Unleashed: Midgard Warriors For Life
Epic stories are great, aren’t they? Whether they’re massively expensive Lord Of The Rings-style blockbuster movies, or longwinded, multi-book fantasy novels, sometimes it’s really rewarding to get lost in a story that requires a major commitment to finish. And you have to admire the ambition that brings them to life. Creating a vast world with its own rich mythology isn’t exactly something you can do in a weekend. These things take time and devotion. It’s something that Swedish death metal veterans UNLEASHED know only too well.
Their latest album No Sign Of Life, is the fifth chapter in an ongoing story known as The World Of Odalheim. This massive, multi-record saga began in 2010 on the As Yggdrasil Trembles album. Based on an as-yet unfinished novel written by frontman Johnny Hedlund, it’s a stirring tale of a post-apocalyptic Viking world, where the Midgard Warriors battle the armies of The White Christ. It’s a globe-trotting adventure full of blood and horror, but also heroism and sacrifice where Viking traditions struggle to survive in a world of chaos. It’s the most ambitious project they’ve ever undertaken and makes regular concept albums look like wimps.
No Sign Of Life picks up the story where 2018’s The Hunt For White Christ left off. The armies of the White Christ have been driven from Svithoid (the Odalheim equivalent of Sweden) and the Nordic territories. The battle continues down into the south, most of this part taking place in the deserts of the Sinai Peninsula. Don’t be fooled by the fact the last two songs are called It Is Finished and Here At The End Of The World, this is not the climactic chapter.
“In the final stages of this album, White Christ is captured and nailed to the cross and interrogated by the son of Thor,” Johnny tells us. “White Christ asks his slave/master why he has forsaken him. His thought is nothing else than ‘it is finished’ as he realises this is not going to end well for him. Here At The End Of The World is the more detailed content of the actual interrogation. The son of Thor and his Midgard Warriors need an answer as to what all this was for, the atrocities in Svithiod and what policy is behind all this. It is not the end of the storyline though.”
Eleven years is a long time to spend on a single story, but Johnny seems remarkably humble about how his creation is turning out. When asked whether he expected to keep it going this far when he first came up with the idea, he simply replies, “ah not really. In fact, I did not even know if the band members would think it was worth pursuing. But it seems it is working out very well and again, we shall see where it ends.”
No Sign Of Life inevitably is an evocative work. Close your eyes while playing it and it’s easy to imagine a violent world where towering figures swing axes into one another and villages are razed by rampaging war parties. The only sad news is that while fans may long for the day they can get lost in the pages of the novel as the album rages in the background, it looks about as far off as the next A Song Of Ice And Fire book. “I fear I will not have the time to finish it anytime near soon. My guess is that the project was a bit too vast from the beginning. Although you never know. I am now aiming for a totally different type of book and it will see the light of day. It is another project I have been working on for some time now and it involves similar topics but on a more serious level. We shall see…”
Even if we never get to see the literary version, The World Of Odalheim now exists in five gloriously brutal, old school death metal albums. And with thirty years under their collective belts, Johnny’s got no intention of calling time on UNLEASHED any day soon. The world has changed since they started out, but the passion remains.
“Some things are just the same. Others have changed like the digital revolution of course. Marketing and recording etc is just a lot easier now. On the other hand, the competition is bigger since there are many, many more bands out there now. The general feeling of being on a show and banging heads together with warriors all over the world is the exact same and I am very happy it is. The incentive to get inspired enough to make a new album every other year is also the same and so that’s good too.”
Even if you pay no attention to the ongoing adventures of the Midgard warriors, Johnny’s description of it as “a classic Viking death metal album with crushing and memorable songs,” couldn’t be more spot-on. It’s a fast and aggressive record, designed to induce headbanging from start to finish and it absolutely succeeds. No Sign Of Life has a depth that is easy to get lost in, but it works just as well as a collection of on-point metal songs you can throw the horns to.
And the one piece of advice he’d give to his younger self? As straight to the point as an arrow to a Saxon King’s eye: “Get your degree in business and finance a lot earlier dude!”
No Sign Of Life is out now via Napalm Records.
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