Unleashed bio

Johnny - bass, vocals Tomas - guitar Fredrik - guitar Anders - drums

One of Sweden's death metal forefathers, UNLEASHED return with their seventh lead-heavy, groove-oriented death metal release, entitled Sworn Allegiance. 15 years after their formation, the band still delivers a one-two punch, and where many bands lighten over time UNLEASHED continuously deliver concrete-breaking hammer-blows. The traditional line-up: Johnny (bass & vocals), Fredrik (lead guitar), Tomas (rhythm guitar) and Anders (drums) return to lead their loyal army of fans once again to battle. Formed by Johnny in 1989 from the ashes of short-lived legendary act Nihilist, who upon his departure became Entombed, UNLEASHED have released some of death metal's most influential albums, notably Where No Life Dwells and Shadows In The Deep. After breaking the band's five-year silence with 2002's Hell's Unlashed, they have returned with an intense album. Sworn Allegiance fuses together into a devastating whole - the onslaught of crushing riffs, violent solos, hard-hitting drums, and uncompromisingly aggressive lyrics. Solidly grounded in massive production the album was mixed by Fredrik Folkare at Chrome Studios and mastered by Peter In de Betou from Tailor Maid Productions (Dimmu Borgir, Amon Amarth).
Commencing with "Winterland"'s raw savageness Unleashed pulverizes the listener with a sordid display of unrelenting double-bass, chugging guitar riffs and intoxicatingly growling vocals. Lord Of The Rings inspired "Destruction (Of The Race Of Men)" introduces a menacingly galloping guitar gait designed to drive the Orcs and dark lords of Middle Earth. Nothing compares to the sinister hell rock cadence booming through "Only The Dead," a morbidly bombastic mantra. Feedback leads into the classic groovy mid-tempoed neck-breaker "The Longships Are Coming." The song deals with the band's favorite topic, ancient Viking godfathers, Hedlund explains the legend from which the song is based, "Lindisfame is said to be the first evidence of a Viking attack in the year 793. One can only imagine what it must have been like for the monks in the monastery when they realized what was coming their way. Praying to God for help didn't help much…" Unrelentingly the album carries on with its Norse and pagan themes. The pace of the album picks up launching the listener into a flurry of battle-raging fists. Melodic and devil-inspired guitar solos standout amongst UNLEASHED's strong six-string rhythms.
Continuously dominating audiences live over their 15-year career UNLEASHED have shared the stage with metal's elite: Morbid Angel, Death, Entombed, Cannibal Corpse, and At The Gates. In anticipation of Sworn Allegiance the band are already booked to headline Germany's arguably heaviest festival Party San Open Air August 2004.
This is a call to arms, a reminder that you are a brother in this metal war, you have Sworn Allegiance