Unleashed - Across The Open Sea
Release: 1993Label: Century Media
AvNatten: Legions of berserkers raid the coast, the glimmering blade of an axe goes deep into flesh as it is swung. The village burns to the ground, no occupants have survived. The raiders go back to their longships with their newly acquired treasures and set sail back home across the open sea....
This is the mental image that is invoked while looking at the cover art of Unleashed's "Across The Open Sea". The dark tones and colors used within the painting which shows viking warriors in their longship sailing across the stormy sea, sets the pace and mood for the thundering and aggressive songs that lurk within the album.
Unleashed were formed in 1989 by vocalist Johnny Hedlund after the demise of his former band known as Nihilist. Fans caught onto their brand of Swedish death metal quickly. Demos where sold out fast and the end-result was a record deal with Century Media. After the release of the also legendary albums" Where No Life Dwells" and "Shadows In The Deep" Unleashed returned again in 1993 and brought forth "Across The Open Sea" to devastate our senses.
The album kicks off with 'To Asgaard We fly', it tears into you with its galloping guitar and Johnny's easily recognizable growl. The musicianship on this album is technical and pulverizing. Pace shifts are abound, the songs range from being catchy and groove oriented to being straight forward, fast and aggressive. The atmosphere is thick in the title track, the strings of an acoustic guitar are gracefully picked in a mesmerizing circle of notes that swirl about your head. You can almost feel the waves crashing and the coming storm gathering over your head, it is definitely the calm before the storm. The acoustic notes continue to play and you can feel the rise in them as the tension builds up and then breaks loose as 'In The Northern Sea' viciously rips from your speakers. During 'Execute Them All' when Hedlund spews forth the words from the song title you know he means it. He hates it all and he wants you dead, no questions no exceptions. The album closes with 'The General' a heavy, mid-paced intro that will have you nodding your head along breaks into frenzy only to slide into a groove filled break and then back to chaos.
"Across The Open Sea" marked the period in time when Unleashed started to put more themes in their songs that were based on Norse/Germanic tales and mythology. Their pride in their heritage and traditions paved the way for many acts to follow. Even 12 years later this album sounds fresh and has not been harmed by the test of time that so many other albums slip away into. Unleashed are the epitome of old school Swedish death. Time after time they will continue to deliver albums that are as ferocious as the hammer of Thor himself.
Unleashed
Johell: Well, to be honest this is an album missing in my Unleashed CD/vinyl collection. I just heard Unleashed's "Across The Open Sea" for the third time today, and before that maybe only once. Why did I skip that one? Well, that's a mystery.
The sound is good, and an Entombed-esque vibe is around the whole album. Tracks like 'To Asgaard We Fly', 'I Am God', 'The One Insane', 'Execute Them All' and the closing track of the album 'The General' are all very intense, the guitar sound is aggressive the drumming fast and Johnny Hedlund has a real good voice and his dictation is damn easy to understand. 'Open Wide' is louder, some doomy feeling lurks around as on 'Captured' filled with groovy parts of death and roll.
The title track is an instrumental track with acoustic guitar and keyboards, a calm interlude. 'In The Northern Sea' rocks, and 'Forever Goodbye' slashes severely. The cover version of Judas Priest's 'Breaking The Law' is fast, and cool to hear.
I think it's a good album and still really fresh, even though it's been around for 12 years. Swedish old school death metal with its very own sound and at its best.
Tordah: "Across The Open Sea" is the first and only Unleashed album that I've listened to. The music is straight-forward death metal and occasionally they reminded me of Amon Amarth. There are some cool riffs on this album but the album as a whole is quite standard in terms of song-writing. The same riff is often being played over and over again one too many times before it finally changes. It's okay for a couple of songs but when you realize that the album is basically following the same pattern it gets a bit tedious. And I can't understand why on earth they decided to put a cover of Judas Priest's 'Breaking The Law' on the album. The song doesn't fit at all on this album and should not be here. Not to mention the growls that are totally out of place on that track.
I wasn't impressed much by this album. A couple of good riffs and decent drumming is not enough to keep things interesting. "Across The Open Sea" lacks variation, originality and a good vocalist. You're better off listening to some other bands in the same genre.
Deek: This is one of those band and albums most would think I have heard... they would unfortunately be incorrect on that. Unleashed, though I've showed interest in hearing them, haven't found their way to my collection yet. "Across The Open Sea" is really my first full listen from them. Although it sounds weak in places, this is undeniably classic Swedish death metal. I love the acoustic work in 'Captured', and the Judas Priest cover of 'Breaking The Law' is definitely interesting. 'Open Wide' has a great melody, while 'In The Northern Sea' has probably the best overall sound of the album. It is a worthy album to be among the classics, I just need more of their albums that, over the years, were Unleashed (haha, pun, get it?)
Anders: Unleashed, just taste the word on your tongue, one of my favourite death metal bands of all times, there is no doubt about that. Since I fell across "Shadows In The Deep" many years ago, I have been 'banging my head to the Swedes mid-tempo death metal hell ever since. Only disappointed a bit by the hardcore influences on '97s "Warrior" and '03s "Hell's Unleashed" even though I still cherish those 2 albums a lot.
The 1993 album "Across The Open Sea" is probably the Unleashed album I used the longest to get into. It doesn't have the catching hymns in the same amount as the previous 2 albums. We have 'Execute Them All', 'Open Wide' and 'To Asgaard We Fly', but the rest of the tracks are more thought through, like the quite technical (in Unleashed framework) 'Captured' which offers a lot of great atmosphere together with being a real long lasting track. The epics 'In The Northern Lands' (which on my copy is wrongly named 'In The Northern Sea') and 'Forever Goodbye (2045)', both atmospheric and puts one back in time. The build up to these 2 tracks, the instrumental 'Across The Open Sea' which offers church organ and acoustic guitar is atmospheric and a bit eerie with an arcane feel, and it sets the perfect mood for the next couple of songs. Before we are torn out of the epic mindset, with the aggressive 'Execute Them All', where the christians are getting it straight to their face.
This is the album that changed the face of death metal, and opened for a new approach, writing and singing about Vikings and the strong Northern heritage, would there be an Amon Amarth today without Unleashed? I honestly don't think so.
The sound on this album seems a bit thin at times, especially during the epic tunes, where the driving rhythm from the guitars isn't present all the time. Still there's some punch behind and the instruments are divided well, and that's might be a part of the problem with the sound seeming thin. There are quite some space between the guitars, the bass and the drums with the vocals placed on top.
This is one of the most varied, if not the most varied Unleashed album, there are good straight ahead hymns, heavy death metal bashers and epic metal with tales about the mighty Vikings. For such a good place to start with Unleashed, the album is quite captivating and lasting. I have spent many full weeks with this album, if we have to count all my listens to it together, and I'm sure you will too, as soon as you get dragged into the world of Unleashed. And on top of it all, the Swedes has made a highly entertaining version of Judas Priest's all time classic 'Breaking The Law', you are not in doubt of you're listening to that exact track, and you're not in doubt of that it is Unleashed playing it, both criteria's of a successful cover version is made.
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