20 years later: A review of Entombed in Toronto 06/01/10

3 weeks ago, I, along with my brother and our friend Bob, ventured up to Canada to witness an honest to goodness death metal show. 20 years ago, I was very much into almost any and all bands that Earache records churned out. Although not one of my favorites at the time, Entombed was no exception. They really piqued my interest with 1993's "Wolverine Blues" but lost me some time after. Actually, I'll be honest; death metal, across the board, lost me until about 1998-99. Inflames "Colony" and At The Gates "Slaughter of the Soul" brought me back around, but that's another story.

The opening bands were two of the most insulting and amateurish "metal" bands I have witnessed in the past few years. It almost seemed like everything about them was an inside joke that I wasn't privy to. Either way, they were jokers and I don't even feel like mentioning their names because I WANT to pretend seeing them never even happened.

Entombed took the stage shortly after 9 pm and gave us a really great show. LG Petrov, the singer, was in great form; joking and grimacing in a King Diamond "Abigail" shirt while teetering around stage. Alex Hellid's guitar sounded massive and everything came together in fine form.



Being most familiar with Entombed's first three albums wasn't an issue with the show. They played a lot of material off of "Wolverine Blues" and nearly every great song off of their "return to form" albums that began with 2001's "Morning Star." The set list was as follows:
Chief Rebel Angel
Demon
Wolverine Blues
When In Sodom
Crawl
Serpent Saints
I for an Eye
Sinners Bleed
Supposed to Rot
Out of Hand
Stranger Aeons
Damn Deal Done
Night Of the Vampire
Left Hand Path


The great surprise of the night was their cover of Roky Erickson's "Night of the Vampire" and the only misplaced sounding song was "Damn Deal Done" off of 1997's "To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth." It didn't have the same feel as the other Entombed originals and felt a little flat. Still, it's not a bad song, it just didn't deliver like the others.


Obituary was the headliner and I know to a lot of fans of the genre, it's going to sound like blasphemy when I say I never really cared for them. I saw them in 1990 and I will say this: NOTHING HAS CHANGED about John Tardy, their singer. He looks, sounds and dresses exactly the same! Which, although admirable, doesn't do anything for me in the realm of liking his band any more than I already don't. Obituary isn't a bad band and honestly they sounded great, even with their weird power metal lead player. I'm just not into them. I did however manage to snap one pics with my phone.



So, twenty years after first hearing Entombed, I finally got to witness them live and they didn't disappoint in the least. Until I got the new Danzig and Integrity albums last week you would find my car filled with the sounds of their newest outting, "Serpent Saints." The murky and underrated "Inferno." and the incredibly powerful "Morning Star." It's good to know we can still count on some bands. Viva La Entombed!

Integrity, the west side and me: a review of The Blackest Curse

When I was 17, I listened to what seemed like a million bands. The only requirement of these bands was that the music was what used to be called "underground." Sadly, this term was widely replace with "EXTREME MUSIC" in the 90's at some point, but I'm already getting off track. Anyway, the summer of 1991 lead me to a show in a terrible neighborhood in the west side, in the lower level of a house, converted into a rehearsal hall. Discontent and the Watchmen were both great Buffalo hardcore bands whose 7"s/demos I enjoyed. Beyond Death were a lyrically offensive (bald pussy posse, etc) crossover band with more death metal in their veins than anything. But I could see those bands nearly anytime, what I really wanted to see was Integrity: I had the "In Contrast of Sin" 7" and thought it was great. I hadn't been going to hardcore shows for very long and this show in a neighborhood with roving gangs of 12 year old Hispanic and black kids with baseball bats/ tire irons (yes, I saw this)just added to the excitement to see Integrity. I should also mention that they never showed up.

With all the times I have seen Integrity since and the numerous break ups, self parody and recent online fan championing, it is nice that Integrity has shown up on "The Blackest Curse." Leading off this new slab of Integrity wax is "The Process of Illumination." Musically it sounds VERY close to classic Integrity. Vocally/ lyrically however, there is nothing truly to pick out. There's surely a lot of yelling and it's intense, but there's no lines jumping out at you that would inspire one into participating upfront like their earlier records. "Through the Shadows of Forever" is an improvement in that department, but overall what jumps out at you with The Blackest Curse is not the vocals at all, it's the riffs and intensity. There are moments where they fully embrace an early Slayer-esque style, some gnarly fast soloing and pit inducing, and for lack of a better word, breakdowns. "Before the World was Young" is a long, slow brewing song with hints of Metallica, wait is this an Integrity record? Yes, it is.


Integrity, to me anyway, always seemed like it was stylistically one part Judge, one part Slayer, one part Cro-Mags and one part Metallica; A metallic influenced hardcore band infused with intense darkness. I think that now their best described as a hardcore influenced metal band infused with intense, yep you guessed it; darkness. Semantics probably, but gone are the really noticeable hints of Judge and the Cro-mags, but remaining are the heavy handed touches of Slayer and Metallica. This is not a complaint. Integrity in 2010 is a very different animal than it was in the 90's and I expect wiggle room with member changes and the fact that singer Dwid lives in Belgium, whereas the rest of the band resides in Cleveland and elsewhere.


The Blackest Curse is a satisfying record. Not only in the sense that it mostly sounds like an Integrity release, but that its intensity borders on sheer brutality at times. Sure, there's no Melnick brothers and no real "sing along moments" but this is a record that would make great background music when a 12 year old is beating the fuck out of your car with his bat.

