Entombed – Uprising – Review

Entombed

Uprising (Threeman)
by Scott Hefflon

Entombed have been heading down this dirty death’n’roll (left hand) path for some time, and Uprising goes even further in that direction. That is to say that if yer a fan of what the band’s been doing post-Wolverine Blues, this is what yer lookin’ for. To remember that The Hellacopters is an Entombed offshoot (and no, kids, they are NOT The Entombed) makes more and more sense these days, but The Hellacopters, I hear, are heading toward even more classic rock/guitar rock territory. Fuckin’ yipee… For fans of the old Entombed, the ugly-sounding technical death metal of the first few records, well, avoid this like jury duty.

Me? I liked DCLXVI: To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth. But I’m not gonna defend it to the old school cuz I don’t like it that much. And this one? Sounds throaty and mean, like a muscle car at a stoplight, but for all its rolling thunder riffery, I find myself distracted and kinda surprised when I snap back and the CD’s still droning on. At almost an hour long (US version has three pretty dull bonus tracks that are quieter and sound even shittier than the rest, though the latter was probably intentional), it’s just kind of a lot of Entombed, seeing as, much like Ramones-style punk, there’s not really a helluva lot of variation, chord or production-wise. Two exceptions are the Slayerish “Something Out of Nothing” and the final (non-bonus) track, “In the Flesh.” The latter should please riffsters cuz it’s spooky minor shambling (perfect for the Frankenstein mosh, if you’ve ever had the pleasure), and there’s all sorts of that dramatic echoing roars and stuff like the good ol’ days of metal. There’re actually some Tom Warrior battlecries (that’s old Celtic Frost, for those of you having trouble keeping up), and the rest of the record has hints of that as well, though I’d name-drop Clutch first and TGIWarrior just to show off.
(www.entombed.com)