by Antonis Mantzavinos
Entombed has always been a band with sarcasm, self-sarcasm to a great extent, throughout their career. Lyrics. Imagery. Attitude. Performance. Even album titles. Obviously when a death metal band, naming their third album with the word ‘blues’, you don’t expect to listen a nice bluesy and calm music piece. No way!
‘Wolverine Blues’ is to my opinion the ‘Ace of Spades’ of Entombed. Their more prestigious, their ace upon their sleeve, the one paving the way to their brilliant and triumphant future.
Backed up chronologically by two of the greatest albums ever in the death metal genre, the bar was already set up so high for the Stockholmers. But, their time was not up yet. They managed to produce a massive record, a cornerstone for what was called ‘Death N’ Roll’, although sounding a bit awkward as a term, it perfectly describes the momentum of their music at that time and also, how much influential this record has been, both to them creating new music, but also to other bands, getting inspiration from, and blending the extreme metal with more diverse sounds and directions. This is where pure death metal meets, punk, hard rock, classic heavy metal in a groovy, playful, sarcastic and gloomy atmosphere. All in Entombed’s trademark and exceptionally significant signature sound.
Released by Earache Records on October 4, 1993, it also came to an era where there were a lot of changes overall in the broader heavy metal and rock scene, where almost everything was changing. Well, Entombed has never been a band who was afraid to change, to differentiate, even from their own self. But, as always, also in this case, they did it with a massive record, a solid album which will be commemorated for many years still.
L-G Petrov is giving almost his lifetime performance, spitting up the lyrics with so much ferocity and intensity. His contribution, to the band, to the genre and to the whole heavy metal scene is at its height on ‘Wolverine Blues’. Fantastic performance!
Nicke Andersson is playing the most diverse and majestic drums of his career, changing the speed, the power, the groove at will. One of the best drumming ever. Alex Hellid and Uffe Cederlund is the perfect guitar duo with this trademark Tomas Skogsberg/Sunlight Studios sound of their riffs, second to none on this genre.
Lars Rosenberg is the perfect fit on bass for this guitar duo, adding a more organic feel and also complementing the massive/solid rhythm section together with Nicke. This sound is so unbeatable. This groove is kicking ass. This attitude is so defiant.
The story with Marvel and of course Wolverine, of course added points on its fame and contributed to its myth, but, don’t be fooled: the essence and the true story lies in the music itself, no matter what. The influence of the album, its aftermath, its legacy, the way it helped the band to reveal their different – than just pure meat metal – side which made things so interesting and appealing from that point onwards.
Massive. Monumental. Absolutely brilliant. Tons of headbanging.
Highlights:
“Eyemaster”
“Wolverine Blues”
“Full of Hell”
“Hollowman”
“Out of Hand”
