When I reviewed Emerald's last album, the delightful Re-Forged, I said that if they cleaned up they would be a lot less entertaining. Well, that kind of happened, and while this is not a really polished recording, it is more polished than their last one, and is therefore that much less fun. This is a better album, technically, but it is much less exciting because everything has been smoothed out and fixed up. This is still the same HammerFall/Majesty style of straight-up metal, but it lacks the underground charm of the last album, and even if the songs are better put-together, that just makes them sound more predictable. The vocal lines are a bit better, but the riffs are less heavy and engaging. If you like this kind of thing, then Unleashed is worth hearing, but for my money their last one was better.
