UNCHAINED - UNCHAINED - 2005

The first guitar notes on this debut album by Unchained set me back to the very early Eighties and my discovery of Iron Maiden guitar harmonics. The young Swedes have consequently a very traditional take on heavy metal, putting emphasis on melodic songwriting, epic structures and clear vocals. Apart from the semi-ballad I Dream, which is a bit of a letdown, you get a full quarter of an hour well crafted heavy metal, which should find its fanbase among those who like classical metal (Iron Maiden), the lightly progressive hardrock (Queensrÿche) and the melodic Scandinavian school.

And while the low moments are very few and apart, there are unfortunately no real highlights either. Unchained apparently spent six months in the studio for this debut. This either shows that they had no real plan when they started out, or that the original spirit got lost somewhere in the half year they played there. Some of the best rock albums have been recorded in less than a week and Unchained prove that the longer time you need doesn't necessarily mean the better the album will become. Their self-titled debut isn't bad, and the production is good enough too, but it seems that at times the band is losing focus, by continuing playing their good melodic metal yet forgetting to add moments of suspense that fuel the momentum of the song. As it is, it's still an above average metal album, but still quality-wise far away from the classics of its genres. Melodic metal fans and Maiden aficionados won't do anything wrong by purchasing the CD, although it might be a bit on the light side for prog and power metal fans.

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