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Entombed: To ride, shoot straight, and speak the truth

05/03/09 || Daemonomania

Well well well, an Entombed album that hasn’t been reviewed at GD before? I’m just as surprised as you are. In fact, “To ride, shoot straight, and speak the truth” is from way back when Entombed was still considered good by most metalheads. Sure, not every song sounded exactly like “Bitter loss,” but they had created a new sound on the monumental “Wolverine blues” and were sticking with it.

This disc, however, does start the trend of filler tracks wedged in amongst the killers to round out the running time. On “WB” every song was a snarling death ‘n roll beast clawing to get out and maul you. On “TRSSaStT” (fuck me), there’s a few of those wild animals left in the petting zoo, but the vibe overall is much more laid back. Like, “let’s get that Swedeath guitar tone right, write some fun lyrics, and rock out”.

If you’re willing to accept that attitude, then plentiful pleasures await thee. The title track, “Like this with the devil”, “They”, “Somewhat peculiar”, and “Wreckage” are all tremendous. And behold the truly face crushing “Damn deal done” with a riff you’ll want to hear all day long. If Yetis were having a rad keg party in the Himalayas; eating roasted Sherpa, causing avalanches, and mocking their wussy Bigfoot cousins, “Damn deal done” would certainly be on their playlist. To get a good idea of whether or not you’ll like “DCLXVI” (the subtitle of the album – for those with rusty Roman numeral skills – that’s 666) just listen to this fucker.

The rest of “TRSSaStT” consists of less championship level versions of the monsters already mentioned. Most are okay, except for “Uffe’s horrorshow” which might be an attempt at humor. Another joke bites the dust. Plenty nuff fun atmosphere going on already – don’t push your luck. The picture in the booklet where the band is walking up to their own private jet with ENTOMBED emblazoned on the side is comedy gold, a song just over a minute with the lyrics:

A private horrorshow is playing in my head
Movie after movie until I am… dead!

Not so much…

To talk about production and various performances, I will refer you to whatever was said on GD about their previous “opus”:http://www.globaldomination.se/class666/entombed-wolverine-blues. Of course, a man we all know and love had joined them on bass in between albums, and his inclusion does add to the overall asskickery at hand. Crunchiness abounds, but you can still hear everything perfectly and the unique roars of Mr. Petrov still smoke.

The 2 CD digipack has a companion disc called “Family favorites,” where das ‘tombed cover The MC5, King Crimson, Venom, and Black Sabbath. If I knew the originals a bit better then I could comment on their deathification, but I do not and will not. Suffice to say, they sound like death ‘n roll. Nothing to dump your pants about.

So if you’re a fan of early, more pure DM era Entombed and are nervous to get into their later material, I’d suggest “Wolverine blues” first. If that album don’t hit yer G-spot, chances are ‘To ride…” won’t stain your sheets either. But if you’re like me and can’t get enough of the blues, “TRSSaStT” is a joyous second helping of D ‘n Rgasms. “DCLXVI” is just short of the required number of murderous melodies to make the Class 6(66) section. Ironic, right?

So I’ll give em a 6.6 out of 10 to really rub it in.

Information
Released: 1997
Label: Music for Nations
Website: www.entombed.org
Band
Lars Göran Petrov: vocals
Uffe Cederlund: guitars
Alex Hellid: guitars
Jörgen Sandström: bass
Nicke Andersson: drums

Tracklist
01. To Ride, Shoot Straight And Speak The Truth
02. Like This With The Devil
03. Lights Out
04. Wound
05. They
06. Somewhat Peculiar
07. DCLXVI
08. Parasight
09. Damn Deal Done
10. Put Me Out
11. Just As Sad
12. Boats
13. Uffe’s Horrorshow
14. Wreckage

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