Entombed

After Swedish metal institution Entombed’s teaser EP, When in Sodom, was released last year, fans marked their calendars accordingly for the forthcoming full-length, Serpent Saints. With half the band overhauled (including founding guitarist Uffe Cederlund), the "new” Entombed sound is simply rehashed post-greatness that rivals any of their albums in the past decade. The title track (and later "Ministry”) echoes the tired punk’n’roll of 2004’s Uprising and then the Slayer-isms abound: "Masters of Death” apes Slayer’s "Angel of Death” in fine form; "When in Sodom” runs parallel to "Skeletons of Society”; and "Thy Kingdom Coma” even cops Dave Lombardo’s tom-tom intro to "Raining Blood.” Vocalist L.G. Petrov growls up quite a tempest on the deliberate "In the Blood” and the death metal hybrid "The Dead, the Dying and the Dying to Be Dead.” The tired "Warfare Plague Famine Death” is average thrash and the spooky acoustics of "Love Song for Lucifer” is an anomalous finish to the album. At the very least, Serpent Saints indeed reflects its own flying phallus cover art.