Customer Reviews

Hammer Battalion

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Good Death Metal on these days is a rare thing, for us fans of the old school. The great bands either are already done or living of past glories. Surprisingly, the last 2 years have brought us really good albums, among them "Hammer Battalion". To listen this crushing themes is like going back to 1992. Guitars here are the big stars, and the guys did a really good work on the writng of the songs. The solos and riffs are neck-breaking and Johnny is in top form with his vocals.... very, very high quality stuff. If you liked Shadows In The Deep & Across Open Sea, you're gonna enjoy this. Dearly. Not for the tender hearted.

Just a quick, smash-mouth performance by the "Warriors." From the opening scream , through the awesome drums to the final killer riff, this is a must-have for fans of true death metal.
I saw these guys live a month ago, and whether its live imitating recorded performance, or vice versa, these guys are awesome.
I also recommend Midvinterblot, their previous release too.

This record is a blast from beginning riff till end. This wasa my gateway album into their entire catalog. Great record! I have had it for months and it has never tired.

I am new to this band, so I am now wondering where I was when these butt-kickers passed under my radar without being detected. Anyway, it is never too late to consume some good music, and this release absolutely is one of the greatest guitar-oriented metal albums I have ever listened to. So yes, where was I?

In few words, the riffs here are very thrashy, and there's also a lot of tremolo picking lines, which are very black/death-like. The playing is tight and with plenty of attitude. The solos are toneful, tasteful and melodic; and the exotic phrasing brings Marty Friedman to mind, though these guys definitively have a "rawer" touch. The opener track "The Greatest of All Lies" makes an entry statement and then the rest of the album follows with aggression and solid musicianship, without disappointing one single second. I absolutely love this thing!

I equally like these guys are very good with their instruments, but avoid the self-indulgent wanking that is so typical of technical or prog death metal bands. This is as raw, old-school and thrashy as a death metal album with melodic sparks should be. And by the way, I am not very sure this even classifies as "pure" death metal, in spite of the deep growls, because the lyrics are not very typical of the genre.

Anyhow, what matter most is that the songs are well-structured and even a tad "mysterious", thanks to that "charm" only a few chosen ones are able to deploy -early Annihilator comes to mind, as well as Carcass.

So guys, I want to invite all true metal fans around to give a try to this album. I will absolutely be getting more Unleashed my side, and might even review a couple of more albums of theirs in the near future. As of for this one, it is a five star metal release from head to tail. Go buy it now. I am sure you will thank me later!

Since the early 90s, I've been listening to Obituary, Morbid Angel, Immolation, Death, Entombed, Grave, etc... I never really got into Unleashed, though -- their music never clicked for me.

Fast forward to 2008 -- I see Unleashed in concert for the first time, opening for Obituary. I was ready for some solid Swedish death metal, but as a jaded old metalhead, I was not exactly expecting to get blown away. Well, what I saw was a band really on top of their game -- full-blast energy with quality songwriting to back it up.

I eventually picked up the CD and was impressed all over again -- this is a solid album all the way through. Every song on here is memorable and brutal. My favorite is probably "Warriors of Midgard", with thrashy verses and guitar-driven bridges melting seamlessly into the dissonant chorus.

I'd put this CD in the "Unexpected masterpieces from classic bands" category for this decade, along with albums like Immolation "Unholy Cult" and Celtic Frost's "Monotheist". I consider this to be "Metal album of the year" for 2008.

unleashed has outdone and outlasted in the viking metal world with this album songs like black horizon and hall of the slain are legendary ben