UMUR
"Dawn Of The Nine" is the 12th full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Unleashed. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in April 2015. It´s the successor to "Odalheim" from 2012. Unleashed was formed in 1989 after lead vocalist/bassist Johnny Hedlund was kicked out of Nihilist (who would soon morph into Entombed) and is widely regarded as one of the classic Swedish death metal acts from the early 90s.
The music on the album is old school Swedish death metal done the Unleashed way. Unleashed has always been one of the most distinct sounding artists on the Swedish death metal scene (and internationally) and they continue to be so on "Dawn Of The Nine". They play fairly simple death metal, with both galloping fast tempos, and crushingly heavy mid-paced tempos too. A couple of more doomy sections have also sneaked into the music. Although the tracks are generally to the point and vers/chorus structured, Unleashed successfully incorporate intricate details to keep the material interesting. The very well played and melodic guitar solos are one of the prime examples of that, but the lyrics (which is a combination of anti-Christian and Norse mythology/viking themes), and how they are performed by a fully intelligible growling Johnny Hedlund, are another great asset. These tunes are extremely catchy, almost anthemic in nature, and at times quite epic.
It´s almost unfair to mention specific highlights from the album as all tracks on the 10 track, 44:52 minutes long album, deserve a mention, but the title track, "Land Of The Thousand Lakes", "They Came to Die", and "Welcome The Son Of Thor!" could be mentioned, although I´m reluctant to do so, when "Dawn Of The Nine" is such a consistently high quality release.
12 albums into a music career, and you´ll hear a lot of stagnated artists, who are either a shadow of their former selfs, or just endlessly trying to copy their golden years. That´s definitely not the case with Unleashed though, who started out releasing a couple of Swedish death metal classics, had a minor drop in quality in the mid- to late 90s, but picked it up again, and has since delivered solid death metal releases on a string. "Dawn Of The Nine" continues that trend, and is another solid release by the band. It´s actually one of the better albums they´ve released, featuring memorable and cathy material, a well sounding production, and excellent musicianship. A high quality release on all parameters and a 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.