''Unchained'' is an EP by

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

heavy metal band

Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...

. The album's title is taken from the Italian-French

epic fantasy High fantasy, or epic fantasy, is a subgenre of fantasy defined by the epic nature of its setting or by the epic stature of its characters, themes, or plot. Brian Stableford, ''The A to Z of Fantasy Literature'', (p. 198), Scarecrow Pres ...

feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...

Hercules Unchained ''Hercules Unchained'' ( , "Hercules and the Queen of Lydia") is a 1959 Italian-French epic fantasy feature film starring Steve Reeves and Sylva Koscina in a story about two warring brothers and Hercules' tribulations in the court of Queen Omph ...

'' (1959). Tracks "Rock the City" and "When Gods Collide" were later re-recorded for the album '' Only the Strong'' (1985). The EP was reissued on both CD and vinyl with bonus material in 2015. The CD comes with 12 bonus tracks, including the 1982 Unchained master recordings, and a two-hour long bonus DVD, featuring the “Anger” concept video with behind-the-scenes footage as well as vintage concert performances from 1982–85. A special limited edition vinyl release includes the 1982 masters, and a 20-page comic book reproducing the original Unchained comic, plus additional unpublished art.

Critical reception

Contemporary reviews of the EP have been generally positive. Off of heavy metal overload, a positive review said that "Unchained is even catchier than the debut and tracks like Anger, Lightning Strikes Again and When Gods Collide are instant favourites and mandatory listening for any true metal party!" Reviewer Daniel Pavlica of TheRockologist spoke highly when reviewing the 2015 reissue, praising the bonus content. "Needless to say, the corny balls-to-the-wall approach infects this release at every level, yet spiteful riffs and inspired chord progressions raise the bar well above the tacky 80s fist-pumping metal jolly-up." They followed that up with praising such tracks as the "smashing" opener “Lightning Strikes”, the "colossal sounding" “When Gods Collide”, and “Anger”, calling the latter a "sweat-soaked dungeons and dragons anthem replete with rock hard abs." A reviewer from Popshifter gave a decent review, stating that "Fans of classic metal will love Unchained and it might convert a few who aren’t. I can sum the album up easily as simply a fun listen."

Track listing

*Tracks 7–12 omitted from 2015 vinyl release.

Personnel

Thor *

Jon Mikl Thor Jon Mikl Thor (born 1953), better known as simply Thor, is a Canadian bodybuilding champion, actor, songwriter, screenwriter, historian, vocalist and musician. As a bodybuilder, he was the first Canadian to win both the Mr. Canada and Mr. USA ...

– lead vocals * Karl Cochran – lead guitar * Keith Zazzi – bass * Mike Favata – drums * Pantera (aka Rusty Hamilton) – backing vocals Session members * Jimmy Ambrose – guitar * Jimmy Whang – guitar * John Muller – keyboards Miscellaneous staff *

– producer, arrangements * Don Berman – engineering * Michael Morley – engineering * Dom Romeo – mastering

References

External links

* * {{Thor (band) 1983 EPs Thor (band) albums