| Left Hand Path | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 4 June 1990 [1] | |||
| Recorded | December 1989 | |||
| Studio | Sunlight Studio (Stockholm, Sweden) | |||
| Genre | Death metal | |||
| Length | 39:16 | |||
| Label | Combat, Earache | |||
| Producer | Tomas Skogsberg, Entombed | |||
| Entombed chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal | 3/10 [3] |
| Entertainment Weekly | C [4] |
Left Hand Path is the debut studio album by Swedish death metal band Entombed, released on 4 June 1990 by Earache Records. [1]
The title of the album refers to the left-hand path belief system. Guitarist Alex Hellid found the term in Anton LaVey's book The Satanic Bible . [5]
The title track contains an interpolation of the theme from the 1979 horror film Phantasm at 3:54. [6]
Left Hand Path is noted for defining the style of Swedish death metal by being the first studio album to feature the "buzzsaw" guitar tone that would later become a staple for the regional scene thereafter. The guitar tone was achieved using guitars tuned to B standard tuning through a Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal with all the controls set to max. These guitars were panned to the left and right channels, while a third guitar using a Boss DS-1 distortion pedal was placed in the center channel along with the bass. Leif "Leffe" Cuzner has been credited as the creator of the Swedish death metal guitar tone, who was a guitarist in the band Nihilist (who later reformed as Entombed). [7]
Left Hand Path was ranked No. 82 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time. [8]
In August 2005, Decibel inducted Left Hand Path into the Decibel Magazine Hall of Fame, naming it the first "proper" Swedish death metal album, with the "buzzsaw" guitar tone being crowned as the legendary "Entombed sound". [9]
Two songs from the album were covered by Belgian death metal band Aborted: "Drowned" for the re-release of The Archaic Abattoir and "Left Hand Path" for the EP Coronary Reconstruction .
"Drowned" was featured in the 2009 video game Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned on the radio station Liberty City Hardcore.
All lyrics are written by Nicke Andersson, Alex Hellid; all music is composed by Andersson, Uffe Cederlund, Leif Cuzner
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Left Hand Path" | 6:41 |
| 2. | "Drowned" | 4:04 |
| 3. | "Revel in Flesh" | 3:45 |
| 4. | "When Life Has Ceased" | 4:13 |
| 5. | "Supposed to Rot" | 2:06 |
| 6. | "But Life Goes On" | 3:02 |
| 7. | "Bitter Loss" | 4:25 |
| 8. | "Morbid Devourment" | 5:27 |
| 9. | "Abnormally Deceased" | 3:01 |
| 10. | "The Truth Beyond" | 3:28 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 11. | "Carnal Leftovers" | 3:00 |
| 12. | "Premature Autopsy" | 4:26 |
Entombed
Technical personnel
Entombed is a Swedish death metal band formed in 1987 under the name of Nihilist. Entombed began their career as an early pioneer of Scandinavian death metal which initially differed from its American counterpart by its distinct "buzzsaw" guitar tone. However, by the early 1990s their sound had broadened to include garage rock and other influences. This new style would eventually be described as death 'n' roll. Entombed's main influences include bands such as Slayer, Celtic Frost, Repulsion, and Autopsy. Along with Dismember, Grave and Unleashed, Entombed has been referred to as one of the "big four" of Swedish death metal.
Like an Ever Flowing Stream is the debut album by Swedish death metal band Dismember, released in May 1991.
Swedish death metal is a death metal music scene developed in Sweden. Many Swedish death metal bands are associated with the melodic death metal movement, thus giving Swedish death metal a different sound from other variations of death metal. Unlike American death metal groups, the first Swedish bands were rooted in hardcore punk. Gothenburg has a large melodic death metal scene while Stockholm is known for its more raw death metal scene.
Clandestine is the second studio album by Swedish death metal band Entombed, released on 12 November 1991 in Europe and on 11 February 1992 in North America. Along with Entombed's preceding album, Clandestine helped establish a distinctively Swedish sound in the death metal genre.
Anders Niklas Andersson, also known as Nicke Andersson, is a Swedish musician best known as the singer and guitarist for the rock band The Hellacopters and drummer for the death metal band Entombed. Besides his work with the Hellacopters and Entombed, Andersson currently plays and writes songs for the soul band The Solution, the death metal band Death Breath, the hard rock band Lucifer, and rock band Imperial State Electric.
