Entrails - Obliteration

Published May 05 2015

*=Staff's pick	No Cross Left Unturned Epitome Of Death* Beyond The Flesh The Grotesque* Obliterate Skulls Midnight Coffin Bonestorm Abyss Of Corpses Re-Animation Of The Dead*

Genre	Death Metal	Jocke Svensson	Vocals
Tracks	10	Jimmy Lundqvist	Guitar
Running time	42 Min.	Penki	Guitar
Label	Metal Blade Records	Jocke Svensson	Bass
Release	May 14, 2015	Adde Mitroulis	Drums
Country	Sweden	-	Keyboard
Producer	-
Similar artists	Dismember, Entombed

Among the hordes of retro death worshippers, Entrails have managed to gain some notoriety. Acting in the original Swedish death metal scene in the early 90's without releasing anything, they reformed well in time for the big revival and became part of the forerunners when they released their debut 'Tales from the Morgue' in 2010. We now spell 2015 and their fourth full-length 'Obliteration' is up for a gory dissection.

If you are even remotely familiar with the sound of the Stockholm scene circa 90-91 you know exactly what this sounds like. Entrails were never about merging new influences into the classical sound or expanding the death metal genre. This is all according to the gospel of 'Left Hand Path' or 'Like an Ever-Flowing Stream'. Dirty, rotten chainsaw guitar lines meet the typical d-beat in awe of pronounced deep guttural growls.

It reeks of gore and filth yet with the occasional melodic chorus lines, as in 'No Cross Left Unturned' and 'The Grotesque', topped by the standard sound effects, all by the book. The only way one can tell this is not some forgotten Sunlight product from 92-93 is the clean, crisp production. The guitar tone is there, but apart from it not much of the typical murky production of the early 90's is found here.

Entrails have perfected their craft over time and both the compositions and the instrumental skills are top notch. Unfortunately, well executed Stockholm death metal by the book is simply not enough to really make a lasting impression these days, unless you are way over the top like Smothered's under-rated debut. One does not necessarily have to reinvent the genre though in the vein of Tribulation or Morbus Chron. If the craftsmanship is there, the smallest thing out of the ordinary could make a difference, like the crust influences of Bastard Priest.

This however is too orthodox and simly not awesome enough to make it a mandatory buy for anyone who does not worship absolutely everything resembling the heydays of the Sunlight studio. It surely is an enjoyable album once I actually take my time with it, but will I return to this particular set of tunes the next time I feel a sudden urge to purge my ears with some buzz saw guitars? Not likely.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
8	2	7	7	7

Summary
7 chalices of 10 - Tengan