ENTOMBED A.D. To Release 'Back To The Front' In August

"Back To The Front", the album that was recorded last year by four members of the most recent lineup of the legendary Swedish metal act ENTOMBED — Lars Göran Petrov (vocals),Olle Dahlstedt (drums),Nico Elgstrand (guitar) and Victor Brandt (bass) — will be released on August 5 via Century Media Records under the band name ENTOMBED A.D.

Petrov will only perform with ENTOMBED A.D. and will not take part in any upcoming shows announced under the name ENTOMBED.

Says Petrov: "After a year of struggles, we are happy to finally get 'Back To The Front' out! There is no one stopping us this time from playing music, being on the road and headbang as metalheads do!"

ENTOMBED A.D. is:

Lars Göran Petrov - Vocals
Nico Elgstrand - Guitar
Victor Brandt - Bass
Olle Dahlstedt - Drums

The first song from "Back To The Front" will make its online debut on May 20.

Original ENTOMBED members Alex Hellid (guitar) and Ulf "Uffe" Cederlund (guitar) joined forces with former ENTOMBED frontman Orvar Säfström to perform the band's classic second album, "Clandestine" (1991),on February 1 at Gävle Konserthus in Gävle, Sweden. They were backed by the 65-piece Gävle Symphonic Orchestra and a 40-piece choir.

Hellid did not participate in the writing and recording of "Back To The Front".

Century Media Records announced last fall that the release date of "Back To The Front" — which was originally supposed to be made available under the ENTOMBED moniker — was being pushed back to 2014 from the previously announced October 29, 2013 due to "unpredictable technical problems."

Asked in an interview with France's MetalChroniques.fr if the omission of Hellid's name from the ENTOMBED biography accompanying the original promotional copy of "Back To The Front" was a mistake on the record label's part, Petrov replied: "I do not want to speak publicly about this at the moment; this is something we want to keep internal and private for now. But this is not an error in the biography. Next question?"

Hellid, who did not accompany the Petrov-fronted lineup of ENTOMBED when the band performed at the Manizales Grita Rock festival in Colombia in August 2013, reportedly threatened his former bandmates with legal action if they continued to record and perform under the ENTOMBED name.

"Back To The Front" was recorded at Studio Bohus (ABBA, EUROPE) in Kungälv, Sweden with producer Roberto Laghi (IN FLAMES, HARDCORE SUPERSTAR). The CD's original cover artwork was painted by Zbigniew Bielak (WATAIN, VADER) and can be seen below.

A press release states: "Don't be afraid that it will sound like ABBA — it's 666% true to the ENTOMBED everybody loves. While not falling for total regression back to the early classics 'Left Hand Path' or 'Clandestine', expect a total bone-crushing opus that will have fans of 'Wolverine Blues', 'To Ride…' or 'Morning Star' cry tears of joy. From the morbid, pissed-off lyrics over detuned, massive riffs to the inimitable brick-heavy groove and L.G. Petrov's titanic roar, 'Back To The Front' has it all, so get ready for a stone-cold stunner!"

"Back To The Front" original track listing (subject to change):

01. Kill To Live
02. Bedlam Strike
03. The Underminer
04. Second To None
05. Allegiance
06. Waiting For Death
07. Eternal Woe
08. Digitus Medius
09. Vulture And The Traitor
10. Pandemic Rage
11. Soldier Of No Fortune