Morning Star

After their massive touring and having "reestablished" themselves with the release of Uprising (previous record), Entombed is back (I could say "was back", as this review should have been done some months ago) with a fantastic classic heavy/thrash metal record called Morning Star, their seventh full-length album. For those of you who don't know Entombed, take acknowledge that the evolution of these guys, only in their late twenties, has been enormous since 1987. These talented young fellows have been already nominated for the Swedish Grammies on two occasions. With the release of Morning Star last year, Entombed is on the right track again, although their "new" path is the one of Slayer meet Black Sabbath. This new album is straight, heavy and you also get the classical Entombed's trademark, thick and fast riffs, which are once again a pure moment of pleasure for the listener. The vocals are full of hate and just not enough brutal to be considered as "death vocals" as every single words is comprehensible (who said Araya ?). Actually, the vocals will remind you very much the most well known thrash bands (especially Slayer, Testament, Forbidden). First song, Chief Rebel Angel, is thrashy, doomish, heavy (even gothic) and Entombed confirm with this opening track they belong now to the "champion-ship-metal-division". Very few heavy/thrash metal band have today such a song-writing capability ... a description of heaviness, flowery melodies as light and dark music flow together rather than contradict. The songs all meld into one, so pointing out any individual track is a difficult task. I would choose I For An Eye, Bringer Of Light and finally Young Man Nihilist. At the end you discover that all songs have this additional "sorrow & fear" emotional touch that makes them ... so successful. Ignoring this band is like ignoring Black Sabbath, Slayer, Metallica, Testament or Death. "Impressing" is the right word to use ! Yes, I am impressed by the songs on Morning Star, a formidable creation that assemble thrash, heavy, death, doom and gothic elements. The abundance of ideas combined with the talent of this Swedish musicians give the birth to a wonderful heavy/thrash metal album ... the kind of record that will undoubtedly inspire the next generation. What a shame this one is so short (only 37'00). As said above, Entombed's evolution is really impressive. In 2010, heavy/thrash metal will have face many other changes, many new influences and will be for sure very different ... and if I had to bet on a band, Entombed would be one of them.