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September 7, 2008 |
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01. Blood Of Lies
02. This Is Our World Now
03. We Must Join With Him
04. Midvinterblot
05. In Victory Or Defeat
06. Triumph Of Genocide
07. The Avenger
08. Salvation For Mankind
09. Psycho Killer
10. The Witch
11. I Have Sworn Allegiance
12. Age Of The Warrior
13. New Dawn Rising
14. Loyalty And Pride
15. Valhalla Awaits
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If CANNIBAL CORPSE are indeed, as Metal pundits such as myself have claimed, "the AC/DC of Death Metal" delivering the goods via a tried 'n true formula guaranteed to satisfy the fans with each successive album that they release, then Stockholm Sweden's undying Viking horde UNLEASHED are undoubtedly the genre's MANOWAR; perennial stalwarts dedicated to - likewise - maintaining a certain true-to-form stylistic template, yet in my humble opinion at any rate unlike say, the musically rather conservatively minded CANNIBAL CORPSE who stick to their particular formula with unbending stringency, UNLEASHED in comparison always seem to manage to inject a certain anthemic, fist-pumping majesty into their work that has less to do with a quest for brain-jarring technicality and heavier-than-thou competitive musical ethics than it does with simply hoisting a few brews and enjoying a bloody good, dunderheaded, hair-windmilling good time! Add to that winning formula a - dare I say it - considerable degree of scowling, yet tongue-planted-firmly-in-cheek camp to the proceedings and the result is always a very refreshingly old-school Heavy Metal approach to both songwriting and conceptual aesthetics that never fails to plaster a grin across my face with each album that they - ahem - "unleash" upon us.
"Midvinterblot" is probably these guys' gazillionth release to date (actually their eighth), the band having been in mead-swilling, sword-swinging, village-burning existence for close to a couple of decades (wow...who'da thunk it!?!) now. Jumping ship from the big guns at Century Media for reasons known only to themselves and the label, the band (including founder Johnny Hedlund - bass, vox, Fredrik Folkare - guitars, Tomas Olsson - guitars, and Anders Schultz - drums) have made their new home with the smaller German crew at SPV, offering up a fresh collection of strong, infectious tracks bound to impress both new and old fans alike. As ever, lyrical topics are a mishmash of the ever-present Norse-themed tales UNLEASHED are famous for (ala spiritual brethren and countrymen AMON AMARTH) as well as nods to darker elements from the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, contemporary politics and war, man's inhumanity to man, man's inhumanity to Metalheads, and of course serial killing. After all what Death Metal album would be complete without at least a cursory mention of someone being disemboweled for the sheer, unadulterated joy of it!?!
And hey, who am I to argue? After all, as expounded upon in my opening word-salvo about two paragraphs up, the end result is a pretty damned impressive collection of songs if I do say so myself. I mean, who can argue with the blistering opening attack of "Blood Of Lies" with its vicious vocal onslaught and dazzling leadwork, let alone relentless anthem to Metal solidarity "This Is Our World Now" with its ominous riff and poseur-crushing, headbanging fury!?! No one that's who! But wait, there's more...the ponderous, sinister-riffed ode-to-Sauron of "We Must Join With Him", another hook-rife, and frankly quite brutally stirring anthem in the title track (destined to become a live fave with its begging-for-audience-participation chorus), the headbanging delight of "The Avenger", the bludgeoning "Age Of The Warrior", and the grey-steel glint of yet another grim anthem in closer "Valhalla Awaits". Just a great, great collection of songs indeed!
Musically the band smokes, playing to their considerable strengths in constructing songs which are both immediate and memorable in an old-school way, yet always brutally Death Metal to the core. Hedlund barks out his tales of misanthropic distaste for the world like a cross between a pissed off bear and a pitbull whose biker owners have given it too much wild turkey in the ol' drinking bowl, all the while maintaining his signature low-end, thunder-from-Asgard bass pulse. Folkare and Olsson trade off leads and riffs like the accomplished pros they are, keeping the overall tone of menace and mood of oncoming not-nice-things-looming-o'er-the-stormy-horizon alive whilst offering up an addictive cache of hook that allows songs to breathe with life and vitality. I've never been much of an afficianado of drumming aside from the obviously above-the-average caliber of such notables as Horgh (IMMORTAL, HYPOCRISY), Gene Hoglan (STRAPPING YOUNG LAD), Flo Mounier (CRYPTOPSY), Dave Lombardo (SLAYER), and Richard Christie (ex-ICED EARTH, ex-DEATH) to name but a few, so suffice to say that as little as my two cents on the matter, well...matter...skinsman Anders Schultz does a seemingly decent job of keepin' the beat and providing a thunderous backbone to this black-hearted Metal beast of an album.
Complaints? None really. Like I said, this thing smokes for the most part. If anything I guess I would say that 15 tracks seems a little excessive. Yeah I know...the thing still only clocks in at like 45+ minutes which, much like the porridge Goldilocks ate is just right...but nevertheless there is some filler here that could have been cut in lieu of say, extending or developing the existing quality tracks to a greater degree. Otherwise however consider this one worthy of two frosty, mail-clad Nordic thumbs pointed squarely up towards Odin's skies. Not quite the complete and total devastating masterpiece that AMON AMARTH's latest was and is, but damn it all if "Midvinterblot" isn't a very, VERY close second as Death/Viking Metal release of the year so far!!! Well worth picking up on your next raid down at the local CD store! Skaal!!!
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