Review of Odalheim by Unleashed

1. Fimbulwinter

2. Odalheim

3. White Christ

4. The Hour Of Defeat

5. Gathering The Battalions

6. Vinland

7. Rise Of The Maya Warriors

8. By Celtic And British Shores

9. The Soil Of Our Father

10. Germania

11. The Great Battle Of Odalheim

“With "Odalheim", Swedish death metal pioneers UNLEASHED not only present the successor of "As Yggdrasil Trembles" in the year 2012, but also continue telling their post-doomsday story, of course embedded into the Norse mythology.

After the mighty world tree Yggdrasil had trembled and rung in the end of the world, Fimbul winter followed: Three years of darkness and coldness, during which Mother Nature took back what was rightfully hers. This caused the end of life as we know it. Ragnarök. But the warriors who've survived will build a new world out of the old one's ashes. Right here, the story of "Odalheim" begins.”

This album was a great break from the reviews I’ve been doing as of late. I’ve not had the chance to review a true black metal band and this was just what I needed. Coming off of seeing Behemoth and Waitain on Tuesday, Unleashed’s Odalheim kept this week a musically dark week for me. The first track Fimbulwinter was a nice tone setter with its fast dark riffs. I liked the slower riff with vocals it was very demonic sounding, the solo was good too. The title track is great, when this song slows down, the solo sounds really dark and eerie and its bone chilling. The next song, White Christ, had a bass riff to start off the song and the guitar coming in to accompany it which was a nice way to start the song. The acoustic intro of The Hour Of Defeat is great, giving a break in between the intensity of Unleashed and I liked the dark but chuggy riffs in this song. Gathering The Battalions comes next, with fast drums along with eerie riffs. I enjoyed when everything slows down for the solo, it makes everything so dark sounding. Vinland is probably one of my favourites off this album. The intro was great with the bass strumming over ambient noise that lead into acoustic, which brought the song in. The main riff in this song is really catchy and the solo along with the fast riff sounds so evil. Next up we have Rise Of The Maya Warriors, another favourite. The chugging of this song over top of the really black riffs are intense and the solo and the riff and drum over top of it is a great mix, making this song epic for me. There is another acoustic intro on By Celtic And British Shore, which is then followed up by fast pounding and evil everything the whole way through. The Soil Of Our Fathers is introduced with an acoustic again, but this one is different because it meshes and turns into electric. The chugging dark riff at the start is amazing and it turns into a nice and heavy riff which is then greeted with a nice solo. Another acoustic intro starts Germania off, thankfully the last acoustic intro. This song is fast, dark, and eerie the whole way through and the solo on this is one of the eeriest on the album when it starts. The Great Battle Of Odalheim is a good track to have at the end of the album with a nice mix of fast dark riffs and slower demonic chugging as well as having an awesome solo in it. The last minute and a half is just the guitars ringing out and an eerie ambience in the background, it ends on a very goose bump inducing acoustic bit.

Unleashed has made a masterpiece with Odalheim as they tear at your ears with their speed and aggression, making you tingle with their dark feel. You should definitely check this album out if you like black metal!