Entrails - The Tomb Awaits

 

ENTRAILS - The Tomb Awaits (F.D.A. Rekotz - LP 2011)

Finally! I have been saving myself for this album, like a virgin princess for her knight, who would finally fuck her in the ass and give all the pleasures she’s been waiting for all her lonely life in a tower. When “The Tomb Awaits” was released I decided I don’t want to listen to this album on mp3 or CD before, I just want to get the vinyl only and then listen to it, I didn’t want to spoil the fun. It was almost like a ritual, as I loved the Entrails’ debut LP so much that my expectations for their second effort were huge and thus the only way to really enjoy this record was to purchase the vinyl. And so, here it is! And the amazing front artwork is the first thing, which I spotted. Of course it does look a little similar to Entombed’s “Left Hand Path”, I mean the colouring is pretty the same and also those skulls in the roots of the trees, plus the tombstone, but “The Tomb Awaits” has also many other details, which luckily differ it from “Left Hand Path” – ruins of the church or someone digging in the cemetery. Fuckin cool, classic death metal cover, I must say!

Since the first album, Entrails pretty much became a normal band, with a stable line up of four Swedish maniacs (that includes a couple of guys from great black metal band called Skogen), but despite that most of the material on “The Tomb Awaits” was composed and then exhumed (as it was originally written back in the 90’s) by the great leader, Mr Jimmy Flesh. And I don’t what it is, whether it’s because these riffs have been made 20 years ago or maybe it’s just the vitality and passion with which they have been played, but something makes these Entrails songs sound so damn fuckin great and right in your face. Entrails style is not original at all, it is pretty much standard death metal playing in the Swedish vein, but that passion, enthusiasm and killer riffing make it sound just fuckin awesome. Another thing is that I really love the production the band has achieved this time. I can’t believe that they have recorded this album at home, because it truly sounds fuckin killer and energetic, that every riff has strength of a bomb and makes you just bang your head with maniacal frenzy. And of course the whole has been mastered by Dan – "I am Edge of Sanity" – Swano, which provides something extra.

As I already said, I love the riffing on “The Tomb Awaits”. But in fact the first two songs, which open this album, are like the official anthems of Swedish death metal. “Unleashed Wrath” is definitely the best track of the whole LP, it is just a pure death metal slaughter, fuckin relentless and mayhemic. It is also the fastest track, with some totally neckbreaking paces, which I love, but sadly I also must point out that this is the only time on the whole album, when Entrails really speeds up so much. I would like to hear a bit more of such fast playing, as it sounds so damn great. But then “Crawling Death” is just fucking catchy, mid paced song, with some memorable riffs, then the opening parts of “To Live is to Rot” and “Undead” are just superb, again very catchy, sometimes melodic, but WOW! I love them. The beginning of “Undead” really sounds like an old school thrash, fuckin excellent. From the other hand “Eaten by the Dead” and “The Slithering Below” sound more mediocre (but still very decent and solid), I guess these are the tracks that I liked least from the whole album. With six songs plus an intro, side A goes very quickly and my only wish after listening to it was to hear maybe more furious and merciless riff attack from the band, just like in “Unleashed Wrath”, while the band concentrates more on mid paced, sometimes very melodic and almost doomy playing instead. Well, it’s not that bad to listen to them, but some faster parts would give the album more diversity and energy.

Meanwhile I started to dig through the tracks from side B and they pretty much follow the style of side A, it’s the same sort of playing. Again the band focuses their style on mid paced riffs, without any faster bits, which is a shame, but at least the songs they have unleashed upon me on side B are strong as hell and have a powerful force of destroying the walls of my apartment with some blistering and fierce riffs. I guess my favourites from side B would be “Collection of Cracked Heads” (death metal epic!) and “Remains in Red”. Anyway, I can say one thing, which disturbs my opinion on “The Tomb Awaits” – despite the fact how much I liked the album and all its strengths, it also has some weaknesses and thus I don’t really know whether it’s better album than the debut or not. “Tales from the Morgue” had some sort of rotten and obscure charm and despite being rawer, it also was more straight forward and sounded more like an album recorded in the old days. I’m really torn apart here. I love so many riffs from “The Tomb Awaits”, I love the production of this album, but from the other hand I miss some more furious playing here… Well, the best to say is that this is just a great album, Entrails didn’t really disappoint, only putted the bar with the first LP so high that even they were not able to jump over it. And if you’re an old style Swedish death metal fan, no matter if you just started listening to it or have been one since the early 90’s, this is a must have record for you. Get it on vinyl or CD, if you haven’t got the money then even suck this mp3 cock if you need, but support the band and listen to their music!

Final rate: 83/100