Where No Life Dwells (+ Bonus) [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Unleashed | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 12, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Century Media
• ASIN: B000005HL2
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #99,374 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A unique and powerful album, February 2, 2010

By 

death metal and black metal "death metal and ... (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Where No Life Dwells (+ Bonus) (Audio CD)

Early Unleashed tried to take death metal somewhere it had not yet gone: pure, evocative, catchy rhythm that flowered late in song into a more complex structure (the definitive example is "Land of Ice" off of their second album, "Shadows in the Deep").

Like Asphyx and Malevolent Creation, Unleashed keep most of their songs circular in song structure, and later on burst out riffs that develop on the themes presented earlier. It's like coming to the top of a mountain and then seeing the valley below stretch before you.

As most of you probably know, the two original Swedish death metal bands were Carnage and Nihilist. From Nihilist came Entombed and Unleashed, reformed with new personnel; from Carnage came Dismember. Add Therion, At the Gates and Unleashed to that list, and you have the definitive Swedish death metal experience.

Unleashed remains unique in that their music has from a very early time attempted to be simple but melodically beautiful while rhythmically aggressive yet hookish, making it sound very much like what Vikings would sing as they rowed on to their next raid. Like those ancient warriors, this music is full of fond dreams of mayhem, slaughter and rapine, but puts them in a context of a natural cycle like the change of seasons.

The result is easy to listen to but takes some effort to really pull out all that's going on here because it's so stripped-down. They rarely use a single rhythm, encoding polyrhythms in their tremolo picking and internal counterpoint in drumming, and while you get carried away by the ocean-like rhythms, plenty goes on inside these deceptively simple songs. I recommend this to anyone who like death metal, but especially to fans of Asphyx and Sinister.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding example of death metal, ca. 1991, May 29, 2008

By 

Eric Prescott "Go vegan" (Brighton, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Where No Life Dwells (+ Bonus) (Audio CD)

I was just getting into death metal in 1991, thanks to a college radio show I hosted ("Ear Pain") and Century Media, a record label eager to send me promo copies of their bands' latest CDs.

I have to admit that I didn't really get death metal at first. It seemed to me how my thrash metal favorites must sound to the people who told me it was just noise, or that it all sounded the same. Then I heard Unleashed's Where No Life Dwells, and it clicked.

While a number of the tracks *do* sounds fairly similar, listening to death metal and black metal from throughout the 90s, this is one album that still stands out as being fairly musical, and even catchy. The songs that stand out for me over and over again are:

Where No Life Dwells (intro)
Dead Forever
For They Shall be Slain
Into Glory Ride
Violent Ecstasy

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I ENJOYED THIS CD., February 2, 2004

By 

Edgar Sanchez (los angeles, california United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Where No Life Dwells (+ Bonus) (Audio CD)

Most people may say that this is an average death cd.I thought it was pretty cool and the songs were pretty catchy.The band is not very fast or heavy but still delivers quality songs.Stand out tracks are before the creation of time and into glory ride.I would recommend this cd to anyone with an interest in the band or death in general.METAL RULES!!!