ENTOMBED A.D. — Dead Dawn (review)

Album · 2016 · Death 'n' Roll

4/5 · 2016-06-17
UMUR

"Dead Dawn" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Swedish death metal act Entombed A.D.. The album was released through Century Media Records in February 2016. As most people probably know Entombed A.D. is a continuation of the legendary Swedish death metal act Entombed minus guitarist Alex Hellid, so while Entombed A.D. is still a relatively new act, the four guys in the band have played together for quite a few years...

...and the music on the album sounds unmistakably like "classic" Entombed (which was also the case on "Back to the Front (2014)" (the debut album by Entombed A.D.). The guitars have the right crusty sound, the drums play a punk/rock´n´roll influenced hard pounding energetic style, and lead vocalist L-G Petrov roars with his semi-growling distinct sounding voice. Entombed A.D. are wise enough to spice it up with the occasional more melodic and atmospheric moment, and as in the past there are quite a few hard rock elements in the sound too.

The quality of the material is generally high, although some tracks are more catchy than others. Highlights include powerful album opener "Midas in Reverse", the heavy "As the World Fell", the atmospheric "Hubris Fall", and "The Winner Has Lost" (which the band has also shot a video for). Especally the latter has the qualities to make it a future Entombed A.D. classic.

"Back to the Front (2014)" was a good solid effort by the band, although it wasn´t exactly earth shattering, and the same can be said about "Dead Dawn". The latter is just a notch more interesting and features a couple of really great tracks, which compared to the predecessor makes it the slightly better album overall. "Dead Dawn" is packed in a powerful sounding production, and the high level musical performances are another asset. 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

more than 2 years ago
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adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

They've been on my list bands that I should check out for ages. Just never seemed to get round to them. I'm sure they're not the only gap in my 90's death metal knowledge (in fact I know they are not).

UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Well...if you ever get inerested in listening to them I can recommend Clandestine and Wolverine Blues. They may not sound revolutionary today, but back then Entombed where one of the first death metal acts to incorporate hard rock elements to their music (Wolverine Blues was the first Entombed album to feature those influences). My personal favorite is Clandestine though. It´s a very Unique sounding old school Swedish death metal album. Check out Nicke´s drumming on that album. Fantastic. Left Hand Path is a Classic too of course, but it was never a personal favorite.

adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I've never listened to them either so you're not the only one.

Unitron wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Believe it or not, I've never listened to Entombed. I should really fix that.

Vim Fuego wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Nightfly, that is the weirdest thing anyone has ever said about Entombed! Good album, yes, but favourite???

Nightfly wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Morning Star is my favourite.

UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

They´ve always released good quality albums, and while nothing they´ve released since Wolverine Blues quite reach the heights of that album and Clandestine (in my book), it´s still pretty good.

Nightfly wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Will have to check this one out. I never heard the last one for some reason but like the earlier Entombed stuff.