UNLEASHED - No Sign Of Life LP (Black Vinyl)

With 14 albums now under their belts, this berserker quartet has staked out territory all too familiar on their latest entry, which is aptly dubbed No Sign Of Life. Still drawing heavily from the rustic, thrash-based, and simplified songwriting approach that defined their sound from the beginning, with maybe some occasional echoes of their brief flirtation with a more hardcore/death ‘n’ roll sound in the later 90s, the resulting sound has all the makings of an overt throwback. However, in contrast to a number of retro-old school bands after the mold of Gruesome and Skeletal Remains, the production quality does not seek to revert back into a lower-fidelity character indicative of the early 90s, and the riffing approach brought to the table by guitarists Tomas Olsson and Fredrik Folkare often exhibits a shimmering melodeath quality, though the tonality of the note-groupings is more dissonant and chaotic. Likewise, the fierce kit work of co-founder Anders Schultz proves a bit flashier and more versatile than a typical Gothenburg entry, while Hedlund’s mid-ranged barks and shouts have a clear late 80s Florida tinge to them, almost like a slightly deeper rendition of John Tardy.