UNLEASHED — No sign Of Life (review)

UNLEASHED — No sign Of Life album cover Album · 2021 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"No sign Of Life" is the 14th full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Unleashed. The album was released through Napalm Records in November 2021. It´s the successor to "The Hunt For White Christ" from 2018.

Stylistically you get exactly what you expect from an Unleashed album. Energetic and relatively simple structured old school death metal with predominantly Scandinavian mythology/viking/anti-christianity lyrical themes. The band are as well playing as ever and the material is catchy, effective, and powerful, but if I have to mention one change from the last couple of releases, it´s Johnny Hedlund´s vocal style, which has changed a little bit from his usual snarling aggresive growling towards a slightly more throaty shouting/semi-growling vocal style. It reminds me of how he sounded on some of the less interesting mid-90s releases by the band, and that´s not a positive in my book. It´s a highly subjective opinion though and despite of how I feel about the vocals, they are arguably both powerful and well performed, and I´m sure most listeners won´t have the slightest problem enjoying them.

As usual I have to give lead guitarist Fredrik Folkare a special mention for his contributions. Once again he proves how important he is for Unleashed adding texture, harmony, melody, and some incredibly well played guitar solos to the music, making what could otherwise have been just pretty simple death metal so much more. Just as an example try and listen to what he does on a track like "You Are the Warrior!". But it´s the same on all tracks. If you removed his playing from the album, it would not be nearly as interesting or varied a listening experience.

"No sign Of Life" features a raw, powerful, and detailed sound production, which suits the material well, and upon conclusion Unleashed have done it again...and have released another high quality death metal album. I won´t let my bias towards the vocal style affect my rating and therefore a 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.
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UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I agree. It´s a step down from the last couple of releases, but on the other hand it´s still a pretty strong album and I enjoy listening to it.
Nightfly wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Another great album from Unleashed but not quite as good as the last one to my ears.

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