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Unleashed - Where No Life Dwells 

The most juvenile way to fire someone from a band is to decide to break up the band, and then reform it a few days later with all but the member you wanted to kick out. This is the way it was done when I was in high school, and my friends were hardly the inventors of such a practice, as this was the fate that befell a young and chubby faced Johnny Hedlund (at the time of the band Nihilist, one of Sweden’s formative death metal bands). When they broke up and then reformed as Entombed a week later, it was a bit of a slap in the face to John, but he’s done quite well for himself since then, and at least maintained an image and track record a bit more respectable than his former band mates (other than being accused of the usual facist sympathies that most metal lifers are).

Unleashed became the new moniker under which Hedlund operated and after a couple of demo and 7″ releases, a contract to Century Media was signed, and Where No Life Dwells was subsequently recorded and issued. Hedlund hereby marked himself as one of the most vicious death grunters in the business (that being the business of death metal), kicking off the beginning of the violent Dead Forever with an unearthly growl. The rest of the song lives up to that initial bark, forgoing the technical flim-flam that Entombed was already sinking into, in favor of just cracking your skull open. Unleashed, keep it dark, murky, and brutal, without any of the guitar-center showmanship that many other bands of the day found themselves stinking of. When the mosh part of Dead Forever happens (one of the greatest death metal moments ever I might add), its’ simplicity is stunning. It’s as direct and unhindered as these sort of things can be. All crush on your ears and your spirits. Dense and hopeless, shit-feeling.

The rest of the album essentially follows the template the opener has set forth. C-tuned chugging and rumbling, simple tremolo combinations on the frets, and hoarse, unearthly gurgling vocals. The directness and brutality remain too, with most songs running under 4 minutes, and none breaking 5. While that may not be too weird to an outsider, it’s kind of unusual for a death metal album. The whole thing seems to be designed to be listenable and rewarding, with each song using just the riffs it needs to get to you, and only using them as much as they’re needed. This sort of economical construction is rare in this genre, and as such, more appreciated by me. The sound of the album keeps the guitars free of bumble-bee buzzing excess, and typewriter derived bass drum clicking, which helps to emphasize the songs themselves and bring the listener more of the cold, painful satisfaction that death metal exists for. If you’re slow on the come up, this is one of the best.