Death metal pioneers Entombed return to Irish shores for the first time since their somewhat lacklustre support slot to Amon Amarth in the Academy two years ago. But bolstered by the addition of a second guitarist (former bassist Nico Elgstrand moving to guitar duties and Victor Brandt joining the fold on four strings), this time out they played an expansive set that was tight, focused and unforgiving.
Trawling through their extensive back catalogue they reinvigorated old stalwarts ‘Revel in Flesh’, ‘Crawl’, ‘Left Hand Path’ and ‘Stranger Aeons’ showing that the innovation, brutality and inventiveness of their ground-breaking first two albums is still capable of swinging jaws off their hinges. The ultra-crunching down-tuned buzzsaw guitar sound that defined the Swedish death metal scene is still the sonic equivalent of willingly having your head shoved through a wood chipper.
However, Entombed are far from a one tone wonder. A dramatic shift on their third album, Wolverine Blues, saw them adopt a more groove-based brutality and enter the realm of death and roll. Punkifying the blues basis of rock, dragging it through a shredder and giving it an ominous tongue-in-cheek looseness until the whole edifice feels like it’s about to collapse and makes you wonder whether it’s whimsy or genius. Divisive yes, but never dull. The band blast a psychedelic death and roll groove on ‘To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth’ and punk slam their way through ‘I For An Eye’ with a smirking lead singer LG Petrov urging the crowd to let him hear it for Satan. All good clean black juju mischief.
Other set highlights include the Danzig-tinged cover of Roky Erickon’s ‘Night of the Vampire’, the death thrash gallop of ‘Master’s of Death’, and the chaotic cacophony of ‘Those Supposed to Rot’. Added to that was an extended encore with the band unwilling to leave the stage. They blasted through the doomy shred of ‘Wolverine Blues’ before finally departing with ‘Out of Hand’ leaving many a smiling face, blown eardrum and snapped neck in their wake.