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Entombed > Clandestine > Reviews > NolanATL37
Entombed - Clandestine

Nicke Andersson in the spotlight, the mastermind of Swedeath - 95%

NolanATL37, April 12th, 2021
Written based on this version: 1991, CD, Earache Records

What an album! Definitely a worthy follow up to Left Hand Path, now I would not say that it's better at all. This record is too different from Left Hand Path, something about these songs have a darker yet less chaotic tone. Also the vocals are more shouted as a result of LG not being in the band because he was allegedly with Nicke's girlfriend. Nicke does a fantastic job on vocals, and does even better on drums, with this probably being hs finest performance. This album as a whole is Nicke's best work all around because of how much more involved in the music he is. Alex and Uffe do awesome as well, bringing that intense sandpapery Boss HM-2 pedal sound back (something here is a bit different with the sound, i've always been told the mids were turned up) Now that i've introduced you to what the album entails lets review the material contained within!

The album wastes no time in getting started with a fantastic 1-2 combo with the speedy "Living Dead" and the melodic and dark "Sinners Bleed" with it's quiet part with maniacal laughing and a hardly audible voice line, "Death, eternal punishment..." awesomely evil stuff! The speed of Living Dead and one of the most memorable vocal lines and riffs in death metal, "I live while you decay!!!" My favorite part about both of these tracks is their seamless transition to each other. After those songs you have the classic Evilyn with an echo vocal effect. Good fun, great solo on it! Just wait until track 5 and 6 come along though, my friend you are in for a treat, Stranger Aeons and Chaos Breed, the two best tunes on the whole record and some of the most classic tunes of Entombed. Stranger Aeons has some wicked riffs, breakdowns, an awesome vocal part as well as one of the best darkly melodic parts of any song i've ever heard. Then tracks 7-9 close off in a most satisfactory fashion with Crawl being the best of the last triplet of tracks. It clocks in at 6:13 and keeps your attention for that duration, with fantastic solos and great riffs. Through The Collonades is an awesome closer, very well written and very dark and mysterious. The only thing I don't enjoy is the lack of guitar effects that they use to make more variety in guitar solo writing which was something Left Hand Path did fantastically.

This record has fantastic production, which is to be expected from the Morrissound of the east, Sunlight Studios. The drums are bludgeoning and powerfully technical without losing the groove of the music. The guitar work is fantastic on this album, the tone is a bit less sandpapery and as a result they are able to write less chaotic songs and establish darker atmospheres. This album is definitely a top 10 release of 1991, it had a lot of healthy competition with international acts as well local bands. Dismember debuted this year, Death was innovating tech death, and Carcass was crafting medical handbooks hidden as death metal records. Unleashed also debuted this year, a product of the "split" of Nihilist. This album stands out as it was the anticipated follow up to the greatest death metal album of all time, Left Hand Path, people were very excited and had high expectations for Clandestine. This album helped further establish the Swedish sound along with Dismember and Unleashed, who all had strong records that year. Entombed did well, and I believe they did better than anyone else in Sweden. Dismember came the closest of course, who can forget Like an Everflowing Stream?

This album gets a 95, it's a lot different from Left Hand Path, but it definitely is a worthy follow up. Not even the absence of the mighty LG Petrov slowed this band down. This album was one of the most anticipated, if not the most anticipated record of 1991, some were disappointed and some even like this better than the classic debut. I say that this album was the next best thing you could ask in the progression of Entombed from Left Hand Path. Now the album after this on the other hand, was not expected at all, nobody would think Entombed would do what they did, but they did, and I believe it worked. In saying that, i'm also saying that this is the last Entombed album in their classic style, and what a shame they didn't keep writing them like this one. Don't get me wrong, I love the death'n'roll style, but i'd love it if the classic Entombed style was done for a 3rd album and then they changed. Definitely give this a listen if you enjoyed Left Hand Path. More of the same, but with fresh and interesting ideas that will keep you on your toes. Listen to it as soon as possible.

-Nolan