Serpent Saints (The Ten Amendments)

The first time I put this album on and the spooky acoustics and piano parted ways like virgin lips for the full on, refreshing blast of Sweden's favorite death metal pastime, I had nothing but a hideous, fat smile across my pasty face. This was the Entombed that I had known and loved in the early 90s, one of the first true breakout bands in the entire death metal genre. And yet, this was still the Entombed that loved its rock & roll, hardcore and punk rock music. But of all their work post Wolverine Blues, this must be the album that I most closely associate with a 'return to the roots' that made the band such a force to begin with. It also arrived about four years after its predecessor, not the first of these seeming pauses in the band's discography. But this album had the benefit of a 'preview' the year before through the When in Sodom EP, which was excellent. And while To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth was an underwhelming evolution for the band, which by this point even the more steadfast of the band's fans have largely forgotten, Serpent Saints - The Ten Amendments is a celebration of their entire history, smothered across 10 tight tracks of darkly comic mayhem.

Yes, the lyrics to this album are just as tongue in cheek as the past few efforts, if not more so, and for this reason, homophobes and curmudgeons might squawk at some of the delivery, especially since L-G Petrov is also having a go with his vocals here. But I assure you, this is all intentional, in the same bitter, dried wit of Morning Star and Inferno. Other changes here are to the tone, which is far cleaner than Inferno, possibly one of the more professional jobs they've had done with their work, yet still dense and atmospheric like their debut Left Hand Path. Other change-ups occur here within the band's lineup: Olle Dahlstedt of Misery Loves Co. takes over Peter Stjärnvind long-standing drumkit, and Nico Elgstrand of Terra Firma replaces Jörgen Sandström on the bass. Also, Uffe Cederlund had departed, so Alex Hellid was alone here on the guitars. But fear not, the integration here is quite seamless. Maybe the drums are a little tighter, but that's all I could notice.

The title track is a great choice for kicking off this beast, as it sprays a wave of loving nostalgia across your soul like a skunk excretion...you'll be wearing that smile long after the song ends, and your friends will be curious as to weather you're high or simply had a great sexual experience. They also might hesitate to shake your hand, you naughty sinner. There is still a hardcore/grind inflection to the guitar work that drives the tune forward, but then, this has always been the case, as far back as their formative years as Nihilist. Everything here is superb, from the verses to the crushing breakdown complete with Petrov's mouth full of angst, compounded here by the addition of 'snarling', black metal style vocals which we really haven't heard before from this source. "Masters of Death" opens with a salvo of 80s thrash guitars, recalling the fuzzy tone of Indestroy or Venom before moving towards a crossover rhythm strewn in death metal icing. "Amok" begins with all the subtlety of a late night slasher flick, building tension through ambiance and tolling before the deep groove of the guitars can be felt, and I mean groove. If Jimmy Page had been a serial killer, he might have written something like this before he went out on his final spree. The lyrics are blunt and a little strange, but they seem to fit the profile.

'You wanna see me dead and buried
You better think again
I am the one your daughter married
And I don't play pretend'

"Thy Kingdom Koma" digs down for another thrash riff, and Petrov uses one of his classic grand entrances, as the vocals echo into existence over the forward termination ala "Eyemaster". The track is a lot of fun, though the crunchy breakdown riff would hardly be effective without the atmosphere created by the vocals. We'd already been introduced to "When in Sodom" with the EP, but it fits in snugly here with its batshit dorky sexualizations, hinting at a larger social political perspective (as always). The use of the female backups in the bridge adds another level to the track, like the eerie biblical transgressions they conjure. Next is the slamming "In the Blood", with opens with a wall of groove every bit as massive as that you might find in "Demon" off Wolverine Blues, but grows ever creepier, as Petrov reaches into the gut and emerges with some of the most guttural vox he has used in forever. "Ministry" is a strange, percussive, choppy rhythmic piece which actually conjured up the BAND Ministry, at least during the verse, so I doubt the title is a coincidence. The chorus is driving and melodic, but otherwise it's probably the worst song on the album.

