Lista de Bandas Death Metal Entrails (SWE-1) The Tomb Awaits

Swedish death metal has always been the death metal sub-genre of choice when introducing friends to death metal, with the balance of groove, melody and brutality that most Swedish death metal bands are able to provide with their releases. Hot on the heels of their highly-acclaimed 2010 release Tales from the Morgue comes Entrails' 2011 follow-up, The Tomb Awaits.

Despite forming all the way back in 1990 and having only one member from the original line up left in in its current incarnation (guitarist Jimmy aka Bloodspill), Entrails is now focussed on crushing all opponents that dare stand in their pathway. The logo of Entrails that bears a striking resemblance to other Swedish death metal legend Entombed is but a small hint of what fans of Swedish death metal can expect on The Tomb Awaits.

The melancholic intro on the title track The Tomb Awaits sounds like it could have come off a depressive/melancholic black metal record from bands such as Shroud of Despondency and the likes, but this seems to be put there simply to throw listeners off once the real action begins as the acoustic guitar gives way to a heavy atmosphere at the background and the crushing riffs of Unleashed with Wrath are introduced to the listener, complete with the abrasive guitar tone and the urgency in the speed of the music. Throughout the album, the style that is so well-known in Swedish death metal is executed with high speed and precision, not missing a single beat at all and not letting the listeners have a moment to breathe. From the distant sounding guitar solos on tracks, to the slowdown on Unleashed with Wrath and letting the lead guitar take the spotlight, they all bring to mind similar bands such as Bloodbath. The similarities in the bombastic production job to the aforementioned Bloodbath (especially similar to their Nightmares Made Flesh record) is hardly surprising as well, considering the person behind the production of the album, Dan Swano.

There are of course moments where the band tries to include some elements to make them stand out from their peers, such as the inclusion of the slower and more haunting moments on the intro of Crawling Death, with the inclusion of a dark atmosphere complete with a slow piano to bring out the mood. There is also the innovation of guitarists Jimmy and Mathias through the usage of quirky effects on their solos on songs like Eaten by the Dead, and the slight (ironic) soaring moment on Undead, almost entering melodic death metal ground, but for the most part of the record, this is pure unadulterated Swedish death metal.

The Tomb Awaits is an excellent example of the Swedish death metal album with the razor sharp execution of the band members and the mixing and mastering of Dan Swano, and is sure to sit well with fans of the genre. Despite the slight lack of originality in the songwriting department (after all, how different can another band playing this variety of sub-genre get?), this is a record worth getting if one is a fan of similar bands.