UNLEASHED

Hammer Battalion

SPV/ CD

The longships are coming? Yes! Johnny and his comrades are coming again, attacking without mercy, bringing of course the destruction, fury and the next witness of death metal supremacy in this hopeless world.

Remembering yet a previous stuff ,,Midvinterblot”, which has began a new chapter in the biography of the Swedes, namely a deal with SPV, probably many of you had the thoughts about the future of this band. Of course, a fear about the shape of music, which appears itself after every romance of mighty extreme band with the enormous label is every time something normal, but don’t think, that the old warriors like Johnny, Tomas, Fredrik and Anders could to betray their ideals and start to play a commercial shit. Absolutely no! Not only honor and tradition obligates the guys to creating the music, which was always their trade mark, but exactly a prominent place in the one of the giants of music industry. It’s any sense to ponder over the past, which has brought a few of points their discography, which should never happened, cause the quality of all albums recorded after amazing resurrection in the new millennium reflects everything, but who could to suppose, that leaving Century Media and joining to the circle of SPV bands, the new stuff of death metal Vikings will surpass all expectations of their admirers? Ha, ha!

The way started with ,,Midvinterblot”, having a continuation on actual work of brutality named with a charm ,,Hammer Battalion”, throws against the wall, puts the teeth out and crushes the skull like an egg. 13 anthems of total war, full of wildness, hate and uncompromising violence most certainly will satisfy every from fans of the horde from Kungsangen, because if I was already totally dizzied hearing only the first staves of opening the album ,,The Greatest Of All Lies” track, I mustn’t to explain what was later? Yeah! ,,Hammer Battalion” is not only full of characteristic and classical for this band fast rhythms, because the marching melodies (,,Your Children Will Burn”, ,,Marching Off To War”), mixed with a slow fragments (,,This Day Belongs To Me”), balancing those passages, takes a good prevention against the monotony. Who knows the previous UNLEASHED performances, probably knows these scheme too, but it’s hearable that like always prevails here the fast riffs, by which the head starts to bang itself already after the first notes. Unimportant, or goes exactly the title-track ,,Hammer Battalion”, ,,Warriors Of Midgard”, ,,Midsummer Solstice”, or finishing the whole of album ,,I Want You Dead” – all of them owns a strength, not only able to wake up from the torpor every of totally bored fop, but occasionally to hold a sword, rise up the battleaxe and together with Johnny and his warriors to take a part in the final encounter. Of course and like always, the powerful sound created by Fredrik’s hand in his own Chrome Studios, makes the whole of stuff not only distinctness, but even a more dangerous in comparison with the older productions. I don’t know too, how many of you will agree with me, but Johnny’s vocal, staying of course intelligible, presents itself a more venomous than on the last record.

So, if you want to feel a smell of war, sound of steel and taste of enemy’s blood, buy necessary this CD and simply join to the forces of Hammer Battalion. Valhalla awaits for the chosen, opening the portals for every heroes, who sacrifices their lives in the battle with all that false, fighting with neverending pride only for one – DEATH METAL VICTORY !!!

11/12