Entombed
's second album,
Clandestine
, is cut from the same cloth as its predecessor, the epochal
Left Hand Path
(1990). Released during the formative period of
death metal
-- that is, the early '90s, when American bands like
Obituary
, British bands like
Carcass
, and Swedish bands like
were all flourishing creatively thanks to supportive labels like
Earache
and a multiplying international fan base -- both
and
set the stage for successive generations of
death
-rooted
Scandinavian metal
bands.
's most distinguishing characteristics during period, their buzzsaw guitar riffs and varied tempos, are showcased well on
. The intertwined dual-guitar assault of
Uffe Cederlund
Alex Hellid
is downright brutal; the intermittent lead guitar breaks do serve as brief moments of respite, granted, though their tone of eeriness is more foreboding than it is actually relieving. The two singles released from
(
"Crawl"
"Stranger Aeons"
) are indeed the standouts, boasting monster riffs that are perhaps the most memorable moments of the album. Despite the similarity between
, there is a couple key differences. For one, vocalist
Lars-Goeran Petrov
is missing in action here, though, to be fair, he's not necessarily missed. That's because drummer/songwriter
Nicke Andersson
takes over for him, and does such an impressive job, it's easy to mistake him for a full-time death-growler. In fact, the liner notes of
falsely credit
Johnny Dordevic
for vocals (technically, he was a member of the band at the time of the album's release, just not at the time of the album's recording sessions). Secondly, the production of
-- always a crucial aspect of music this overpowering -- is a notch or two better than that of
.
Tomas Skogsberg
produced both albums, as he did all of
's early recordings, but he got a more cutting sound this go-round, with the guitars particularly standing out, along with the multi-tracked vocals. Too, the songwriting here is more distinctive than on
, which was comprised largely of reworked
Nihilist
(i.e., the band's pre-
moniker) material. Everything considered,
might be a better album than
-- for sure, some fans favor it -- if not as historically significant nor as raw-sounding as that monumental debut. ~ Jason Birchmeier