any musical garbage released 30 years ago is by default a classic? Ha fucking ha.
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cultofkraken
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Joined: Tue Jan 11, 2005 1:18 am
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 16, 2021 5:23 pm 
 

Floodland wrote:
cultofkraken wrote:
Floodland wrote:
Why are they legends? Boring, yes, but legends? Anything I have tried since Where No Life Dwells oh so many years ago was nothing, nothing, nothing but a spectacular snoozefest. No Sign Of Life would be a rehashed Where No Life Dwells? Same meaning anyways...


Legends because they released a classic of Swedish death metal? Doesn’t matter if it’s one album or 18 that still makes them legends of the scene, your personal taste or interest does not alter that.


So by that logic, any musical garbage released 30 years ago is by default a classic? Ha fucking ha.


Where No Life Dwells is generally regarded as a classic regardless of what you think and a foundational album of Swedish Death Metal. Ergo they get the legends status. You don’t like it tough titties.
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ZenoMarx
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Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2008 11:38 am
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Location: United States
PostPosted: Thu Sep 16, 2021 5:52 pm 
 

Slayer

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Kalaratri
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 17, 2021 3:45 pm 
 

cultofkraken wrote:
Where No Life Dwells is generally regarded as a classic regardless of what you think and a foundational album of Swedish Death Metal. Ergo they get the legends status. You don’t like it tough titties.


I think their first 2-3 albums are all classics, Shadows of the Deep and Across the Open Sea are both killer records in their own right and even later on you have gems like Sworn Allegiance.

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cultofkraken
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Joined: Tue Jan 11, 2005 1:18 am
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 18, 2021 12:25 am 
 

Kalaratri wrote:
cultofkraken wrote:
Where No Life Dwells is generally regarded as a classic regardless of what you think and a foundational album of Swedish Death Metal. Ergo they get the legends status. You don’t like it tough titties.


I think their first 2-3 albums are all classics, Shadows of the Deep and Across the Open Sea are both killer records in their own right and even later on you have gems like Sworn Allegiance.


You don't need convince me I love a lot of their output... I was just saying essentially if you even just count Where No Life Dwells, they are still a legendary band, and are generally regarded as such.
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markhebb
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Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2021 5:32 am
Posts: 252
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Sat Oct 09, 2021 6:29 am 
 

These guys don’t really have a bad album- even Victory and Warrior have their moments. Looking forward to this.

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Kalaratri
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Joined: Wed Aug 05, 2020 3:22 pm
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 9:44 am 
 

The second single is out:


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colin040
Metal freak

Joined: Sat Dec 08, 2007 6:00 pm
Posts: 7609
Location: Netherlands
PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 9:48 am 
 

Will the next album be called Where No Sign of Life Dwells?

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ChildClownOutlet
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Joined: Fri Dec 16, 2011 4:52 pm
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 10:00 am 
 

Yeah this song was pretty lame.
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cultofkraken
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 1:44 pm 
 

The two tracks are ok. They fall into some traps for Unleashed I don’t really care for but the guitar work is still pretty damn good.
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narsilianshard
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 1:53 pm 
 

lol holy shit, this is what modern Unleashed sounds like? this is borderline nu-metal. that awful guitar tone, those crossover-style "spoken" vocals. if i heard this on the radio i would assume it's five finger death punch.
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cultofkraken
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 2:42 pm 
 

narsilianshard wrote:
lol holy shit, this is what modern Unleashed sounds like? this is borderline nu-metal. that awful guitar tone, those crossover-style "spoken" vocals. if i heard this on the radio i would assume it's five finger death punch.


Eh this is somewhat of a shift again in sound. I too am not thrilled about how hollow the guitar sounds. They’ve definitely had punchier guitar heavy production like on Dawn of the Nine.
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markhebb
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Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2021 5:32 am
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PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 8:48 pm 
 

I enjoy that second track- Unleashed have always done good mid tempo stuff. Agree about the guitar tone though- could be better.

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FLIPPITYFLOOP
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Joined: Thu Aug 12, 2010 9:09 pm
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Location: CHRAWNA, Canada
PostPosted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 11:29 pm 
 

I think the nu-metal comparison might be a bit of a stretch, but these tracks are still kind of forgettable. Then again, I've actually never listened to Unleashed, despite having seen their name thrown around quite a bit. I feel like this isn't the best place to start with them.

EDIT: I also agree that the cover art is way too modern looking for how their logo looks. Doesn't fit at all.

EDIT 2: Okay I'm only 2 minutes into Where No Life Dwells and it already fucking slaps. I'm giving this band a chance.

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Rodman
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Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2011 10:15 am
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Location: Sydney, Australia
PostPosted: Thu Oct 14, 2021 2:03 am 
 

Unleashed are a great band, and much of their more modern stuff does indeed slap. However, this new album is sounding very meh...

