Hi! Would you quickly introduce your band to our readers? When was “Unleashed” born? Who are the components of the band?
Hey! Unleashed was formed in Stockholm back in 1989 and the line-up consists of: Johnny-bass/vocals, Fredrik-lead guitar, Tomas-guitar and myself, Anders-drums.

I heard you are recording a new album “Hammer battalion”: there is talk in detail?
Indeed. The recording is done and the album will be released in the beginning of June worldwide. It was recorded in our own studio, mixed and produced by our guitarist Fredrik.

There are stylistic differences with the previous work “Midvinterblot”?
Well our style remains pretty consistent, however this album as always is moving forward and evolving within the unleashed sound.

What has changed musically and personally after twenty years of career?
Well as I said previously we try to evolve and take things a step forward with every release. Take the first and the last album and you should always recognise it as unleashed. At the same time it's important not to copy yourself so that's the challenge! Personally I guess a lot has probably changed in 20 years but in general we're still the same guys.

What do you expect from this new album?
We expect a lot, definitely! We feel this is our strongest album in a very long time and so far the response seems to reflect that opinion!

How you define your genre? And if you had to describe your music to a fan that hadn’t heard a single note from the band...
well we've always said we are death metal, pure and simple! So that would be the only true way to describe it. Hopefully anyone that has never heard us will have the chance to hear an album or check out a show and they will know...

The “Unleashed” are considered the fathers of genre viking. You agree?
Sure in a way. We don't really define ourselves as a “viking metal” band or anything but indeed we deal a lot with those topics. But it's true that we were one of the first death metal bands to incorporate these themes.

Do you have a certain way of composing music?
Nothing special I guess. Hard to say exactly how a song is conceived. Usually Fredrik or Johnny comes up with a song and we'll all give input and make sure it comes together right and that's it.

The favourite track of “Hammer battalion”? And why?
I really like the album as a whole! I don't see a weak track on it, which is something we really tried for. But I would say personally I like the title track most. It's just a pure old school death metal song!

What do you think about the metal scene in Sweden? Are there good bands that you want to show us?
The scene is good here and always has been pretty much. I really cant tell much difference from 20 years ago. Most people from back then are still around as well as all the new people. Of course there are all the classic bands like grave, dismember necrophobic and so on. Also well worth mentioning are bands like grand magus, kaamos and repugnant.

Why the moniker “Unleashed”?
It was just a name we came up with back in the day and felt it was fitting to our music as well as our live shows.

Who is the author of the album cover? And what it represents?
The cover, as well as the midvinterblot cover was made by our good friend Sebastian of necrophobic/nifelheim. We really wanted a strong symbolic cover that could represent the band for a long time to come and he really came through! He's a great artist!

What means metal music for you?
Everything! It's been my life since I was very young and I've been playing in this band for more than half my life! It's in our blood!

Projects for the future? Concerts in Italy?
We're just waiting for the album to be out and to start touring! We hit the states in sept/oct and a European tour will follow in nov/dec! That tour will include at least one Italian date, but also there will be more euro dates after the new year and more Italian dates will surely be included!

Thank you for your time. Please close this interview with a message to all our readers...
Thanks alot! We await the response to hammer battalion and to play as many shows as possible! So we'll see you all there! cheers!