Swedish death metal pioneers Unleashed are back with their 15th album! “Fire Upon Your Lands“, out August 15 via Napalm Records, delivers 11 tracks of battle-forged fury, continuing the saga of “No Sign of Life” in the World of Odalheim. In our interview, frontman Johnny Hedlund told us that after 35 years, the band’s vision remains steadfast.

-How has your vision of Unleashed changed since the early days, and what has remained completely untouched?

-I think we have kept to a pretty solid vision all these years. Not too many changes. At least not when it comes to the style we play. Of course, you need to develop and try new things, but it is important for us to stay with our style and not stray away. If you listen to a new Unleashed album and are pretty used to our style, it is our hope that you immediately recognize it is Unleashed. That is our general aim.

-When you think back to the underground scene in Sweden during your early days, how do you see the transformation of death metal, has it grown into something you always hoped, or something unrecognizable?

-I can’t say I am seeing too many changes, really. On the other hand, I live pretty far from a bigger city like Stockholm these days, so I am not at club shows, etc., as much anymore. But when we play in Stockholm or elsewhere in Sweden, I think it is still the same great place to play. 

-We’re in an era where musicians and artists are turning to platforms like Patreon, creating exclusive content for survival. What’s your take on this shift?

-I must say I never gave it much thought, really. I will not tell others what to do. We all have to do what we can, but for me personally, I seem to stay alive regardless. (laughs) 

-With Spotify and similar platforms offering fractions of a cent per stream, do you see any future where artists like yourself can realistically live off recorded music again? Or is it all about touring and fan support now?

-We will be in another situation in years to come…again, and again. Times change. I think it is a bit strange, perhaps, but we seem to sell hard copies still, lots of collectors items, and so I am very happy about that, of course. But in 5 years from now, I am sure it will all change again.

-When did the first ideas for “Fire Upon Your Lands” start taking shape? Was it a natural continuation after “No Sign of Life”?

-Yes, it was. Musically, I think Fredrik tried a few new things for me to work melodies on and we had a great cooperation as always. As for the lyrics, we still keep to the storyline of “The World of Odalheim” like on the previous five albums. It seems to work out very well, and people really enjoy it, so we just keep on going with that.

-How collaborative was the writing process this time around? Did each band member bring in their own pieces, or was it more of a centralized vision?

-The way we work is that Fredrik sends me a few songs early on in the process. I test different vocal melodies on them. After that, I write the lyrics. Anders and Tomas don’t really want to write at all, so they listen to the songs when they are at the pre-production phase. Then let us know if something needs to be changed.

-What keeps you creatively hungry after 15 albums?

-I almost don’t recall any other way of life. I mean, after 37 years or so, I’d say the normal way of life is to wake up and think about music, lyrics, and the next festival, etc. And to be honest, it will very likely be this way until we drop. (laughs) We have so many ideas left and are still hungry to go out and play, drink some cold ones, and meet our great army of Warriors all over the world.

-If you had to pass down one “warrior’s code” from Unleashed to the next generation of metal musicians, what would it be?

-Well, that is a tough one but here we go:

The call to adventure, the call to life

The time that is given to you, before you die

Go out in the world and test your steel!

Heed my call! Be the hero that you can be!

Interview: Ditty, photo: Jens Rydén