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Demon Fang
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Joined: Tue Mar 12, 2019 9:42 am
Posts: 538
PostPosted: Thu Oct 14, 2021 3:55 am 
 

zzz unleashed had a good run but these singles are bizarrely bland.

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~Guest 389043
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Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2016 3:29 am
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 14, 2021 4:16 am 
 

Been a fan for a long time and these songs are fucking terrible. None of their material gets near the first three but for the most part it is listenable for meat and potatoes death metal. I wonder if this will be their last album.

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markhebb
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Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2021 5:32 am
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 14, 2021 5:13 am 
 

Everflowingstream wrote:
Been a fan for a long time and these songs are fucking terrible. None of their material gets near the first three but for the most part it is listenable for meat and potatoes death metal. I wonder if this will be their last album.


They had a real purple patch in the early naughtiest- Sworn Allegiance and Midvinterblut are particularly good….

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Rodman
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Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2011 10:15 am
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 14, 2021 7:49 am 
 

markhebb wrote:
Everflowingstream wrote:
Been a fan for a long time and these songs are fucking terrible. None of their material gets near the first three but for the most part it is listenable for meat and potatoes death metal. I wonder if this will be their last album.


They had a real purple patch in the early naughtiest- Sworn Allegiance and Midvinterblut are particularly good….


I'll also vouch for the last 3 albums.

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mjollnir
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Joined: Sat Jul 17, 2004 4:14 pm
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 14, 2021 10:07 am 
 

The songs I have heard from it were extremely forgettable. Sad since they were once a top tier death/viking metal band.
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draconiondevil
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Joined: Wed Mar 26, 2008 4:21 pm
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 14, 2021 3:56 pm 
 

mjollnir wrote:
The songs I have heard from it were extremely forgettable. Sad since they were once a top tier death/viking metal band.


Unleashed have never been viking metal. Death metal about vikings = / = viking metal.

I have to echo the sentiments of others in this thread. These songs are ok but they don't leave me overly hopeful that this album will be as good as the last few. I've loved everything they've done since at least As Yggdrasil Trembles so it's a bit of a disappointment so far.

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mjollnir
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PostPosted: Thu Oct 14, 2021 4:57 pm 
 

draconiondevil wrote:
mjollnir wrote:
The songs I have heard from it were extremely forgettable. Sad since they were once a top tier death/viking metal band.


Unleashed have never been viking metal. Death metal about vikings = / = viking metal.

I have to echo the sentiments of others in this thread. These songs are ok but they don't leave me overly hopeful that this album will be as good as the last few. I've loved everything they've done since at least As Yggdrasil Trembles so it's a bit of a disappointment so far.

"If you're going to split hairs, I'm going to piss off!!"

Seriously, there is no such genre as viking metal....we all know this. I was being more descriptive than literal. lol
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Wombface
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Joined: Tue Sep 25, 2007 3:28 pm
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Location: Canada
PostPosted: Thu Oct 14, 2021 11:03 pm 
 

I thought the first single was great. That latest one though is a bit bland but I'm sure it's going to fit decently in the context of the album. Most Unleashed albums are pretty consistent since Midvinterblot but there are a few average songs here and there.

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markhebb
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Joined: Sat Oct 09, 2021 5:32 am
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 16, 2021 1:27 am 
 

Been listening back through the Unleashed back catalogue- I have discovered that I have a very odd top five

1. Midvinterblot
2. Across The Open Seas
3. Sworn Allegiance
4. Hells Unleashed (yeah I know)
5. Shadows In The Deep

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LithoJazzoSphere
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 16, 2021 3:25 pm 
 

Tough crowd. I thought the two tracks so far were pretty solid. Doesn't need to be innovative, just some hard-hitting cuts, and they worked for me. I think Hammer Battalion seems to be a bit underrated here, some powerful riffs and killer solos on that one.

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cultofkraken
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PostPosted: Sat Oct 16, 2021 4:53 pm 
 

LithoJazzoSphere wrote:
Tough crowd. I thought the two tracks so far were pretty solid. Doesn't need to be innovative, just some hard-hitting cuts, and they worked for me. I think Hammer Battalion seems to be a bit underrated here, some powerful riffs and killer solos on that one.


I guess expectations for Unleashed always run pretty high, I was just running through the last few albums recently and The Hunt for White Christ actually hit me harder this time and comparative to the new tracks Johnny sounded a lot more vicious and the guitars a lot thicker.

On multiple listens the songs are growing on me but Johnny’s vocals sound more like they did on Warrior, with that shoutier style and I’m not as fond of it, also I still maintain those guitars are sitting in the back of that mix and need to be way meatier.
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