Entombed - Wolverine Blues (1993) Reviews
Disappointing album that just makes me want to listen to their old stuff.
Wolverine Blues must be the first significant example of the genre death 'n' roll and I can't say I'm a huge fan. Their first two albums were fantastic, pioneering death metal albums that along with a bunch of other bands (such as Unleashed, Carnage and Dismember), kicked off the whole Stockholm sound. Whereas Dismember and Unleashed relentlessly continued on with the sound they'd formed, Entombed decided to take a detour.
Strangely, considering how different the album is to their former work, you can tell it's Entombed straight away. The dirty riffs are still there but they're a lot less ferocious and the leads could be straight out of a 70s "metal" band. The vocals lost a little bit of the death growl and are now more of a grunty shout. But the main difference musically is the drumming. It now resembles plain old rock and roll drumming a lot of the time and I have to say that it takes a lot of the power out of the bands effect.
So obviously Wolverine Blues disappoints me, but I guess it's not terrible. The band know how to write good riffs and there are plenty on this album. Eyemaster, Rotten Soil and the title track get things underway quite well, but then tracks like Full of Hell and Blood Song are quite simplistic and boring. I'm just not left with any real desire to listen to the album again once it finishes. Then again, maybe this sound is just not my thing, so I'll give it a generous three stars.
After making two timeless additions to traditional Swedish death metal, Entombed was ready to try a new approach while keeping their roots. Their 3rd album marked the beginning of a new inspiring era, an era that would later be unappealing when two more albums take the band farther away from their death metal roots. Wolverine Blues, together with Carcass' Heartwork, marked a big historical turn for their label Earache in 1993, attracting new fans with a somewhat more melodic sound. While Carcass invented the melodic death metal genre with barely any prior experimentation, Entombed added pieces of hard rock, hardcore, and Pantera-like groove metal for something more groovy with slight hints of melody, death 'n' roll. Desultory also experimented with that subgenre, but Entombed succeeded in making that potential new hybrid.
With a title like Wolverine Blues, was there any relation with the wise invincible Wolverine from Marvel Comics? Yes there was! Even though the band were against anything to do with Wolverine, Earache went behind their backs to make a deal with Marvel for mainstream promotion. That's part of how this album became a successful leap for this band, label, and much of extreme metal. I can understand other aspects of their success. Lars Göran Petrov (RIP), who was absent for their second album Clandestine, returned and stayed with the band until their first breakup. The tone maintains their earlier dark atmosphere while slamming through rock-infused compositions.
Feedback rising and a sample from Hellraiser, "I am the way" (one of a few audio samples removed for later editions due to copyright issues), begin the opener "Eyemaster". A searing groove chugs along to show you what to expect in the subgenre before an unforgettable riffing force. It's stunning how no one had this idea before Entombed did and that's what makes them a prominent part of death metal history. Another good track, "Rotten Soil" pummels with thundering fists of fury, taking a minute to switch from the groove in the verses to amazing riffing before a breakdown of war. Phenomenal punk rhythms appear while not forgetting their usual death metal. The title track was originally in an earlier EP with audio samples in the place of vocals. The one-minute mark turns the opposite way, from riffing to a bluesy groove.
My favorite track here is the super-groove-crusher "Demon". The vocals are some of Petrov's most memorable, as if he's a preaching town crier announcing incoming evil. I was almost convinced enough to find something to fight off that evil. The thrashy rhythms and lead are brilliant there. Death 'n' roll has not gotten a better establishing point than that! "Contempt" weaves through solid melody and breaks down into hard rock, moving in the same tempo as the previous two tracks, sounding evil in the melody intervals. "Full of Hell" has the most rock in this album, with memorable hooks grunge bands wish they could've had earlier.
More of the grunge madness can be heard in "Blood Song". I'm genuinely surprised this song has never appeared in at least one episode of True Blood, particularly in a hillbilly vampire scene. Plus, the lyrics can range from funny to frightening, so it definitely would've worked well for that show. Punk thunders through again, with leads that guide you through a killing trail. "Hollowman" is not bad, but it's weaker than the rest and definitely not a favorite. This is more like Hillbilly Blues at this point, especially the bridge harmony midway through. The verse riff in "Heavens Die" is a soul-burner, but the punk rhythm sounds too basic and doesn't level up the psychotic lead that follows. Absent in the Marvel edition, "Out of Hand" is far less memorable. And don't ask me about their poor cover of "State of Emergency" by Stiff Little Fingers.
Wolverine Blues is a turning point in Swedish death metal history. It is the bridge between their sense of creativity from their first two standard death metal albums and the switch to deathless mediocrity in the two albums after this one. Slightly flawed especially towards the end, but a better offering of death metal. It was time for the small influences the band hinted earlier to fully see the light of day and the core of their writing, one part of death metal refreshing into different subgenres in 1993. Entombed continue their innovation that would build up a higher following. Unfortunately, they were so motivated that they would later fall into the deathless rock 'n' roll Hellhole....
Favorites: "Eyemaster", "Rotten Soil", "Demon", "Full of Hell", "Blood Song"
1993 was a really interesting year for death metal. The subgenre had peaked a couple of years earlier & was now going from strength to strength as far as popularity & commercial acceptance went but people were starting to question the longevity of the movement given the limited sonic tool kit with which the artists had to work with & this led to various different approaches being employed by the protagonists of the subgenre. On the one hand you had those that elected to simply refine the existing model without taking too many risks. Morbid Angel, Brutality & Dismember all fell into this camp with their 1993 releases. And then we had those that realized that death metal couldn’t be sustained long-term without continuing to challenge the status quo with bands like Death, Atheist & Carcass all pushing the limitations of the subgenre to new extremes.