Murder Squad is a Swedish death metal band that was formed in 1993 in Stockholm. It is a side project of two Dismember members and two Entombed members. The band is highly influenced by the American group Autopsy. On their second album Ravenous, Murderous, Chris Reifert of Autopsy appears as a guest singer. After Cederlund left Entombed, Kärki announced that there would be no more Murder Squad either. The band reunited in 2013 for a one-off reunion gig.
DCLXVI: To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth is the fourth album by the Swedish metal band Entombed, released in 1997.
Disfear is a Swedish crust punk band that formed in the early 1990s and recorded sporadically over the years. After releasing the albums Soul Scars in 1995 and Everyday Slaughter in 1997, the group did not release another album until 2003 with a 12-track album, Misanthropic Generation, featuring vocalist Tomas Lindberg of At the Gates and The Great Deceiver and Uffe Cederlund of Entombed. They later worked with Converge's Kurt Ballou for their album Live the Storm.
Wolverine Blues is the third studio album by Swedish death metal band Entombed, released on 4 October 1993 by Earache Records. The album displays a completely different sound from previous releases, combining elements of hard rock, heavy metal, and hardcore punk while still retaining much of their traditional, death metal roots, in a style that would later be known as death 'n' roll. The band also adopted a mid-tempo groove metal style for this release, similar to that of American band Pantera.
Monkey Puss (Live in London) is a live album by Swedish band Entombed recorded during the 1992 Gods of Grind tour in London. It was released in 1999 on Earache Records.
Hollowman is an EP by Swedish death metal band Entombed, released via Earache Records in 1993. The 1996 reissue featured the bonus track "God of Thunder" which was previously released on the "Out of Hand" single.
Nihilist was a Swedish death metal band formed in 1987 by Nicke Andersson and Alex Hellid. The band split up in 1989 when Johnny Hedlund left to form Unleashed. The remaining members reformed the band under the name Entombed. Nihilist never recorded a full-length album before they renamed themselves Entombed, but a collection of their demo work was released in 2005. Guitarist Leif "Leffe" Cuzner died in June 2006.
Morning Star is the seventh studio album by Swedish metal band Entombed, and was released on 13 September 2001. The album is more experimental than previous efforts, and shows the band returning to a more traditional death metal sound overall, though without abandoning elements of death 'n' roll. It also introduces a handful of straightforward, fast-paced death/thrash tracks, a first for the band at the time. The album received a stellar review from AllMusic, ending with the recommendation: "Any fan of quality underground metal should find this to be a superb effort from an underrated band."
Uprising is the sixth full-length album by Swedish metal band Entombed. It was released in 2000. Album was recorded at Das Boot Studios and produced by Nico Elgstrand and Entombed. Musically, this album tones down the commercial alternative metal-stylings of Same Difference and returns to a heavier, more straight-forward death 'n' roll sound reminiscent of Wolverine Blues.
Lars-Göran Petrov, often abbreviated as L-G or LG Petrov, was a Swedish vocalist, best known for his work with death metal band Entombed.
Same Difference is the fifth studio album by Swedish metal band Entombed. It was released in 1998. This album shows the band moving into a more commercial sound and is generally considered the band's weakest moment both by fans and by the band's former vocalist, LG Petrov. This is the band's first album without original drummer and primary songwriter Nicke Andersson, who left Entombed to focus on his side project, The Hellacopters.
Inferno is the eighth studio album by Swedish death metal band Entombed. It was released on 4 August 2003. The album is a continuation of the sound heard on 2001's Morning Star, and combines traditional death metal with death 'n' roll, along with various other elements and influences.
Serpent Saints: The Ten Amendments is the ninth album by Swedish death metal band Entombed, released in June 2007. It was their last one before their two-year breakup from 2014 to 2016. It is the first album with bassist Nico Elgstrand and drummer Olle Dahlstedt, as well as the band's first without longtime guitarist Uffe Cederlund. The album marks the final time to feature original vocalist LG Petrov before the band's breakup in 2014 and his death in 2021.
Boss Heavy Metal-2, abbreviated as Boss HM-2, is a guitar distortion pedal manufactured by Boss from October 1983 until October 1991. Designed to emulate Marshall stacks, it became associated with Swedish death metal and gained a cult following in the heavy metal scene.
