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!
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