The first two albums from Swedish death metal gods Entombed had been primarily responsible for the formation of the then thriving Swedish death metal scene. 1990’s “Left Hand Path” had wet my palette with a new & grimier sound based around their now legendary signature Boss HM-2 pedal driven guitar crunch but it was 1991’s “Clandestine” album that really saw me becoming a crazed fan. It was a much more complex & sophisticated outing that saw the band extending themselves as not only musicians but also as genuine artists. But if 1993’s follow-up “Wolverine Blues” is anything to go by then it’s safe to assume that Entombed had pushed the traditional death metal sound as far they thought it could go.
I can still remember my feelings upon giving “Wolverine Blues” my first spin after rushing out to pick it up immediately on release. Confusion would be a very good word for it really. I was genuinely confused by what I was hearing. It wasn’t that what I was hearing was all that “bad”. It was that it wasn’t what I was expecting at all. Carcass would take me to a similar place with their “Heartwork” album only a few weeks later but I think “Wolverine Blues” was a little more alienating for me initially as I wasn’t even sure that this was a death metal record at all. I definitely got the feeling that it might be a grower but I wasn’t all that sure that I wanted to invest the time required to see to be honest. I was a complete death metal nut at the time & the scene was absolutely chock full of great death metal in the mid 90’s. So why would I bother to see if I could push through the initial barricades that were preventing me from gaining full enjoyment with this record? It was because “Wolverine Blues” sounded like nothing I’d ever heard before & I got the distinct sense that I might be hearing something that would set the tone for the future of metal. I wasn’t sure I was onboard with it mind you but I wanted to see where it would go.
Now if you’re already familiar with Entombed’s earlier work then don’t expect to find “Wolverine Blues” to be completely foreign to your ears. The band’s signature elements are all still there & you’ll immediately know who you’re listening to. It’s just that those elements have been used in a different way & it’s resulted in a more fresh & noticeably accessible take on the death metal model. For example, the rhythm guitar sound is not as dominant in the mix here with the rhythm section take on a more authoritative position. Particularly the bass guitar of Lars Rosenberg which is positively huge. This gives the production job a real punch during those heavy-hitting moments where the band comes together in unison.
The overall tempo of this material is obviously more mid-paced than Entombed’s previous works & the song-writing utilizes more traditional verse-chorus-verse song structures than the anything-goes type arrangement that death metal bands had generally employed in the early 90’s. These two elements immediately give “Wolverine Blues” a more accessible feel but there were actual hooks here too. In fact, it’s difficult to think of a more “catchy” death metal record & that was a little hard to stomach for some fans (me included). The vocal delivery of LG Petrov could no longer be described as a growl or a grunt either. It was much more of a bark & had a lot more to do with hardcore punk than it did with death metal but this didn’t give it any less aggression to be honest. It was just…. different.
Instrumentally, there’d been a subtle change in the style of the riffs on “Wolverine Blues” with many of them possessing a groove that I’d associate more with stoner metal. Black Sabbath’s “Vol 4” album regularly springs to mind actually. Particularly during the doomier sections. The guitar solos also have a noticeably more bluesy feel to them that seems to have been drawn from 70’s hard rock while the drumming employed during these solos definitely seems to be trying to accentuate that by opting for beats that sit a lot more comfortably in the rock camp than the metal one. In fact, it seems like the band were using these solos as a sort of crescendo on many of these songs as the atmosphere lightens up, the tempo becomes more up-beat & you can imagine the audience all starting to rock out a little more. I can’t say that this concept appeals to me all that much but it was certainly very different.
Nicke Andersson’s drumming had been the highlight of the “Clandestine” album. He was always the creative genius behind Entombed & one gets the feeling that he was the mastermind behind the change of direction with “Wolverine Blues” too as his drumming is the catalyst for the change in atmosphere it pervades. His hard-hitting style is still in full effect but there’s a much rockier feel to a lot of this material & that’s the main element that detractors find isolating. I certainly fell into that camp initially but time saw me becoming more comfortable with it after I’d accepted that Entombed were now a very different beast.
Look I’m not going to sit here & tell you that I like Entombed Mk II as much as Entombed Mk I. Well at least not as much as I do “Clandestine”. I would have much preferred a more standard death metal offering at the time & would suggest that this is probably still the case. But I’d be lying if I claimed that the charm of “Wolverine Blues” didn't open up to me over time. If you allow the hooks to dig their teeth in then they very likely will & there are no weak tracks here. The attention to detail that marks an elite member of any subgenre is still well & truly in effect here & Entombed always had a rare talent for writing transitions that see all of the band members coming together with an inimitable crunch. This is indeed still some hard-hitting metal music. I’m just not sure that it’s death metal so I’ve never been comfortable with that tag. But if not death metal… then what? I’m not too sure but the death ‘n’ roll label would seem to be about as good as any in the grand scheme of things & I’m yet to hear any example of that sound that matches this initial foray in the two & a half decades since so I recommend that you ignore the negativity of the death metal purists out there & go into “Wolverine Blues” with an open mind. You may just find that you like what you hear. In fact, I slightly prefer it over “Left Hand Path” these days if I’m completely honest.
Death 'n' Roll, Baby
Need a blast of adrenaline straight to your bloodstream and your head? This album pumps you up more than chugging four 5-Hour Energies.
Entombed's third release is a departure from the classic Swedish death metal style embodied on Left Hand Path and further refined on Clandestine, but the band still kicks just as much ass (if not MORE) on Wolverine Blues.
All the songs are loud, aggressive, balls to the wall METAL songs first and foremost, filled with dirty bluesy riffs, pummeling drums and raw UUNNNGGHH vocals. There might not be a better pump-up album in Death Metal. You'll be running up brick walls (or smashing them).