UNLEASHED: New Album Artwork, Track Listing Unveiled

Legendary Swedish viking/death masters UNLEASHED will release their new album, "Odalheim", on April 20 via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD was produced by Fredrik Folkare and recorded in at Chrome Studios in Sweden.

With "Odalheim", UNLEASHED not only presents the follow-up to "As Yggdrasil Trembles" in the year 2012, but also continues telling its post-doomsday story, embedded into the Norse mythology.

After the mighty world tree Yggdrasil had trembled and rung in the end of the world, Fimbul winter followed: Three years of darkness and coldness, during which Mother Nature took back what was rightfully hers. This caused the end of life as we know it. Ragnarök. But the warriors who've survived will build a new world out of the old one's ashes. Right here, the story of "Odalheim" begins.

Commented UNLEASHED bassist/vocalist Johnny Hedlund: "The artwork is made by Sebastian Ramstedt, just like our previous three albums. It shows the new world 'Odalheim' at the break of dawn at Birka shores, and just before the attack of White Christ. The concept of the album is taken from the book by the same name. A book I haven't yet had the time to complete."

"Odalheim" track listing:

01. Fimbulwinter
02. Odalheim
03. White Christ
04. The Hour Of Defeat
05. Gathering The Battalions
06. Vinland
07. Rise Of The Maya Warriors
08. By Celtic And British Shores
09. The Soil Of Our Fathers
10. Germania
11. The Great Battle Of Odalheim

Hedlund previously stated about "Odalheim": ""Anders [Schultz, drums] asked me if this might be the fastest UNLEASHED album to date. I'm not sure, but it's likely close anyhow."

UNLEASHED's most recent CD, "As Yggdrasil Trembles", sold around 600 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 85 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

"As Yggdrasil Trembles" was released on April 6, 2010 via Nuclear Blast Records. The CD was recorded at guitarist Fredrik Folkare's Chrome studio, and is "the logical continuation from 'Midvinterblot' [2006] and 'Hammer Battalion' [2008]," according to the group. "Lyrically, you will recognize what has become the UNLEASHED trademark since more than 20 years, the combination of the past, present and future of viking struggle and way of life. A few of the songs also mark the beginning of a story never before told."

UNLEASHED's current lineup:

Johnny Hedlund: Bass, Vocals
Tomas Måsgard: Guitar
Fredrik Folkare: Guitar
Anders Schultz: Drums