Unleashed - Hammer Battalion Review
by Mark Hensch
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Few bands---especially in a subgenre of heavy metal as straightforward in its brutality as death metal---can claim the consistency of Sweden's Unleashed. Since their inception out of the ashes of Nihilist in 1989, Unleashed have always released good to great purist death metal with little pause and no fail. As if that were not enough, the band spearheaded the Viking death metal movement, their songs of war and honor paving the way for bands like Amon Amarth. As one of the genre's founding fathers, it makes sense that Unleash continue setting the bar for ripping death metal higher and higher on each release.
On newest sacrificial offering Hammer Battalion, Unleashed place the standard on loftier climes than the kingdom of the Gods in Valhalla. Pick any of the thirteen tracks on offer here, and the result will still be the same---memorable, gritty and absolutely brutal death metal with a Viking lyrical bent.
Chieftain in arms Johnny Hedlund continues providing berserk, rampaging roars while pillaging ears with his Entombed death n' roll bass licks. The drumming is rightfully furious, the rhythm section tuning itself into a well-oiled machine of death and destruction. As if that were not enough, however, the crowning achievement of Hammer Battalion are the absolutely wicked guitars, the likes of which produce some of the most cunningly fierce riffs in recent death metal. Catchy yet crushing, the whole thing recalls the greats that Unleashed rightfully grew up against. The leads, meanwhile, burn with hellacious immolation, their cutting notes slicing through ears like a wooden shield meeting an iron axe. As such, it goes without saying that the number of monstrous rockers on offer here are many.
Opening cut "The Greatest of All Lies," for example, is nearly worth admission alone. Attacking with slamming riffs and a hailstorm of diabolical guitar licks, this is a future classic of the genre. War mongering "Your Children Will Burn," meanwhile, mauls everything in its path with steamrolling grooves which sound like a raiding party formed by members of Entombed and Bolt Thrower. "Entering the Hall of the Slain" rips and tears with a ferocity that would make bands like Job for a Cowboy bow their poser heads in shame, while "Midsummer Solstice" is a death-y thrasher that recalls classic Chicago underdogs Usurper. "Home of the Brave" snakes through oceans of violence and blood with careening tremolo melodies and brawny riffs, the entire song capturing the entire Viking/Death metal movement in less than three minutes.
If today's "modern" (aka CORE) death bands seem like they are lacking in a certain level of legitimacy, there is a reason for that. Simply put, few bands old or new alike can top the killing spree Unleashed let forth with each new album. Hammer Battalion is no exception, so stop reading my praise and raid the local record store for a copy of this masterpiece. HAIL UNLEASHED!!!
Unleashed - Hammer Battalion 1. The Greatest of All Lies
2. Long Before Winter's Call
3. Your Children Will Burn
4. Hammer Battalion
5. This Day Belongs to Us
6. Marching Off to War
7. Entering the Hall of the Slain
8. Black Horizon
9. Carved in Stone
10. Warriors of Midgard
11. Midsummer Solstice
12. Home of the Brave
13. I Want You Dead
CD Info and Links
Unleashed - Hammer Battalion Rating:10.00
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