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The Unguided is a Swedish melodic death metal band, formed by Richard Sjunnesson, Roger Sjunnesson, Roland Johansson and John Bengtsson, all of whom are former members of Sonic Syndicate. Later, they were joined by Cipher System bassist Henric Liljesand. Bengtsson was replaced by Richard Schill in late 2012 and Johansson was replaced by Jonathan Thorpenberg in 2016.
On 6 February 2011, the band announced that their first concert would be as a part of the set-list for the 2011 Getaway Rock Festival. Richard also revealed that he had joined the Swedish metal band Faithful Darkness.
On 16 February 2011, the band released a video on their YouTube page including a preview of two tracks of the upcoming EP. On 18 February 2011, the band announced that the recording, mixing and mastering of Nightmareland was done. They also announced that the band had signed with the Swedish record label Despotz Records, on which Nightmareland would be released. 7 March 2011 the band announced that Nightmareland would be released on 1 April 2011 through Despotz Records. They also announced that the band would be re-recording songs they wrote when they still were in Fallen Angels. On the release day of Nightmareland, "Pathfinder" premiered on the Swedish radio station Bandit Rock.
Richard had already hinted that fans needed to keep their eyes out for 16 June 2011 without revealing anything more than that it would be a special day. On 16 June 2011, without any official announcement, The Unguided released their debut single "Betrayer of the Code". "Betrayer of the Code" was originally written by Roger and Richard when they still played in Fallen Angels. The artwork for the single was made by Jose A. Aranguren, the same person who made the artwork for the Sonic Syndicate album Eden Fire and the alternative version of Nightmareland. With the release of the first single, The Unguided had officially begun recording their debut album. Although the recording session had already been going on for a while, it wasn't announced until 16 June.
On 25 June 2011, Richard announced that The Unguided would not be able to perform any songs from Sonic Syndicate due to contractual reasons. After Johansson departed the band in 2009 he signed a contract which prohibits him from playing Sonic Syndicate material (signing this contract was mistakenly assumed mandatory). A counter-contract signed by the other band members was required to lift the restriction but Robin Sjunnesson (cousin of Richard & Roger) refused to sign it, removing all possibility for The Unguided to play Sonic Syndicate material.
Richard Sjunnesson included the following statement about the situation on his blog:
On 3 October, the artwork and title of their debut album Hell Frost was revealed at 616. The artwork was done by Kuang Hong, the same person who made the artwork for Nightmareland. The layout and booklet design was made by Gustavo Sazes. On the same day Despotz Records announced that the recording, mixing and mastering of Hell Frost. was completed and that it would be released on 30 November 2011.
Richard had already announced on his blog that the album would include a cover song; on 8 October, it was revealed to be "Tankens Mirakel" by the Swedish EBM duo Spark. The song has been translated into English and will appear on the album with the title "The Miracle of Mind". It will be the JakeBox exclusive bonus track for Hell Frost. On 11 October the Swedish radio station Bandit Rock premiered the song "Inherit the Earth", a preview of the song had been played the day before as well.
On 25 October, it was announced that "Inherit the Earth" would be the lead single. "Phoenix Down" was originally intended as the lead single. The single was eventually released on 26 October 2011. The artwork for the single was made by Jose A. Aranguren. On 13 January 2012 the band released their second single "Phoenix Down" and its music video, directed by Patric Ullaeus who has worked with all the members of the band on several occasions. The single was released as a 4-track single. The artwork for the single was made by Jose A. Aranguren.
Fragile Immortality takes on old Sonic Syndicate lyrical themes, such as the tracks "Unguided Entity" and "Only Human."
Following recent shows without co-frontman and guitarist Roland Johansson, the band posted a new music video on YouTube titled Nighttaker which briefly showed Johansson but also a new vocalist, Jonathan Thorpenberg. The following day on 10 December 2016, the band released an official statement on Social media, announcing the departure of Roland Johansson who had been a member since the band's formation six years ago. He left because of increasingly growing commitments to touring and recording, which were having a negative impact on his personal life.
Former members
Session musicians
| Hell Frost | 30 November 2011 | Despotz Records |
| Fragile Immortality | 5 February 2014 | Napalm Records |
| Lust and Loathing | 26 February 2016 | |
| And the Battle Royale | 10 November 2017 | |
| Father Shadow | 9 October 2020 | |
| Hellven | 7 March 2025 | SixOneSix AB |
| Hell Frost: The Ultimate Collection | 20 September 2012 | Despotz Records |
| Phoenix Down | 29 March 2012 | Despotz Records |
| 616 | 21 October 2022 | Napalm Records |
| "Phoenix Down" | 2011 | Hell Frost | Patric Ullaeus |
| "Betrayer of the Code" | 2012 | 11 FRAMES PRODUCTIONS | |
| "Inception" | 2013 | Fragile Immortality | |
| "Eye of the Thylacine" | 2014 | ||
| "Enraged" | 2016 | Lust and Loathing | Patric Ullaeus |
| "Operation: E.A.E" | 11 FRAMES PRODUCTIONS | ||
| "Heartseeker" | |||
| "Nighttaker" | Brotherhood | ||
| "The Heartbleed Bug" | 2017 | And the Battle Royale | Carl Thorén Productions |
| "A Link to the Past" | 2018 | Maluha Media | |
| "Seth" | 2019 | Royalgatory | |
| "Crown Prince Syndrome" | 2020 | Father Shadow | Patric Ullaeus |
| "Where Love Comes to Die" | 2021 | ||
| "Iceheart Fragment & Unguided Entity (Re-Imagined)" | 2022 | 616 | – |
| "Hell" | 2024 | Hellven | Linda Florin |
| "Red Alert" | – |
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