10 Best Viking Metal Bands Of All Time
7. Unleashed
Swedish death metal's rarely reached the standard set by Unleashed since their 1989 inception. Hitting the extreme metal scene in the midst of its Satanic panic era, Unleashed bucked the trend by applying most of their lyrics to a pre-Christian Europe, Norse folk lore and the raw power of the Vikings. It immediately set them apart from their peers and inspired many acts to come to follow in their footsteps.
They're regarded as one of the founding fathers of Viking metal and one of Sweden's Big Four in the death metal scene (along with Dismember, Entombed and Grave). Unleashed remain a force to be reckoned with thanks to their ferocious riffs, frontman Johnny Hedlund's demonic vocals and maddening guitar solos.
Warrior (1997), Sworn Allegiance (2004), Midvinterblot (2006), As Yggdrasil Trembles (2010) and Oldalheim (2012) are all must-listens for fans of the genre. Despite some recent forays into the literature of J.R.R. Tolkien, Unleashed remain predominantly focused on Viking culture. Outside of a 7 year hiatus starting in 1997, the group have consistently been rocking listeners' socks off right up to today.