Unleashed - As Yggdrasil Trembles

Published March 22 2010

*=Staff's pick	Courage Today, Victory Tomorrow So It Begins As Yggdrasil Trembles* Wir Kapitulieren Niemals* This Time We Fight* Master Of The Ancient Art Chief Einherjar* Return Fire* Far Beyond Hell* Dead To Me Yahweh And The Chosen Ones* Cannibalistic Epidemic Continues

Genre	Death Metal	Johnny Hedlund	Vocals
Tracks	12	Tomas Måsgard	Guitar
Runningtime	45 Min.	Fredrik Folkare	Guitar
Label	Nuclear Blast	Johnny Hedlund	Bass
Release	19 March 2010	Anders Schultz	Drums
Country	Sweden	-	Keyboard
Similar artists	Dismember

Sweden's notoriety in regards to death metal should by this time be fairly well established. Stockholm's Unleashed hold their rightful place as one of the bands alongside Entombed, Grave and Dismember to first release some of the genre's finest records. Where No Life Dwells, Shadows In The Deep and Hammer Battalion are some of the band's finest releases and after starting out in 1991 the group is still active.

As Yggdrasil Trembles changes almost nothing in regards to Unleashed previous records - you still get the slightly punkish attack, coupled with the swarm-riffing and pedal to the floor quality death metal that at least I have gotten used to when listening to Unleashed.

But one of the things that really stand out is the fantastic guitar-work by Tomas Måsgard and Fredrik Folkare. There are som amazing solos on this record that when they come on make me feel a shiver of pleasure down my spine. "Wir Kapitulieren Niemals" for example has a absolutely haunting first solo that's played with such feeling that just kept me rewinding over and over again. The second one isn't bad either - played with speed and accuracy it is a good ending to one of the best songs on the album.

When it comes to the lyrics, Johnny Hedlund still favours to sing about war, battles, death, Odin and how despicable Christianity is and he does it in such a good way that at least I marvel. Hedlund's trademark rasp is really a thing to enjoy, mostly because it manages to sound aggressive and still you can hear what he is singing about.

If I have an objection to As Yggdrasil Trembles it would be that it sometimes sounds as if the band is plugging in the autopilot, but as Unleashed have reached such a high lowest level, As Yggdrasil Trembles is a good record - but not a great one.

See also review of: Odalheim , Hell's Unleashed

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
6	5	7	7	6

Summary
6 chalices of 10 - Martin