Unleashed
Where No Life Dwells
[Century Media]


I'm a fairly recent convert to the post 80s world of death metal - the lack of good material coming out of the black metal community in the last couple of years has driven me to looking back at all those bands I had dismissed the first time around as simply being Morbid Angel/ Deicide/Cannibal Corpse clones, and while I still hold the belief that a good 80-90% of all modern/brutal death metal is complete and utter shit, there are always exceptions to the rule, and Unleashed are one of them.

I can't pinpoint exactly what it is about Unleashed that I like so much, but they have a certain something which raises them above the rest of their ilk (IMHO). Perhaps it's the choppy triplet based rhythms, perhaps it's the coherent (relatively speaking) mid-range vocals and their "controlled" hoarseness, perhaps it their choosing to deal with viking mythos and not the usual gore material - whatever it is, Unleashed have managed to impress me with each of their releases (the possible exception being "Warrior", but then again, I haven't really given that album enough listens to really make up my mind on it). "Where No Life Dwells" is the 1st Unleashed CD, and while it isn't as (cliche time) "majestic" as their second and third albums, it's still a high quality slab of Swedish death metal. The pace is generally mid to quick paced (nothing too slow, but nothing too obnoxiously fast either) with a lot of catchy rhythm changes - the drumming on this album (as is on all of their CDs) is exceptional... Anders might not be the fastest or the most technically proficient drummer in the world, but he knows what beat to play where and doesn't resort to showcasing (something I can appreciate). The production here is also quite good - when this was first released, I can remember thinking it sounded a bit too sterile and clean (in comparison to the usual Entombed-style production jobs), but it seems that an understated production has helped this stand the test of time better than most...each of the instrument really stand out on their own - none of that "big fuzzy wall of noise" that became so popular. There's nothing to find fault with on "Where No Life Dwells" - the playing is great, the production is great, the song writing is great ...what more could one ask for ? Head down to your local CD shop and pick this up (and while you're there, you might as well pick up "Shadows In The Deep" and "Across The Open Seas", their pivotal 2nd and 3rd albums)...


© 1999 chorazaim