If you don’t know ENTOMBED A.D., the deadly sonic force fronted by former Nihilist/Entombed vocalist L-G Petrov, well, then you’re either no metalhead, slept under a rock since the late 80’s or have already gone the way of all flesh with crawling swarms of maggots deliciously peeling every single bit of meat from your sorry bones. To save you some precious time for listening to this record rather than wasting it for googling, here’s a quick historical breakdown nonetheless: ENTOMBED A.D.’s legacy goes way back into the year 1987 when the band originally formed under the name Nihilist. In 1989, the group changed its name to Entombed and together with Morbid (for whom singer L-G played drums), Treblinka/Tiamat, Grave, Unleashed, Dismember, they established themselves as masters of Swedish death metal before flavoring the trademark “Stockholm sound” with a more punkish, rocking edge that culminated in the ultimate death ’n’ roll classic “Wolverine Blues” in 1993, an album still very much present in the band’s current sound. Just like its 2014 predecessor “Back To The Front”, the commando’s newest strike, “Dead Dawn”, does not rehash the early, pure death metal nor the softer leanings of Entombed in the late 90’s, it proudly sports the filth, the roll, the death, the goddamn dose of heaviness you need, expect, and wish to hear from this pack. And, it has L-G Petrov, whose glorious, whiskey-drenched roar thrones above the musical fundament like a mad, deranged king bellowing his lunatic commands! From the classy death metallic opening riff and irresistible drive of “Midas In Reverse”, the powerful groove of the title track or “Silent Assassin”, the beyond cool Randy-Rhoads-tribute-riff and morbid twist of “The Winner Has Lost”, the full-frontal-Autopsy-like assault of “Black Survival”, ENTOMBED A.D. hit harder, more immediate as on the previous opus albeit implement some smart surprises. Just take the bluesy twang on “As The World Fell”, the captivating guitar melodies garnering “Down To Mars To Ride”, the sickened ballad “Hubris Fall”, which reminds of Entombed’s ingenious Roky Erickson cover, “Night Of The Vampire”, and unbeatable, fast-paced nonchalance of “Total Death”. Nico Elgstrand (guitar/backing vocals) comments the creation of “Dead Dawn” as follows: “I think it is safe to say that all of us in the band feel like we just have given birth to one tank each. Meaning the pregnancy and delivery was everything but pleasant! Still, when watching our newest offspring play with their cannons and bombs, blasting everything around them to bits, TRACKS “DEAD DAWN”: 01 MIDAS IN REVERSE 02 DEAD DAWN 03 DOWN TO MARS TO RIDE 04 AS THE WORLD FELL 05 TOTAL DEATH 06 THE WINNER HAS LOST 07 SILENT ASSASSIN 08 HUBRIS FALL 09 BLACK SURVIVAL 10 NOT WHAT IT SEEMS we feel, just like any parent, pride and joy and wouldn’t have it undone for all the money in the world!” Rounded off by a striking cover artwork created by Watain-frontman Erik Danielsson, and backed up by a versatile production team consisting of Tom Van Heesch and Jacob Hellner of Big Island Sound, Stockholm as well as Nico Elgstrand himself, who produced a majority of the tracks whereas Svante Forsbäck of Chartmakers mastered this new beast, “Dead Dawn” looks and sounds great, too. Following a successful live campaign around “Back To The Front” including an European tour with Grave in 2014 as well as tons of festival appearances, ENTOMBED A.D. shall hit the road again shortly before releasing “Dead Dawn”. First up is the Europa Blasphemia tour in January/February 2016 with Behemoth, Abbath, and Inquisition, followed by an extensive US run with Amon Amarth in April/May, Hellfest (FR), Wacken (DE), Summer Breeze (DE), and more. A schedule just fitting nicely to Victor’s promise for 2016: “Now we’re gonna tour, play festivals, tour even more, and already start working on the next album.” It seems that after returning to the front in 2014, ENTOMBED A.D. are now way more comfortable with the arsenal at hand and the quartet is more eager than ever to live up to the finest line from the track “Total Death” - “It’s only rock ’n’ roll - DESTRUCTION
