Album Review: Unleashed - Fire Upon Your Lands
Reviewed by Sam Jones
Whenever I hear a new Unleashed record is on the horizon I’m always giddy with excitement; this is a band who, I feel, are simultaneously celebrated and underrated. A new Unleashed album is always a great and joyous time because the band’s quality has barely deteriorated over the decades. Formed in 1989 out of Stockholm, Sweden, Unleashed are credited amongst the progenitors of including Viking/Scandinavian mythology within their death metal and are revered as one of Sweden’s biggest bands alongside Dismember and Grave. Their first record, 1991’s Where No Life Dwells, is considered a classic and with each succeeding release, Unleashed’s renown has only grown and cemented with time. The last fifteen years have been most fortuitous for the band which brings us along now to Fire Upon Your Lands, the band’s fifteenth full length work, set for an August 15th release date. Working alongside Napalm Records for their third album on the run, I was raring to dive in to see what Unleashed had cooked up for us. The band have enjoyed a remarkably stable lineup which I think has always been a secret reason per their success. Quality must be consistent across a career and for that reason I was stoked to see what Fire Upon Your Lands would offer.
Like their recent album releases, Unleashed continue employing a more polished rendition of death metal. Against their contemporaries Unleashed are comfortable with writing death metal that can be easily followed and thus as easily enjoyed, especially since they, and we, know the production chosen isn’t about to hinder their capacity to convey their performance. Moreover this is how Unleashed lately haven’t been going out of their way to write and record the most brutal or blistering work of metal you’ll have heard all year, but they are trying to write death metal that’s easy to get on board with. Listening to an Unleashed record, whether now or in 1991, was never some arduous task the audience had to overcome; the band have always strived to convey death metal without having to resort to filthier forms of production. If anything can be said about Unleashed’s modern catalogue, its that anyone can join in at any time regardless what extremity of metal they’re engaged in right now. In this manner, Fire Upon Your Lands is a great, accessible record for newcomers to extreme metal given the band’s openness towards smoother, cleaner soundscapes. The riffs possess a crunch that a grimier sound would weaken; the vocals are grounded and demonstrate little if any tweaking of their performance during the mixing.
Though Unleashed do exhibit techniques indicative of extreme metal e.g. blast beats, growling vocals etc, we need to appreciate how much fat they remove from their songwriting. Most tracks here are around three minutes in length, ensuring audiences that Unleashed do indeed get to the crux of their track quickly and with fewer meandering routes on their way there. Doing so the band aid themselves by helping audiences enjoy themselves knowing they don’t need to sit through a minute or two of more nuanced songwriting, of thematic discourse. Unleashed aren’t that kind of band and i respect that after approaching forty years of activity they still maintain this simplified approach to songwriting without dumbing it down. It needs to be iterated firmly; simplicity does not equal complacency. One will take away from this record a sense of deep fun, light-hearted revelry, knowing the record they just experienced was a damn good time and nothing more. Other bands might digress something more layered and introspective but Unleashed aren’t here for that. Its simply about providing material that’s going to make your day just that little better than it was before tuning in to this album and, with each track given a digestible runtime, it just makes that consumption all the easier knowing we aren’t called upon to swallow huge bites at a time.
We've established Unleashed, across this record, continue their ideal of a fun, rollicking time, but we remember the band do this whilst delivering a churning power that rolls and flattens us. The guitar work manages to encapsulate everything that embodies Unleashed’s sound as it brings forth these chunky sequences that will have you chewing on them long after they’re done; you also have more intricate sections that the soloing helps bring to life where their performance details the more controlled, disciplined side to their songwriting. Looking back, one can’t describe Unleashed as a band who just spray notes this way and that, hoping something sticks; it's simply too methodically planned out and written for that to be truth. With every succeeding track there’s at least one section that will grab you by the throat and thus imprint itself upon your memory; it might be something totally left-field you weren’t anticipating or, in fact, the complete opposite. Fire Upon Your Lands might not be the heaviest record you’ll experience this year but you can be assured you’ll keep turning your head back, just ever so slightly, to this record, simply knowing it's there, waiting for you once more.
Can a metal be cosy? Because that’s certainly how I'd describe my experience with Fire Upon Your Lands. When you put this record there feels to be no expectation of how you shoul be or feel when everything is firing at you. When this record picks up momentum, even during its most frantic, racing instances you never feel as if the band are having to rush you along to infer some dramatic sense of pace. Its almost a fireside listening experience where late at night you could be snuggled in for bed and pop this album on for some end of the day relaxation, yet this is a death metal record and though we recognise the strength conveyed its not like the band expect anything in return. It helps the record go beyond simply being deeply enjoyable, which it is, and takes us into a realm where everything just feels good and right without us needing to explain it. Its simply a good vibe that Unleashed champion, particularly because, as aforementioned, they don’t espy to be the most crushing act this year, but people will always come back to bands who help them feel good or better than they were previously. It’s easier death metal to listen to and enjoy and that’s not necessarily a negative.
In conclusion, Fire Upon Your Lands sees Unleashed doing what Unleashed have been doing for the last decade: write great sounding metal that’s extremely easy for us to follow along to and have fun with. You'll discover many, many bands, some of them Swedish themselves, who may undergo more complex themes or songwriting possessing more twists to it, but Unleashed’s prerogative has been plain enjoyment from the word go. I think as a whole album it succeeds greatly for you’ll feel much better come its end knowing you can dive in and out of this record however you choose; Unleashed seemingly place no limiter or specific spot upon where you can start this record thereby giving you total agency over its course. I respect that its an album that just tries to be an album; it doesn’t attempt to put forth some higher philosophy nor some lofty message embedded within the lyrics or tone, it simply wants to be a great record you can stick on whenever you wish, whenever its needed. Given the immense ease of listening too you could, if you so chose, listen to this front to back several times over and I doubt Fire Upon Your Lands would grow tiring to enjoy. You’ll look back on it and think “That was time well spent”. No band could ask for more. Recommended with a beer in hand.
