Album Review: Unleashed – Fire Upon Your Lands (Napalm Records)

Swedish death metal titans Unleashed deliver a relentless war cry with their highly anticipated 15th studio album, ‘Fire Upon Your Lands’, out on August 15, 2025, via Napalm Records. Continuing the story of No Sign of Life (2021), the new album focuses on telling stories of the World of Odalheim.

Old-school death metal with heavy flair and fantastical story-telling aspects, Unleashed return to remind everyone that they are icons of this particular style of extreme music and with that, bring addictive heaviness to welcome ears.

Kicking off with an epic head banger called Left for Dead, the extreme aspects of Unleashed are on garish display with raucous riffing, violent vocal expulsions, and hearty drumbeats. All wrapped around a story about the warriors of Midgard dealing with the captured son of White Christ. How awesome is that!?

Unleashed are only getting started though and fire off one of my personal favourite album tracks, A Toast to the Fallen next. A potent head banger with screaming solos that is a triumphant tribute to warriors lost in battle. Followed by the punchy power of The Road to Haifa Pier, one of the album’s more anthemic efforts, the outburst of death intensity that War Comes Again delivers, and the hostile title track. Unleashed’s focus is undeniable and its heartening to not hear them attempt to chase trends and ‘modernise’ their sound.

Don’t mistake that with a lack of freshness though, because Unleashed aren’t just giving us a rerun of greatest hits here. Rather, it’s a distillation of who they are, their experiences of being in a band for over 35-years, and their desire to keep on delivering crushing heavy freaking metal.

Which makes the following Loyal to the End, and its no-nonsense approach to brutality, an apt track to take the listener into the second half of the record. The guitar drum/combo is insane here, but the vocal delivery is daringly clever – near spoken word at times.

A kickass tune, but far from the last highlight. Not when the likes of Midjardarhaf, Hail the Varangians!, and To My Only Son deliver relentless heaviness and anthemic power. The latter of this trio is particularly noteworthy though thanks to its melo-death twist. Finally, and so satisfyingly, it’s the pairing of Hold Your Hammers High! And unknown Flag. The former lives up to its title as a mighty anthem worthy of the Thunder God himself. Whereas the latter wraps things up in epic, head banging and horn throwing fashion.

Unleashed are back, and doing mighty fine Unleashed things! Hail!

Unleashed – Fire Upon Your Lands Track Listing:

1. Left For Dead
2. A Toast to the Fallen
3. The Road to Haifa Pier
4. War Comes Again
5. Fire Upon Your Lands
6. Loyal to the End
7. Midjardarhaf
8. Hail the Varangians!
9. To My Only Son
10. Hold Your Hammers High!
11. Unknown Flag

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