"The Dead, The Dying and the Dying to Be Dead", which wins an award here for best song title, starts off with a rock hook which might mislead you to think this is some tripe like what the band shat out on Same Difference, but it does escalate into a violent hybrid of punk and thrash, with some charging footwork breaks and a pretty amusing lyrical passage:

'They fuck you standing up, they fuck you when you're down
And if you get to be the king, they will shit on your crown
And when you're dead, you won't be forgotten
They will dig you up, and they will fuck you rotten'

Despite its wild cavorting and the crazy King Diamond-like laughter which hangs off in the distance during the groove, ghoulish breakdown, this too was not one of the better songs here, though superior to "Ministry" at least and lyrically entertaining. I was a little worried that "Warfare, Plague, Famine, Death" might follow suit, since it also brings back a lot of the band's hardcore influence, but the chorus here is fantastic, with little samples that break out behind the vocal line and a brutal thrash charge in there which alternates with a wailing old school Entombed deadline melody. "Love Song for Lucifer" is truly unique, like the closing cut "Amen" off the When in Sodom EP. A clean male/female vocal duet soothes over bristling acoustic guitars and turbulent background noise, as if they were being directed at you from a lone radio in an apocalyptic wasteland, the batteries soon to run dry. These are joined by some distorted barks before the track closes out the album with a series of cranking noises. Though strange, the track is sufficiently unsettling, and the pseudo-sexuality of lyrics that open with a repetition of "Come inside of me" is not lost upon its blasphemous veneer.

As you can tell, I'm pretty fond of Serpent Saints, an extremely solid album #9 for a band almost 20 years into their career. This is obviously not at the Left Hand Path level, or even Clandestine quality, but I'm not sure they will ever reach that again, so this sits confidently along with Wolverine Blues and Morning Star across the band's second tier of material. "Ministry" is probably the one song here I didn't care for, though "The Dead, The Dying and the Dying to Be Dead" has its weaknesses. To be honest, the trajectory of Serpent Saints falls slightly beneath the plane I had anticipated after hearing the 2006 EP, which featured some superb non-album tracks that are better than some of the songs here. Either way, this is money well spent. It's old but new, sleek and polished, and dripping with both humor and bitter humility.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

I picked up this album on cd, new & sealed, from a local charity shop for £2.99 a few days ago and when I got home I busily photographed it to sell on eBay. Then I thought I would check out some reviews, just on the offchance that this legendary Swedish band had returned to their roots...

As a fan of Nihilist since i got hold of the Premature Autopsy & Only Shreds Remain demos back in the late 80s, I eagerly anticipated, and was blown away by, Entombed's first album, Left Hand Path. Clandestine followed and is arguably even more ferocious. Few albums have matched those over the years. I also like Wolverine Blues but I could already see the direction the band were going in.

Indeed, Wolverine Blues was the last Entombed album ever I invested in (when it came out) before Serpent Saints and I have never purchased anything of theirs since - it just doesn't appeal.

And so, while I didn't hesitate to purchase Serpent Saints for a mere £2.99, I did so not knowing what the fuck it would sound like. And I will tell you now, I fucking like it.

While this album doesn't sound anything like their debut, it does have elements of Clandestine & Wolverine Blues and those elements comprise a harsh rawness and aggression, powered on by fucking brilliant vocals from LG Petrov. He has to be up there with the most powerful extreme metal vocalists ever.

The first track is the title track and is a powerful mid to fast tempo death metal track. The excellent chorus part really harks back to Clandestine days.

Following this is Masters Of Death, a relentless five minute thrash track that pays homage to death metal. Ok, the lyrics are a bit cheesy, but the intensity of it is just great. By this point I was getting rather excited...

Then, though, track 3 is a bit of a let down. Amok is probably what is regarded as 'death'n'roll' and reminds me of Swansong-era Carcass at the 1:10 to 1:30 mark. Its catchy in a commercial way I guess but thats about it.

Next track Thy Kingdom Come could be from Wolverine Blues and is played at an uncomfortable up-tempo mid-pace, however, its not a bad track and is a welcome return to some aggression after Amok.

When In Sodom is an excellent track, catchy and fast, and yes, the lyrics are fucking stupid, but who cares about fucking lyrics really? The drum sound changes on this track and I guess, as it was released as a single, it was recorded at a different session. Its a lighter, cleaner, snare sound and suits the track well.

The next 5 tracks, apart from In The Blood (which is a boring plodder) are all good, hard, raw aggression. However, the snare sound does tend to disappear as the album goes on - it gets weaker and lower in the mix, ending up sounding more like the drums on Nihilist's Drowned demo - kind of ineffective and lacking punch. The last track, Love Song For Lucifer, is a throwaway outro.

I have now listened to this album five times since I picked it up three days ago and its growing and growing. As someone who hasn't listened to anything other than Entombed's first three albums and who won't buy anything else after those (and still won't), I went into this with an open mind.

You should do the same.

It's silly to think people are out there still expecting iconic bands like Slayer, Metallica, Morbid Angel and even Entombed to return to form after so many years of not wanting to. This expectation makes even less sense in the case of Entombed as the first two albums were flukes! Leftover Nihilist inspiration and a completely different cast of characters were to blame for their style and success. "Wolverine Blues" did infact come out a hearty fifteen years ago and there was never even the slightest hint that Entombed would ever make an album in the style of the first two records again.

