Entombed: Left Hand Path (1990)
They say timing is everything, and poor timing was definitely to blame for my failure to take this particular Left Hand Path when Swedish death metal gods Entombed first unveiled it to the world, some 30 years ago.
Oh, it’s not as dramatic as it sounds!
It’s just that I so happened to spend my heavy metal dollars elsewhere in the summer of 1990 (not that I recall even seeing import copies of this LP in Brazilian record stores), and my baptism-by-Entombed wound up taking place a little later, courtesy of Clandestine and Wolverine Blues.
So by the time I circled back to Left Hand Path, it was too late to appreciate the full scale of its pioneering breakthroughs: from maybe the first undeniable sightings of that signature Sunlight Studios ‘buzzsaw,’ to the songwriting innovations that unconditionally moved death metal out from under thrash’s shadow.
Why, the six-minute title track alone was a revelation, piling on unprecedented complexities on its meandering trail to an atmospheric breakdown rife with synths and melodic solos that boldly predicted death metal’s progressive possibilities, then shockingly saved them for a rainy day ...
Because none of the next nine songs ventured quite that far afield again, yet morbid standouts like “Revel in Flesh,” “But Life Goes On,” “Bitter Loss” and “Supposed to Rot” were all riff-mongering, meaty-drummed master-classes destined to define the classic S.D.M. sound.
The only relative throwback to the thrash/death metal nursery was the nonetheless irresistible “Abnormally Deceased” (that’s why it was tucked away towards the end), but it too underscored the fact that Nicke Anderson was already the best natural songwriter working in death metal, aside from Sepultura’s Max Cavalera.
In sum, while no amount of mental or editorial projection can ever replicate the experience of actually being there, in the moment (I know, I was “there” for many other “moments”), taking the Left Hand Path to writing this blog at least unlocked this seminal album’s greatness for me like never before.
And there is simply no way to overstate just how radical, revolutionary and downright life-altering this LP was by the extreme metal standards of 1990.
More Entombed: Clandestine, Wolverine Blues, DCLXVI: To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth, Uprising, Morning Star.
