Unleashed ignites the viking flame with new album: Fire Upon your Lands
Swedish death metal veterans Unleashed have officially announced the arrival of their fifteenth studio album, Fire Upon Your Lands, set for release on August 15, 2025, via Napalm Records.
Alongside the announcement, the band dropped a lyric video for the first single, “A Toast to the Fallen” a crushing mid-tempo anthem that channels the spirit of fallen warriors through pummeling riffs, thunderous drums, and Johnny Hedlund’s unmistakable growl. The track blends groove-laden death metal with Unleashed’s signature pagan ferocity, signaling a return to form with sharpened teeth.
“This album is a call to arms,” says bassist and vocalist Johnny Hedlund, the band’s founder and one of the longest-standing figures in Scandinavian extreme metal. “Fire Upon Your Lands is about defending what is sacred, what belongs to us. It’s a battle for Midgard not just in myth, but in spirit.”
Unleashed has never strayed far from their roots. Over three decades into their career, the band continues to refine a sound that blends old-school Swedish death metal with epic Norse mythology. Their latest offering builds upon the conceptual saga that began with As Yggdrasil Trembles (2010), expanding a mythic universe that blurs the line between historical memory and cultural resistance.
Produced by guitarist Fredrik Folkare, Fire Upon Your Lands promises a potent mix of heaviness, clarity, and atmosphere. According to early press, the album is “their most battle-hardened release to date.”
Track titles include:
Where the Shieldwall Ends
Hammer of Midgard
Beneath the Rune of Tyr
Ancestors in Flame
Oath of the Undying
Each song is said to represent a chapter in the final war for Midgard a symbolic clash between identity and oblivion.
While many legacy acts have leaned into softer or more accessible directions, Unleashed stays true to the harsh, anthemic weight of their origins. Their sound isn’t about revival. It’s resistance.
The cover artwork - yet to be revealed - was designed by renowned German artist Andreas Marschall (Blind Guardian, Obituary, Kreator), and is described as “a vision of the last Viking stronghold engulfed in fire.”
With Fire Upon Your Lands, Unleashed reminds us why they’ve endured: not by reinventing the wheel, but by sharpening the blade. It’s death metal with purpose, myth with muscle, and a legacy that refuses to fade.
Follow Metal Detector for a full album review and exclusive commentary when the record drops this August.