Entombed made a foray into hard rock territory for a good 5-6 years after "Wolverine Blues" as fools continued to hope for a new ripping death metal album. In 2001 "Morning Star" was metal enough and had some decidedly inspired tracks, this of course perpetuated the false hope of a death metal Entombed further. "Inferno" was an attempt to actually cash in on the wants and needs of old fans, but it failed miserably as the lyrical content still had not strayed from the "Same Difference" themes. Not to mention the musical style was a cheesy "Wolverine Blues" style mess overall.

Four years later in 2007 fans of the first two albums are reeling in disbelief that we still have not received Left Hand Path Part II. It's simply not going to happen. I am not going to begin to compare this album to the first two releases at all. That said, this album is better than most anything Entombed has done in the last 15 years.

"Serpent Saints" does a few things Entombed either hasn't done in a while, or just never did before. From the first song you'll hear faint keyboards, a harmonized solo and what are successful death metal guitar riffs. L-G Petrov isn't doing a cheesy bellow this time around, he's yelling in a decidedly low tone while throwing in higher pitched layered vocals as well as some almost gang shouted vocal parts. The production here doesn't suffer like the muddy mess that was "Inferno" and it avoids the stark sounding errors of "Morning Star". You can call this style "death 'n roll" all you want, no other band ever successfully sounded like Entombed and that is still the case.

As the album continues on it does drag heavily. It is after all a slow to mid-paced album and the band may be more inspired, edited and creative than recent years... but it's still not much fun to listen to. While Petrov has more to contribute than ever, his voice always carries along Entombed's most mediocre riffs. Again, it's a drag. The sole track I fully enjoy on this album is "Ministry" it's a good death metal song, it's too bad they couldn't fit more than one blasting, heavy song into this album. "When in Sodom" is a decent song as well, but fails to save the album.

All in all, Entombed has patched things up nicely on this album. The problem is while they may be perfecting their craft, it's the style that is still lacking any real conviction or points of interest. I wouldn't ask Entombed to change a thing, or revert back to being teenagers. I will simply find something else to listen to, as I have known exactly what to expect from them for the last 15 years.

Honestly, I never liked the “new” Entombed musical direction after the two great albums Left Hand Path and Clandestine. The groove elements were the viruses that destroyed their violence and death metal to fill the sound with dull and too weak elements. The violence of the classic death metal assault was erased to privilege a more personal but quite unconvincing direction. The albums before were always on the death ‘n’ roll style and also the last one doesn’t differ.

The impact is filtrated through heavy dosages of modernism and groove. The guitars sound is dry out and not Swedish anymore while the production is voluntary essential and raw. The drums sound is a bit weak but somehow more bound to this kind of sound. So we begin with a more modern track like “Serpent Saints” where the groove influences take dominion to continue with the more direct and simple “Master Of Death”. This last one shows some good up tempo parts and screamed vocals.

Unfortunately, the various modern guitars lines ruin a bit songs that could have been far better with a higher dosage of brutality. The vocals by Petrov are a bit a scratchy in their growlish tonality and the time passes for anyone because they are not like in the past, with that sick touch. Anyway, I believe that they fit better for the new direction by the band. Surely a song like “Thy Kingdom Koma” must be erased from the Entombed’s production because it’s terrible. It’s like listening to Soulfly that want to play more death metal.

On this album we can also find some keyboards parts and I believe that Entombed tried them to fill the sound with gloom elements. A sound that is not exceptional and I’m talking about “Warfare, Plague, Famine, Death” for example. The tempo is boring in a song like “In The Blood” and it’s similar to a tired Godzilla trying to crawl on a field. Going on this album is really annoying and boring. The modern elements grow and the speed goes down. The band seems very tired and I believe they are.

Every album by this band is an occasion to reflect on that fact if it’s good to produce albums when you are physically and mentally empty. I think that it’s better to stop for awhile to reflect on what to do and concentrate the energy and the ideas in other projects, also outside the musical field.

Entombed used to be a big favourite of mine back in the day. In fact, their “Clandestine” is one of my all time favourite death metal albums. However, the Swede’s foray into Death ‘n Roll wasn’t all that much to my liking and I lost touch with the band after “To Ride, Shoot Straight And Speak The Truth.” So, a good few years after that release, when Srikanth told me they had a new album out I was more than a little curious to see what Entombed were up to in 2007.

The album starts with the title song “Serpent Saints.” A quite ominous sounding intro gives way to a blasting Motorhead type riff and the song pummels you. Things are off to a good start. Entombed somehow managed to retain their death metal sound and at the same time incorporate a raw Venom/ Motorhead feel to their albums. That is still the case here on “Serpent Saints.” “Masters Of Death” is the most old school Entombed sounding song on this album. The song has a superb old school thrash death vibe and Petrov’s vocals are in top form. In fact L.G. Petrov’s vocals are terrific on this album.

