UMUR
"Century Media Promo Tape" is a promo cassette tape (and the band´s third demo) by Swedish death metal act Unleashed. The promo was released through Century Media Records in late 1990 and it was only used for promotional purposes. It was never an item sold by Century Media Records. Unleashed was given the opportunity by Century Media Records to travel to Nobel Studios, Bielefeld, Germany and record this promo. Lead vocalist/guitarist Robert Sennebäck left Unleashed after the release of the October 1990 "....Revenge" demo to return to Dismember, and bassist Johnny Hedlund took up the lead vocal duties in addition to playing bass, and the label wanted to hear how Hedlund did before letting the band loose in the studio to record their debut album.
Unleashed recorded a total of seven tracks during the sessions. Five of those tracks appear on this promo, while the two remaining unmixed tracks can be found on reissues of "Where No Life Dwells" (the band´s 1991 debut full-length studio album). Three of the tracks had appeared on the two previous demo releases ("The Dark One", "Unleashed", and "Where Life Ends"), but appear here in different re-recorded versions.
If Century Media Records had any doubts about Hedlund fronting Unleashed and delivering the growling goods, Hedlund more than proves his worth on this release. His vocals are much more potent and unique than Sennebäck´s ever were, and the material, the performances, and the sound production on this release are generally leagues above the preceding demo recordings. It´s too bad they didn´t release this as an EP back then (although two of the tracks would be released on the March 1991 "And the Laughter Has Died...." EP), because it´s through and through a quality old school Swedish death metal release, and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.