ENTOMBED

ENTOMBED is marking the 25th anniversary of its long out of print classic album "DCLXVI: To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth" by reissuing it with packaging as originally intended by the band, and brilliantly remastered by Magnus Lindberg at Redmount Studios. The CD version includes the original poster booklet, and the vinyl edition will be covered by gatefold sleeve. But above all, the strength of the revered death 'n' roll songs is the most important element at hand, and the re-release serves as a reminder as to why ENTOMBED is one of metal's most important and influential extreme acts.

ENTOMBED has become one of the most emulated and ripped-off bands, certainly in terms of its fuzzy, bottom-heavy guitar tone, in the worlds of contemporary death metal, old-school death metal and modern hardcore. That classic sound was born in their earliest of days, as far back as 1987 in their precursor band NIHILIST, as well as on ENTOMBED's initial 1989 demo "But Life Goes On", and most certainly on the debut full-length, 1990's "Left Hand Path". But following that point just a few years, the Stockholm-based ensemble eschewed its proper death metal template in favor of the death 'n' roll format that it adopted in 1993. As barbarically beautiful as the band's music was that year, it was quite endearing and equally divisive, due to the way they were still finding themselves and growing into their new self. But with 1997's "DCLXVI: To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth", ENTOMBED had finally come into its own as a death 'n' roll powerhouse.

The title track kicks things off with a surging, gripping groove that doesn't let up. The song is catchy, crunchy, hook-laden and evocative. If this wasn't enough proof that the band also delved deep into the murky swamp of sludge metal as well at this point, "Lights Out" hammers down enough of their bluesy sludge and groove to make that point very clear. And that pseudo-sludge aspect is amplified considering the extremely Southern metal-tinged "Damn Deal Done".

ENTOMBED's adventurous musical curiosity and wandering didn't betray its core element of heavy metal thunder, however. The fuzzy bass and HM-2 guitar assault was augmented on this album with the introduction of new bassist and former GRAVE member Jörgen Sandström. He joined the core band that included guitarists Uffe Cederlund and Alex Hellid, as well as vocalist L-G Petrov, who unfortunately passed away in 2021, and drummer Nicke Andersson. This would be Andersson's last full-length with ENTOMBED, as he later parted ways to focus upon his gritty garage rock band, THE HELLACOPTERS.

ENTOMBED would go on to stick its neck out even further on 1998's noise-rock influenced "Same Difference", which was a fantastic album. But the unit nestled back into its death 'n' roll shell after that, sometimes reflecting its death metal origins even more prominently at times. At any rate, ENTOMBED's classic banger "DCLXVI: To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth" has been given new life. The music has aged well, stood the test of time, and it's safe to say now that it has become a timeless classic.