"Unchain the Wolves" is a masterpiece of a CD (so amazing, that I later purchased it on vinyl. Great packaging job!): brutality, inspiring and heavy riffs, and enough metal-fueled melancholy to make a person actually read the lyrics. The lyrics here are brilliant first of all. They'll be (and have been…) spat on, surely, simply because the "hidden meaning" is as clear as day. A few lines, such as: "can you see the swastikas turning" (on the title track) aren't printed, but there's enough here to fill ones lyrical belly up FULL. If you lap up my propaganda like a dog finding water after sitting in the sun all day, then you'll read them with a proud face and a clenched fist. If not, you'll be disgusted/insulted/angered, but who cares?

The first album, a fine recording of violence and heavy marching inspired riffs, was killer indeed. This on the other hand is sheer metal maturity. Well thought out and lengthy riffs, a masterful combination of music, lyrics and vocals, and an emphasis on heaviness, rather than neck snapping speed. From the melodic and catchy (the title track, "Genesis to Genocide", and "Tyranny"), to grand, pure metal ("Satan's Hammer" and "Damnation's Pride"), "Unchain the Wolves" is a metal treasure, and will become a classic for those smart enough to discover it. If the closing riff and screams on "Genesis to Genocide" don't get your eyes glowing and teeth grinding….then I don't know what can.

And for the Scandinavian WWW reviewer cunts who have been crying foul because there's a picture of a wolf in snow on the cover…are you that stupid (and fuckin' egotistical) that you think the band made this visual choice because they wish they were from Norway??!!! Isn't it obvious what's been shown here?!

© 2000 brand