Sunday 12 August 2007

Entombed - Left Hand Path (1989)


‘Left Hand Path’ caught many death metal fans unaware, the brutal, churning chainsaw riffs grinding through flesh and bone, yet sounding unlike any other death metal noise out there. The scene was becoming swamped by a horde of American death metal acts, who’d all had their records produced in the same manner, but Entombed, on the UK based Earache label, were far from the conventional gurgle, this being more of a cold yet somehow grooved chug, the guitars here, from Cederlund and Hellid enabling the band to become a noticeable cacophony and inspiring many other European acts to do the same, i.e. Dismember et al, which made the scene far more refreshing.
The vocal delivery of Lars-Goran Petrov somewhere between throaty rasp and frostbitten rasp, making this record a must have for any self-confessed death metal freak. The balance between speed and mid-tempo is perfect, the juggernaut riffs occasionally spliced by some icy leads, the opening, title track alone is worth the money.

8/10

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