Photograph: Jens Rydén
Swedish demise steel establishment Unleashed lately celebrated their thirty fifth anniversary as a band however they’re not slowing down. In truth, the Viking steel champions simply launched their fifteenth album, Hearth Upon Your Lands, and Decibel caught up with founding bassist/vocalist Johnny Hedlund to speak about it, plus sustaining Unleashed’s traditional lineup, touring and what’s modified within the music trade since 1989.
You possibly can take a look at just a few movies from Hearth Upon Your Lands under and head to the Napalm Data retailer for merch and bodily copies.
That is your fifteenth album since 1991. Do you have got difficulties developing with new concepts or does the songwriting course of nonetheless occur fairly naturally for Unleashed?
I’ll say that this can be a fairly pure course of. In truth, it has been part of our lives now for some 37 years, and counting. I don’t know the way issues could be in any other case… like… not excited about the following tune or album sounds fairly unusual actually. I imply, I used to be very younger when that was my life. However then… I considered different bands’ songs as an alternative, so…
Hearth Upon Your Lands is thematically related to earlier Unleashed albums – are you able to clarify the story and the place we’re choosing up?
We’re nonetheless persevering with the storyline from the ebook The World of Odalheim {that a} pal and I wrote a few years in the past. It was by no means completed nor printed so I made a decision to translate the chapters into songs, so to talk. The story is concerning the Midgard Warriors’ wrestle for his or her lifestyle towards the principle enemy, White Christ. On the earlier album, the hunt for White Christ resulted in and round Mount Sinai. And so, this album begins precisely the place the earlier one left off within the story.
That is Unleashed’s fourth album within the final decade, so the band is all the time engaged on new materials. Is your writing course of a gradual accumulation of concepts or does the band block out particular time to jot down new music?
We write music and lyrics on a regular basis. Maybe not inside six months of a brand new launch, however then the following cycle begins. However we by no means rush issues, it takes the time it takes. I feel maybe Fredrik (Folkare, guitar) units out particular occasions for it greater than I do. I’ve a lyric sheet with me virtually always.
The members of Unleashed have remained the identical for about three a long time, which is not any small feat in music. How have issues modified because you initially bought collectively?
The web got here. I’d say that’s the greatest change, for good and for worse after all, however I feel the optimistic issues outweigh the negatives. Additionally, we play largely festivals lately and never 5 week-type excursions. It is very important keep hungry. Taking good care of issues exterior Unleashed additionally takes critical time lately.
Unleashed have just a few stay engagements this summer season and fall, however what is going to the band do after that? Will work start instantly on a brand new album?
We are going to play stay exhibits all yr round. We’re booked for subsequent yr now and counting. And sure, we’ll possible begin trying into the following album and work on that in 2026, however there isn’t any rush.
Hail Odin!