Overall though, the problem I have with Serpent Saints is the same problem I’ve had with every Entombed release after “To Ride….” There are always a couple of songs that sound absolutely terrific while the rest of the album becomes so much background music. It’s heavy. There’s no doubt about it. The production as always is refreshingly old school. Still, the songs are not that great. The title song manages to rise above the mediocrity as does “Warfare, Plague, Famine, Death” with its chugging riffs, proper death metal feel and a clever use of female vocals. But songs like “The Dead, The Dying and the Dying to be Dead” with its Soulfly like riffing just seems completely out of place. In fact the last four songs on the album either seem like tired clichés of extreme metal or just seem completely out of place on an Entombed record.

If you’ve stuck with the band through the intervening years between “To Ride…” and the new album, then chances are that you’ll still like “Serpent Saints.” For me though, this album is a definite disappointment. It is overall a pretty mediocre album from a band that somehow never managed to live up to the promise shown on the first few albums.

http://www.kvltsite.com

Death ‘n’ roll is a very flip-flop genre to most metalheads, yet Entombed seem to be the undisputed champion of this sandwich of noises, and a typically good band overall. I mean they have a lot of classics like “Left Hand Path” and “Wolverine Blues” to name a few, but could they always last on the same boat without finding themselves devoured by the waves of death metal or tossed away from the winds of hard rock? Regardless of what some predict, one thing’s for sure: they screwed up.

Believe it or not, one of the most consistent and original acts in metal has finally succumbed to mediocrity. After eight successful records, Entombed have lost control and now sound like their own tribute band with 2007’s “Serpent Saints.” Entombed has always thrived upon creativity within the group’s identity, but it’s completely lost in space with this record, and the conjured problems are certainly absolute. The creators of death ‘n’ roll have finally sucked out every last drop from the originality well, and it really shows here.

Normal Coke (the soda, you junkie) is filled with tasty sweetness and mouth-watering flavor due to calories caused by sugar. However, its diet version has no sugar, which exiles all taste and makes it weak; this is much like Entombed’s originality on past efforts and “Serpent Saints.” For one, the real death ‘n’ roll sound should have forceful rock riffs with pestering shades of death metal, yet this not found on “Serpent Saints” due to a generic overtone of groove riffs and a dubbed-down technicality on the guitars. Also, the percussion only presents simplistic patterns without any fills or exciting changes; something the old Entombed thrived on.

However, there are some noteworthy qualities that bring up the sinking effort, like Lars Petrov’s vocals for instance. Petrov has become the golden calf in the death ‘n’ roll cult because of his uncanny ability to penetrate the earth with his low voice without sounding out of place; it’s the same story here. Lars comes off as a typical growler, yet he’s able to control the pitch of his voice so he doesn’t go too deep, and it benefits this record entirely. He’s really progressed as a vocalist, and I think “Serpent Saints” is definitely one of his best performances to date. Sure Petrov does well, but he has one flaw that’s beyond his control: those dreadful lyrics.

A decent amount of things are hindering the overall success of “Serpent Saints”, yet Entombed’s lyrical brilliance unquestionably wins the prize in that department. Known for defecating on the art of poetry, Entombed continue the lifelong crusade of writing some of the most unintentionally-humorous compositions known to man. Take these keepers for instance:

“When in Sodom
You Bend over Quick
Here Let Me Guide
Your Little Stick” -- When in Sodom

Guide your stick?

“We Love it Like You Love Jesus
It Does the Same Thing to our Souls
Hey! Ho!
We Got a Lifelong Love for the Occult!” -- Masters of Death

What?

“You Wanna Hurt Me?
You Wanna Bite My Cock?
You're Gonna Make Me Run…Amok!” – Amok

Fucking incredible…

Seriously, this is some funny stuff. If you enjoy a good chuckle, I suggest you listen to Petrov’s voice: you’ll either fall to the floor laughing, or find yourself passed out from a similar situation.

So yea, Entombed’s ninth full-length offering is quite ‘blah’ in comparison to their older works. Entombed have established a reputation throughout their existence, and that bar should always be leveled no matter what; however, they’ve failed to capture their own beast with “Serpent Saints.” I guess it’s worth looking into if you’re a fan of the death ‘n’ roll thing, yet I feel (as a big fan of the genre, mind you) that “Serpent Saints” is scrapping the bowels of Entombed’s gift to the world, and the stench isn’t very sweet. Don’t bother unless you’re a superfan.