Entombed
Inferno

October 2003
Released: 2003, n/a
Rating: 4.0/5
Reviewer: JP

Along with old Dismember, Unleashed I had (note the past tense) a soft spot for Entombed. The debut blew me away and still gets spins many years later. A true favorite. After the disappointing Clandestine and the radical style shift with the Hollowman EP the band I once loved was gone.



Since then they drifted along on the fringes of my awareness, an album here an album there some were received better than others but for the most part I didn’t really care too much. Of the Dismember, Unleashed, Entombed trinity entombed became my least favorite. There was just too much; too much experimentation, too many cover tunes, too many EP’s too many compilations and re-issues and not enough focus. It was hard to keep it all straight.



Inferno in my mind has made a huge comeback and Inferno is by far my most enjoyed Entombed CD in ten years. Marred by really weak and budget packaging Inferno is more akin to the sound of old Entombed than many albums in their recent years. The lyrics range from the realitively violent, (Retaliation, Descent Into Inferno) to the dark an dominous (Incinerator, Children of The Underworld) to a couple of humourous light-hearted, cuts ‘Flexing Muscles’ the acoustic piano interlude called ‘Intermission’ and the hilarious song ‘That’s When I Became a Satanist’.



This is heavy, damn heavy punchy crunchy and trying (successfully) to marry some of the heavier guitar bite from the past with the so-called death ‘n’ roll sound of the songs. Catchy, and fun I could easily see these guys out on the road with Motorhead instead of King Diamond.



The production is thick and loud and the vocals are rough and raw moreso than in recent years. It is as if the band realized they were on the verge of becoming irrelevant to today’s younger heavier metal fans and have stepped up to the plate and delivered a raging slab o’ heaviness! With this album I have let go of my regret/disappointment with the band and go and revisit Mourning Star. A fine comeback even if it is only in my mind.

Entombed
Inferno

August 2003
Released: Augu, Music For Nations
Rating: 4.5/5
Reviewer: Anders Sandvall

Entombed is back with a new studio album, their highly praised last album “THE MORNING STAR” came '01 and a numerous amount of touring throughout the world followed. In between all touring the band has released a double cover album with all the covers they have done so far, it’s called “SONS OF SATAN PRAISE THE LORD”. Some of the members in the band have participated in a lot of side projects besides all the touring that is still going on like Murder Squad with Peter and Uffe, Jörgen and Peter in Krux, Jörgen in The project hate and Peter in Merciless.



I have no info about where or in which studio this was recorded or who has written the music/lyrics but one thing I do know is that there are 14 tracks on the album. The cover isn’t the nicest one I have seen. When they played in Malmö, Sweden earlier this year I asked Alex about the new album and in which musical direction it was headed and he told me that if you liked the last album you should not be disappointed on the new one at all. He was right, I think this is a logical follow up to “THE MORNING STAR”, every song is really strong. The production and the soundpicture are just as stable as the band, you can hear everyone real loud and clear.



As mentioned earlier this album is continuing where the last studio album ended with heavy, mean, hard death n´roll. I think that you can feel influences by both doom and what they’ve were famous for in their beginning of their career fast death metal, and there’s also some hints of ordinary heavy metal to. The band has naturally gone through some musical changes through the years and they have developed as a band from the early years as a groundbreaking Swedish fast death metal band to this “new” highly approved sound. But you can still hear that this is Entombed, they have not gone so far from their roots and they have not sold their souls and gone strictly commercial to sell some more records (as certain metal/hardrock band have done, I’m sure you all know who I’m talking about). Entombed sticks to their roots but with a bit more updated soundpicture today compared to when they started out in the early 90’s.



“RETALIATION” heavy, hard death´n´roll influenced by doom metal. It’s a high-tempo track and in the beginning L.G almost chants the lyrics. “THE FIX IS IN” this is more fast death´n´roll with a lot of bass at the top of the soundpicture. “INCINERATOR” the speed increases here, it’s fast heavy metal influenced by, hat they got known for, death metal. “CHILDREN OF THE UNDERWORLD” very slow doom metal, L.G changes his vocals between ordinary vocals to his more angry vocals. The speed rises at the end of the song. “THAT’S WHEN I BECAME A SATANIST”, “DESCENT INTO INFERNO”, “SKELETON OF STEEL” and “NOBODADDY” heavy, aggressive death´n´roll influenced by heavy metal. These ones could easily fitted in on the last album. “INTERMISSION” an instrumental track with only piano and it’s a bit surprising to hear a track like this from Entombed but I like it a lot, it feels like a well needed break from the rest of the record. “YOUNG AND DEAD” this is fast death metal, sounds a bit like they did in the early days. “PUBLIC BURNING” fast, death, heavy metal, this one goes real fast. At the end the tempo slows down a bit, Peter has to work really hard behind his drums through this song. “FLEXING MUSCLES” semi-fast death, heavy´n´roll, L.G, Alex and Uffe high up in the mix. “NIGHT FOR A DAY” slow, grinding death, heavy´n´roll with a hint of doom.



“INFERNO” is not a part two of the previous album, they have developed their music more, and it sounds incredibly good. All of you who has counted out Entombed should think again, the band are just as strong today as they were when they started out – live as on album. They are not going to do another “WOLVERINE BLUES” but this is almost as good as that one. L.G sounds just as angry as he always does, Peter bangs his drums like a demon and Alex/Uffe completes each other very well on guitars. It’s only to hope for that they are going out on a real tour around the world and show everyone that they crushes all the competition on stage just as on record. I have played “INFERNO” a lot and it’s growing every time you listen to it. One of Sweden’s best metal acts is back – just as strong as ever!