I need to cleanse myself from the "Merry Christmas" post. No better way than with an unholy death metal classic! Entombed's debut album Left Hand Path caused quite a stir upon its release seventeen years ago. Extreme music was nothing new and death metal had been around for years, but no band had made this kind of death metal before. As heavy as anything else, with a thick, masterful production by Tomas Skogsberg in Stockholm's Sunlight Studios (Entombed would use the same producer and studio for the next three albums), Left Hand Path introduced a groove and a catchiness never before heard in the genre.
They didn't shy away from things that conservative headbangers may have seen as "unmetal". Entombed didn't give a fuck and threw in whatever they felt like. They drew just as many influences from punk, hardcore and rock 'n' roll as they did from metal. In Entombed's world Discharge stood side by side with Morbid Angel. The Stooges and Slayer held hands and skipped down to the beach to share a piña colada. On later works Entombed would go full tilt with this rock/metal combo and create what music mags dubbed "death 'n' roll". But back in 1990 Entombed was still 100% death metal, using their diverse influences to channel a mean, snarling riff beast unlike any other. A true trendsetter that made everyone want to record in Sunlight to get that trademark "Entombed sound".
There is not one dud on this album, and picking only three songs from it was a hard task. Drowned and But Life Goes On were candidates for quite some time, as well as Revel In Flesh, but in the end Bitter Loss and The Truth Beyond won out. That the title track would be included was a given from the get go.
I dip my forefinger in the watery blood of your impotent redeemer
And write over his thorn-torn brow: "The true prince of evil"
Fucked up vocals, chainsaw guitars, crazy drumming, a sound and production still unmatched in the world of death metal, and an intensity that just won't let up - Left Hand Path is an album well beyond any other death metal album of its era. And let's not forget the most impressive part of it all: The band members were only 16-17 years old when they recorded it. If that doesn't make you feel like an old fart, I don't know what will.
(mp3) Entombed - Left hand path (highly recommended!)
(mp3) Entombed - Bitter loss
(mp3) Entombed - The truth beyond
The video for Left Hand Path:
Buy Left Hand Path @ Amazon.com.
1 comments:
Thanks for checking my blog out, Left Hand Path is one of my all-time favorite records ever. In fact, one of my former music blogs was named for this record.
good stuff you got goin' on here as well, and I done linked you up... word!
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