Author: Sandi Sadar Šoba
Artist: Entombed
Label: Earache
Release: 1993
Length: 35:10
Rating: 4.9/5
The Hollowman EP had already made it clear that Entombed liked to test the limits of what was allowed and expected, and the Entombed name drew in and united under one roof fans of that dirty biker sound, worn-out jeans and jackets decorated with Black Sabbath patches, as well as the most extreme lovers of juicy, adrenaline-soaked death metal. Wolverine Blues is a record that will satisfy even the most demanding listener, and on their third studio outing Entombed crank up the dose of the death metal rawness of the day, HC, punky offshoots of metal and their own stubborn originality in the petri dishes of creativity. The formula, mixed in metal jerrycans, recreates a deadly cocktail of pure pleasure, in which layers of sonic goodness are saturated by seemingly offhand, riff-addictive and monstrously tasty guitars, possessed screaming-and-rasping vocals, and devastating drum fills soaked in buzzing bass. A stampede of obsession, anarchic noble Satanism, vulgarity, malice and misanthropy nails you to the speakers for a good half hour, where needless stalling and getting lost in complicated passages of mindless mastery seek an exit down less crowded alternative side roads.
The imagery of what you hear is ominously obedient, and the primal oratorio of guttural reckoning with institutional belief coming out of Lars-Göran Petrov’s throat sounds like a downright credible copy of Araya – with a nasty, pus-filled abscess on the vocal cords, of course. LG Petrov, a Swedish vocal icon with Macedonian roots, shows off the full spectrum of brutality and merciless aggression, and the record, which would sit easily on the shelf next to the classic gems of Hellacopters, comes close to the ideals of thrash-tinged Swedish death metal, which despite the years is still vital and timelessly gorgeous!
But let’s take it from the top. The excellent production by Tomas Skogsberg (owner of the ominous-sounding Sunlight Studios), who also “is to blame” for records by Disfear, among others, weaves ten monumental tracks into a whole that is anything but monotonous or boring. The dissection of greatness can thus begin right with the outstanding opener Eyemaster. After the squeal of guitars, the doors to the hellish underworld swing open, and after Petrov’s introductory guttural penetration of the vault of your skull, you plunge at rocket speed into a sea of flames and misery. The choruses are made for group chanting and praising the great trickster, Beelzebub himself. Death metal usually isn’t meant for singing along in a crowd, but fascinated by the ease and natural mingling of what once seemed incompatible, I easily give myself over to sipping the black nectar, even nearly twenty years after my first exposure to this tornado of pure pleasure. The sludgy, dirty follow-up of Rotten Soil keeps the slaughter that has just begun going.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJp6cfXHXsY
Blood trickles down the back of your neck, and the brains crawling and fleeing out of your skull buzz, calibrated to a well-measured dose of slowed-down tempo and granite blows of merciless organic feel. Can you hear the Satanic incantation and the whisper of the demonic triple six yet? The record gives you reworkings of two songs you’ve already heard – Hollowman and Wolverine Blues – and with the latter you find yourself in a realm of total darkness and dementia. “What u believe / is the vanity u conceive / What u love u don’t pen / to put in a cage is to put to an end / Enamoured of the passion / life-sucking lust / u will never gain my trust” – words that creep irresistibly into your ear canals. The warm-up, which the culinary-perfect Demon garnishes with some of the finest and noblest Scandinavian craftsmanship, and the slow drum hits nail you to a metal cross, spin you around, and burn an upside-down pentagram into your forehead, your ass and somewhere else too. The song Contempt offers an alternative with a balanced marriage of traditional, disturbed atmospheric death metal. Joining it is the conventional melodic imperative of pretentious hard rock, and a fresh dose of kerosene is injected into your veins with the song Full Of Hell. “I’ve got sympathy for the devil / and demon is in my vein / I’m organized chaos / but don’t call me stupid I’m insane” – lyrics that don’t need you to waste precious time digging into the symbolism of metaphors, because there aren’t any! The Sabbath-style transfusion of an old sound into a new organism in Blood Song backs up the dirty discourse of juicy distortion and Petrov completely overshadowing the competition with total vocal dominance, and after the aforementioned Hollowman it becomes clear that you have either fully succumbed to the sweat-and-blood-soaked charm or suffered the incurable trauma of long-denied resistance. “My hollow eyes / are staring down the hole/Jesus, Satan, Hitler / bought my soul / It’s rotten and sour / but it’s inside of me / I’ve got faith in the end / but you just can’t fuckin’ see” ring out before the last chorus, tipping the action over into a demonic finale.
Heavens Die and the closing act, the song Out Of Hand, don’t loosen their steel grip, calmly grinding down any last survivors of the once doubting, rebellious, self-grown skeptic who still lingers in your soul. Petrov continues his reckoning with Christian nonsense in his own way, marked by directness, even grotesque simplicity, and a pursuit of the pure, original signs of a severe anti-Jesus allergy. The song Out Of Hand opens with a quote: “I am Jesus Christ!”, which Petrov answers mercilessly: “No you are not! You are fucking dead!” Barely three minutes separate you from the finale, and with middle fingers raised and flames of rage in your heart, you end up nodding along yourself to the roasting of a hypocritical religious stance. “Jesus Christ / lord of flies / in disguise / FUCK!” Nothing more to add! Can hell possibly get any closer?
Wolverine Blues, as the third act in Entombed history, stands as one of the best releases of the extreme music genre. The ideals aren’t betrayed, the aesthetic isn’t ruined, there’s no shortage of playfulness and direct criticism, and on the me(n)tal side you get a full-calorie meal of top-notch sound from a sweat-soaked garage. Love and sincerity toward the genre stay alive thanks to records like this, which marked an era that’s gone and wove themselves into a story we can follow to this day. The DNA is that much nobler and the beast that gorgeously alluring even after decades of growing up! If you’re at all used to proper metal, you simply can’t pass on this listen!
Lineup
Lars-Göran Petrov – vocals
Nicke Andersson – guitar, drums
Uffe Cederlund – guitar, tambourine
Lars Rosenberg – bass
Alex Hellid – guitar
Production
Tomas Skogsberg
Track list
1. Eyemaster
2. Rotten Soil
3. Wolverine Blues
4. Demon
5. Contempt
6. Full of Hell
7. Blood Song
8. Hollowman
9. Heaven’s Die
10. Out of Hand
