Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Entombed - Left Hand Path (1990)

Inspired by the recent discussions here on the Metal Academy forums around Dismember and Like An Ever Flowing Stream, I realised that I had not taken time to review that record or indeed the highly lauded debut by fellow Swedish death metal legends, Entombed. With both albums coming out within twelve months of each other (Entombed’s being the first) I can remember a lot of noise around both of them to be honest. Back in the old Terrorizer forum days, Left Hand Path was always described as being “5 fists”, the ultimate accolade we regulars would give a record on that forum. It was dished out as the rating without any consideration to it being anything less, there was just no questioning the quality and importance of the Entombed debut as far as us Tez forumites were concerned.

Landing before even Carnage’s Dark Recollections, Entombed’s debut has the humble accolade of being known as the first true Swedish death metal release and one that kickstarted the whole scene. As such, no words I can use some thirty years after its release can detract from the fact that this album was hugely important (still is arguably). That buzzsaw guitar tone was the unique identifier that made the album standout from more or less everything else at the time. However, I would argue that on reflection this is not the album highlight or me. That award goes to the superb vocal performance of the late Lars-Göran Petrov.

Petrov’s throaty vocals are the clear standout for me as they are not overdone (unlike the buzzsaw guitar). They possess a hardcore gruffness with a guttural edge that is not as dramatic as John Tardy or Chris Barnes, yet was still perfectly suitable to the more melodic elements of the debut album. The explosive drums of Nicke Andersson are the second success of Left Hand Path. Not technically superb, but still such a complete performance, nonetheless. Now, the buzzsaw guitar is not lost to me obviously. As much as I stand by my statement that there is too much of it, it is impossible to not be hooked by the catchy riffing on the likes of Supposed to Rot and Bitter Loss. It is just that I find that this sound of riffing is suited much better alongside other elements in the sound so that the riffs really do standout. Whilst not quite background noise, they do fade quickly when you look at the whole album.

Structurally, Left Hand Path suffers from repetition track to track. It gets too much credit for founding a sound/style instead of doing anything all that remarkable with it. There is the odd, spoken word passage or shouted line into a cavernous echo that does little if anything to add any real menace to proceedings. Barring the sonic work of Alex Hellid, there is little technically all that impressive here. Whilst this review may have read a lot differently some twenty or thirty years ago, it is not an album that has aged all that well when placed in front of a metalhead of some thirty-five years at least. Important but not essential.