With new record deal and album in tow; fresh off the road as part of the monumental Masters Of Death tour, Unleashed return in triumphant fashion. We caught up with Anders Schultz to get the news hot off the press!!

Hey guys. How are things with you at the moment?

So how are you looking forward to the US tour? Quite a bill on offer Krisiun, Belphegor, Hatesphere and you guys.

Unleashed have just finished the monumental ‘Masters Of Death’ tour across Europe. How much fun was that, I mean to be out on the road with Entombed, Grave and Dismember? How did the tour work out?

Apart from some unfortunate problems with the organization the tour itself was awesome! I think we all agreed that is was one of the best times all bands had ever had on tour, not only were the crowds amazing it was just a great atmosphere amongst the bands. Just a bunch of friends hanging out every day.

Despite hearing from many the Stockholm scene is dead. Many of the old school bands, yourselves included, are still making and pioneering the Death Metal sound. What is the scene like from your perspective in 2007?

Well it depends how you look at it. The scene in Stockholm has always been big if you look at the amount of bands, but as a scene in itself it has never been very good. There has always been hard to find places to put up shows etc, but of course, from an outsiders view it must be pretty good...On any given night at the bar you'll run into any number of people from all the bands, but all the bands more or less only do business so to speak, outside of Stockholm and Sweden.

Of course the band are promoting your new record “Midvinterbolt”. It has a real old school feel about it. How did you approach the writing of the record, and how intentional was it to give the record a “Shadows In The Deep” / “Across The Open Sea” vibe?

Well it was in a way important to get an old school feel to it, but not to copy any of the older albums. We do want to capture that old aggression and vibe from the older times. We never did look back during the actual writing of songs...but they will inevitably always be Unleashed sounding. What we try to do is to stick to our roots but at the same time moving forward. and we think "Midvinterblot" is a perfect example of this!

How was your time in Chrome Studios? What was your approach to the recording in this era of Pro-Tools?

Having the privilege to work in our own studio with Fredrik producing is great. It relieves any pressure and allows us to work at a good pace and really being able to focus on getting it right. As for the new technology, it's a good tool but should not take over the feeling or process of recording.

As you said Fredrik Folkare returned to produce “Midvinterbolt”. What made Fredrik the man for the job?

Well the main thing is that he's excellent at what he does, but also having a member of the band producing means he knows exactly what we need and want to get out of the production. There is just no need to explain anything to an outside producer, which eliminates alot of would-be problems.

I see lyrically the album continues the Viking / war theme. I presume it’s not just the imagery, but also more the strong Swedish feelings to your heritage? No thoughts to move away from these topics for the new album?

Well as on all Unleashed albums there is a wide range of lyrics and themes. But those now mentioned are a part of it, and probably always will be.

The reaction has been overwhelming, both to the album and the new tracks live! It's been a great feeling to play, as people have really taken the new songs to heart!

We will definitely do a second run in Europe later this year. nothing is set yet, but there are things being looked at already. and of course we will be out in the summer for festivals!

In an age when bands are constantly looking to reinvent their sound. Unleashed have remained faithful to your original sound. What is your philosophy towards your music?

“Midvinterbolt” is the first Unleashed album to be released via SPV. How did the deal come about, and how tough a decision was it to leave Century Media after such a long time?

It is, and it wasn't a tough decision really. Century Media have been with us for a very long time and they have been great, but it was just time for a change, like a fresh start and some new input was needed. When this opportunity came up we took it, and it's working out great!

Did you ever imagine when recording the “Utter Dark” and “Revenge” demos, a decade and a half later Unleashed would still be making music? What do you think has made Unleashed stand the test of time?

I don't think at that time in life you even imagined getting this old haha! but no really I don't think there's a recipe for it. We just did our thing and stayed true to what we believed and who we were. We're like a family and I don't think any band can go on for so long if you don't have that.

There were some health issues, yes. I had a couple of lung collapses and had to spend some time in hospital....it was more or less just a bad luck kinda thing haha! but indeed I'm back to old form and getting back out and playing on the Masters Of Death tour was an awesome feeling and I can't wait to get back out again! I would also while on the subject like to thank all the people around the world who showed support during some pretty bad times...cheers!!