I just got done listening to Unleashed's new album "Odalheim", and damn is it something! To be honest, I don't think anyone was particularly excited for this album, or really expected anything from it, especially after the band released a very mediocre and rather uninteresting album with 2010's "As Yggdrasil Trembles" (badass album cover and title aside!). I certainly wasn't in any rush to get it, after being so disappointed by it's predecessor. However, believe it or not, I would say that "Odalheim" is a very high contender for one of the best albums Unleashed has ever done (which is saying alot!!), and is definitely a future classic. For those that don't know, for this album Unleashed took their simple and tough, "galloping" approach to death metal, and fused it with black metal. In my opinion, it turned out beautifully. It took me quite a few listens to "get" the album, but I think I'm finally at the point where it's really starting to "grab me", and I've been playing it quite a bit over the past couple days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCHKN-gmzcM (This has become one of my favorite tracks)

I would say I like it almost as much as "Where No Life Dwells". While none of the songs are as iconic or as monstrous as pretty much that entire album was (no "Before the Creation of Time", "Into Glory Ride", or "Where Life Ends" on here), I feel that there is a greater sense of song-writing, whereas a handful of the songs on that album felt a bit similar too each other in my opinion (still a masterpiece though). Either way, it's great to see such an old band capable of releasing something so wonderful.

I agree, killer album and a welcome surprise really.

Last time I heard it, I thought it was another lifeless Unleashed album. Definitely disagreed with all the positive reviews up on the album page. Maybe I just heard bad songs from it... all 6 bad songs, but then again it's maybe just me.

White Christ is fucking awesome, Odalheim was one of my top 10 for 2012. Unleashed definetly seem like a band that gains creative momentum as opposed to letting it all out at the start.

I have all their albums, yet this one has made zero impact on me. I'd be hard pressed to remember anything from it. Will still give it a few more listens though and see what happens.

I think it is riffy and the songwriting is pretty good. I found myself head banging and growling along with multiple tracks. The solos were fucking awesome too. It was one of the better death metal releases in 2012. I would have it in my top 15 or 20.

I fucking love it lots of great riffs, improved solo work, and the tempo of the album totally improves on the prior album and Hammer Battalion. Every song is of perfect length not staying too long enough just enough to kick your ass, and the main improvement was just the riffs and solos galore on the album. It's probably their best album out of their newer material and it easily killed the newest Cannibal Corpse, Terrorizer, Sinister, and Asphyx albums, I'd go so far as to call it one of the best dm albums of 2012.

Listened to it once. Sounds like standard Unleashed. If it has substance I didn't notice yet.

i'm yet to hear it but i expect it'll sound like most other unleashed, good, but nothing new or exciting.
next time it comes up secondhand i'll grab a copy, i'm definitely a fan of unleashed!

It wasn't necessarily bad, but it most certainly bored me to tears. But then again, I was never much of an Unleashed fan to begin with

Its pretty much the same as the last 4 albums, maybe a bit more brutal, i prefer Midvinterblot out of their later albums.

At one time Unleashed were one of my favourite death metal bands after first hearing them on the "In the Eyes of Death" cd. I followed them up until "Victory" but by that stage I had began to loose interest in them. "Shadows in the Deep" is still my favourite but what came after just was not on par with this release imo and I slowly forgot all about them! Interesting to read the comments about their latest album, might respark abit of interest in me so I will check this out.

I agree that Midvinterblot is good album as well, but I don't understand how Odalheim sounds like it or any of the previous four albums? To me there is a very clear difference between this one and "As Yggdrasil Trembles" and "Midvinterblot" (I don't own/haven't heard "Sworn Allegiance" or "Hammer Battalion" yet so I won't comment on them).

i listen to Midvinterblot the most often out of the cds of theirs i have here

Meh. Not a favorite of mine.

im still listening to it, but it sounds pretty good. I only heard the previous album and it seemed pretty repetitive, they would often just play parts of the song over and over, it seemed like...