Tuesday, June 10, 2008

ENTOMBED: Morning Star

Produced by Entombed
Released: 2001

After a short period where it looked like this band had doomed to the realms of musical history with a well-executed but ill-advised excursion into heavy rock, Entombed came storming back, first with the punked-out scream from the garage that was Uprising and then this. Morning Star.

This is an album from a band which has once and for all given up all thoughts of mainstream rock glory, stepped back and gone back to doing exactly what they are known for best. Blending the catchy death rock element of Wolverine Blues with the rawness of Uprising in twelve songs all themed in some way around Lucifer and the fall of the Angels (hence the album title), Entombed came up with perhaps some of their best songs ever here. Opener ‘Chief Rebel Angel' starts a little omniously with a slow bass/piano combo like some wallet-chain wearing pseudo-metal pretender band, but within seconds this is destroyed by a crushing old school metal attack that never lets up for the rest of the album. LG Petrov sounds pissed off like he hasn't sounded for a while and the way Alex Hellid and Uffe Cederlund throw riffs around it's like they woke up to find themselves back in 1993. ‘I For an Eye' has an Arise-era Sepultura feel about it and ‘About to Die' recalls Slayer at their height; this is unadulterated pure metal and could well be one of Entombed's finest moments.

This was a fantastic return to death metal form for one of the pioneers of the genre, but sadly also marked the last time Entombed would reach such heights.


  1. Chief Rebel Angel
  2. I For and Eye
  3. Bringer of Light
  4. Ensemble of the Restless
  5. Out of Heaven
  6. Young Man Nihilist
  7. Year One Now
  8. Fractures
  9. When It Hits Home
  10. City of Ghosts
  11. About to Die
  12. Mental Twin
Rating: 90%

1 comment:

  1. This is an awesome album. It's already 7 years old!

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