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Entombed - Serpent Saints: The Ten Amendments
Threeman Recordings - Candle183CD - June 25, 2007
By Jordan Knoll
My familiarity with Entombed begins and ends with their classic death metal works, specifically Left Hand Path and Clandestine. While I never considered the band at the top of their class even in their prime (though I do readily admit the massive influence they had on others in the genre) I still am able to enjoy spinning those two early works on occasion, which says a lot about their longevity. But enough about that, Entombed has moved on from that crunchy death metal sound long ago, or at least I was lead to believe this before popping in their latest album Serpent Saints: The Ten Amendments. To my surprise, the creepy intro in the title track, followed promptly by some competent—if somewhat generic—old school crunchy death metal riff-work surfaced. Unfortunately, this brief glimpse of their heroic death metal past disappears far too quickly; akin to a fleeting dream upon waking.
In particular, the third track really killed any hope I had for seeing the second coming of Clandestine or LHP. Just take a gander at some of the super-lame lyrics of 'Amok': "God is away/It's business every fucking day/You wanna say/Well, I don't give a fuck/How does it feel/You wanna eat you gotta steal/Keeping it real/You're running out of luck/Amok". I know what you are probably thinking right about now, ‘But Mr. Reviewer since when did lyrics really matter in death metal?’. Well Timmy, in normal circumstances I would be inclined to agree with you but when the above abhorrent lyrics become enunciated in such a crystal clear manner and contain a bouncing almost rap-like rhythm that recalls the whole nu-metal fiasco, something is severely wrong. Unfortunately, this pseudo-death/rock mix continues to be the guiding principle for this contemporary manifestation of Entombed more often than not (see tracks ‘Thy Kingdom Coma' and ‘When in Sodom’ among others). Occasionally, Entombed does seem to resurrect their former selves such as on the album opener and on ‘Warfare Plague Famine Death’ but it is not nearly enough to recommend the entirety of Serpent Saints to the LHP and Clandestine crowd. Sure, the crunchy and harsh guitar tone is there as are an eerie intro and outro but pretty much everything in between reeks of mediocre Death-rock/nu-metal trash that has plagued the band ever since Wolverine Blues. If you are into that sound, SS will not disappoint but for everyone else looking for Entombed to return to classic form you are better off just cherishing those first releases.
Official Entombed Homepage
Official Threeman Recordings Homepage
Threeman Recordings - Candle183CD - June 25, 2007
By Jordan Knoll
My familiarity with Entombed begins and ends with their classic death metal works, specifically Left Hand Path and Clandestine. While I never considered the band at the top of their class even in their prime (though I do readily admit the massive influence they had on others in the genre) I still am able to enjoy spinning those two early works on occasion, which says a lot about their longevity. But enough about that, Entombed has moved on from that crunchy death metal sound long ago, or at least I was lead to believe this before popping in their latest album Serpent Saints: The Ten Amendments. To my surprise, the creepy intro in the title track, followed promptly by some competent—if somewhat generic—old school crunchy death metal riff-work surfaced. Unfortunately, this brief glimpse of their heroic death metal past disappears far too quickly; akin to a fleeting dream upon waking.
In particular, the third track really killed any hope I had for seeing the second coming of Clandestine or LHP. Just take a gander at some of the super-lame lyrics of 'Amok': "God is away/It's business every fucking day/You wanna say/Well, I don't give a fuck/How does it feel/You wanna eat you gotta steal/Keeping it real/You're running out of luck/Amok". I know what you are probably thinking right about now, ‘But Mr. Reviewer since when did lyrics really matter in death metal?’. Well Timmy, in normal circumstances I would be inclined to agree with you but when the above abhorrent lyrics become enunciated in such a crystal clear manner and contain a bouncing almost rap-like rhythm that recalls the whole nu-metal fiasco, something is severely wrong. Unfortunately, this pseudo-death/rock mix continues to be the guiding principle for this contemporary manifestation of Entombed more often than not (see tracks ‘Thy Kingdom Coma' and ‘When in Sodom’ among others). Occasionally, Entombed does seem to resurrect their former selves such as on the album opener and on ‘Warfare Plague Famine Death’ but it is not nearly enough to recommend the entirety of Serpent Saints to the LHP and Clandestine crowd. Sure, the crunchy and harsh guitar tone is there as are an eerie intro and outro but pretty much everything in between reeks of mediocre Death-rock/nu-metal trash that has plagued the band ever since Wolverine Blues. If you are into that sound, SS will not disappoint but for everyone else looking for Entombed to return to classic form you are better off just cherishing those first releases.
Official Entombed Homepage
Official Threeman Recordings Homepage