The MOST important record in my collection...

Although I had been borrowing music from my uncle Jimmy for years(mostly classic heavy metal)the year between turning 14 and 15 was really when I fell in love with music. Had there been a positive football or academic happening in that time frame, perhaps I wouldn't even be bothering with this blog, perhaps I'd be a different person, but I can only speculate. The fact of the matter is that when I was 14, not only did my uncle Dave take me to see Metallica, but he also took me to Cavages at the Summit Park Mall and let me pick out one album for purchase. This was a test of my coolness, I'm sure. A rite of passage to see if I had what it took to be a screaming heavy metal maniac. I was in middle school, and it would still be a year and a half before I discovered hardcore and straight edge and all the stuff that most people know I'm about. This was a young mulleted man-child who 21 years ago had to make a choice. A choice between 2 albums that interested him: Danzig: Danzig and Iron Maiden: Live After Death. Mainly these "choices" came from the fact that their cover art was intense and illustrated in a way that was appealing to my young mind.

I held both records in my hands, noticing they were "gate fold" layouts, like my Father's copy of Kiss: Alive. The 13.5" squares were heavier than the Sex Pistols, Ramones, Judas Priest, Devo, Motley Crue and earlier Maiden records I had borrowed prior to this meeting of two greats in my fists. I had to choose, I had to make a decision. I knew I liked both bands; but what to do?

Ultimately, Live After Death won the battle. Why, you ask? Well, my teenage mind chose the record with more songs. A simple decision, made from a craving for more music, more content. Although I did purchase Danzig eventually in my 15th year on cassette, Live After Death left an impression that has forever stayed with me in a way Danzig (arguably #5 in my favorite bands of all time) couldn't have. So today while I was making my breakfast there was no question what I was going to listen to. Iron Maiden's Live After Death, the 21 year old copy, the record I never parted with, the record that is the most important in my collection, the record that still fucking skips on side two.

I met my first love 4 days before my 15th birthday...

When my uncle took me to the event that forever changed my life. March 13th, 1989 I went and saw Metallica perform at the Buffalo War Memorial Auditorium. This single evening shaped my life in a way I could hardly describe with words (although I will attempt to) and set me up for future disappointments:
Blackened
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Harvester of Sorrow
Eye of the Beholder
Bass Solo
To Live Is To Die
Master of Puppets
One
Seek & Destroy
...And Justice for All
Creeping Death
Fade to Black
Guitar Solo
Battery
Last Caress
Am I Evil?
Whiplash
Breadfan

Solid set list, amazing show. To me there was not any one thing as cool as Metallica, not Star Wars, not Star Trek, not Iron Maiden: nothing was cooler than being a Metallica fan. I left that night knowing that what I wanted to do was play aggressive music and play guitar. What I didn't know was that the band who inspired me so much would, in little over 2 years time, turn me off and continue to make me feel embarrassed about ever liking them (in the first place) for the nearly 2 decades that would follow.

The "Black Album" broke my heart. It was a poor man's Danzig record stripped down to near retardation and appealed to the lowest common denominator. I hated it and I hated anyone who liked it. How could this be the same band that in 1986 after hearing them for the first time I instantly identified? I no longer understood, I no longer identified. They no longer seemed like down to earth guys that "got it" and got me, but rock stars; rocking out, untouchable and blind to the needs of a teenager growing up in whitewashed suburbia. I felt abandoned.

For the rest of the 90's, my relationship with Metallica was similar to one that you would have with a crazy ex girlfriend that still hangs out on the fringes of your circle of friends. Occasional droppings of hearsay of that crazy chick Metallica cutting her hair and wearing weird make up. "Did you hear what Metallica is doing today? She's suing some kid for copying her records!" Not to mention, their songs were still everywhere and not just the newer ones. For some reason, classic and modern rock stations picked up the Metallica banner, ignored any of their prior musical peers or influence, and cranked up Creeping Death in between Sweet Home Alabama and some shitty Aerosmith song. The embarrassment continued.

The new millennium arrived and I was working at Days Inn as a night auditor and would watch TV in the lobby for about 5 hours of my 8 hour shift. This is where my embarrassment of ever having a relationship with Metallica hit its definitive peak: I saw the video for St. Anger. Metallica had become a sloppy, drunken (or rather sober), train wreck. I couldn't believe it. It was like watching a loved one die in front of my eyes, I wanted to scream "NOOOOO!" at the top of my lungs, as if they would hear my plea and some how wake up, take a hot shower and fix 12 years of total unfocused behavior. I heard the entire album and couldn't believe that the band, who had once replaced Iron Maiden as my favorite, had put amateur hour on tape, marketed it and actually sold it to the public. I was ashamed. Ashamed of them and for them; shocked that their handlers, management and entourage hadn't tried to stop the album's release. Someone had to tell them what was up, someone had to help Metallica, someone HAD to stop the train wreck.

Then someone did try, or at least to my perception anyway, someone was brought in to save the sinking ship. I could practically hear millions of Metallica fans screaming: "Rick Rubin, save us from our despair!" It almost worked. It almost got better, but the ship is still sinking, even though the rate at which has slowed. I took a chance and listened to Death Magnetic (with an open mind) in its entirety tonight and I got sad remembering the good times. Metallica's found a new home now, pleasing their older, now mellower fans and their newer fans: but it still doesn't work for me. Metallica, we had some good times and I'm no longer angry with you, but I just don't think you have a place in my life anymore.