Aside from wine, what else gets better with age? Try Sweden's UNLEASHED. Sure, they're still utilizing their tried and true Death Metal formula, but "Hammer Battalion" is aged to pounding perfection. Ripping right open with "The Greatest Of All Lies", UNLEASHED seems to have easily surpassed the brilliant bite of 2006's "Midvinterblot". Twice as angry and twice as fast as anything the band has released before, this song barely lets the listener breathe before the second skull splitting track, "Long Before Winter's Call", knocks 'em off their feet. Vocalist/bassist Johnny Hedlund is in top form with the most snarl he's ever served up on an album; drummer Anders Schultz gives a career defining performance and the twin guitar attacks from Tomas Måsgard and Fredrik Folkare deliver a Category 5 riff-fest.

The riveting riffs and bellicose beats slow for a few brief minutes with the grinding "Your Children Will Burn" before the ultimate Metalhead call to arms comes in the form of the hell bent title track, "Hammer Battalion". The battering continues with the combative "Marching Off To War" before UNLEASHED get lethally sentimental with "Enter The Hall Of The Slain", and things get creative with "Black Horizons" as the song's theme continues in the hauntingly melodic "Carved In Stone". "Warriors Of Midgard" finds UNLEASHED perfectly melding brutality with melody and several tempo changes, and "Midsummer Solstice" seems to be the speedier companion to the previous Viking celebration song. This beast of an album closes expertly with "I Want You Dead", a pure Swedish Death Metal burner that gives a mighty middle finger to all those who oppose and disrespect all things Metal.

One thing is clear: UNLEASHED have been on one hell of a roll since 2004's "Sworn Allegiance". Each album gets better, and it's hard to believe next year will be UNLEASHED's twentieth anniversary. Usually when bands get 20 years deep, they either lose steam or start treading water. However, UNLEASHED is raging on and shows no sign of slowing, let alone sign of their age. And whether Johnny is screaming about Vikings, Metalheads, religion or political and social nonsense, UNLEASHED never loses focus. Rather, they pick their lyrical targets and bomb them with an unapologetic payload of top shelf Swedish Death Metal.

"Hammer Battalion" makes you forget that GRAVE and DISMEMBER have released awesome albums this year because this album is just that much more awesome. There isn't a dull track on the disc and the album doesn't get old with repeat listens. UNLEASHED haven't been this spot on since "Shadows In The Deep", nor have they ever been this heavy, this inspired, this focused or this fast. No self-respecting fan of Swedish Death Metal should be without this album. There really is no other way to say it: "Hammer Battalion" is UNLEASHED's best.