ENTOMBED — Wolverine Blues (review)

Album · 1993 · Death 'n' Roll

4/5 · 2017-10-21
voila_la_scorie

Entombed: one of the Big Four in Swedish death metal and the first of the four that I was to encounter on CD. Fairly recently. Like, a few months ago and nearly three decades after the band's career commenced. As with many old school death metal bands I have gotten acquainted with, I found out about Entombed by watching old school death metal playlists on YouTube. Of course, the album usually mentioned is "Left Hand Path" with some attention also going to "Clandestine". It was either of these two that I had to choose for my first purchase. Then I saw "Wolverine Blues".

Blues?! A death metal band is using the word "blues" in an album title? And Wolverine? Even at the time this album was released, the X-Men character was well known. What on earth were these Swedes up to?

So, I checked out some songs on YouTube and, well, wow! Consider this: I had been checking out a couple of dozen bands or more in a subgenre I was not too familiar with and had previously avoided. At first, everybody sounded awesome. But after a while, everybody sounded similar. I wanted to find that band or album that did something different to make it stand apart from the usual death metal environment. This album certainly did stand out.

After two death metal albums in Swedish style, Entombed decided to get into some other stuff and came up with an album that sounds like a conconction of mid-seventies Black Sabbath and Motorhead with some hardcore peppered in. In-your-face, angry biker style vocals, really growly, dirty, massive-rusty-industrial-chain guitar sound, and a rhythm section that almost swaggers, this album took a death metal band in such a new direction that they called this music "death n' roll". While the title probably was supposed to sound cool, I can't help but think of crocodiles when I hear this. Death roll!

There's little point in picking apart each song. It's just ultra-gritty guitar riffs, groove, and guts throughout with some songs capturing my attention more than others for one reason or another. I'd say the first three or four tracks and the last two are my preferred songs, but the whole album is consistent, though "Hollowman" brings in a bit of melody.

After several listens, some of the excitement of hearing the entire album has worn off, but I am still very curious about the next album, "DCLXVI: To Ride Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth". For now, "Clandestine" is on its way to my place, so I'll get to see the earlier side of the band.

Death n' roll or whatever, it was really good to hear an album that combined components of the death metal sound with more familiar, traditional stuff like Black Sabbath and Motorhead.

more than 2 years ago
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voila_la_scorie wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Hmm... I’ve been there before. Buy an album. Love it. Buy the follow up and it’s lacklustre. Maybe I’ll snoop around in their catalogue more first then. Thanks, guys!

UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Yeah DCLXVI is not as great as Wolverine Blues. I agree on that.

voila_la_scorie wrote:

more than 2 years ago

The Hollowman ep, eh? Alright. And maybe I should listen more carefully to DCLXVI before spending the money?
I’m glad to hear you like this album, too! But yeah, death n’ roll?

Vim Fuego wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Death'n'roll is one of the dumbest names ever coined for a genre of music, but this album is a ripper. I like it far better than DCLXVI. Also, if you want to hear the transition from full on death metal to this, check out the Hollowman EP.