Review ENTRAILS ‘Grip Of Ancient Evil’

The Swedish death metal band Entrails will release their eighth album, ‘Grip of Ancient Evil’, which shows a productive approach for a band founded in 1990 and premiered in 2010. Since then, however, Entrails have continued to follow their creative flow, which is still ongoing, resulting in eleven new songs being added to the tracklist of their latest release.

Entrails embody old-school Swedish death metal, starting with the title track. However, ‘title track’ might be too grand a term for ‘Grip of Ancient Evil’, as we are greeted by a violin-based intro. Henrik Ågren’s violin gives the album a festive start, leading to ‘Untreatable Decay’. While the beginning was almost peaceful, Entrails unleash a first blast of death metal with ‘Untreatable Decay’. Led by founding member Jimmy Lundqvist, the quintet may not wow us with fretboard acrobatics, but they do impress with their raw intensity. You also get roaring death metal with the heavily pounding ‘Skin ’em All’. The splatter lyrics add to the overall picture, while a rather melodic middle section showcases a band with more than one trick up their sleeve.

‘Grip of Ancient Evil’ is also the first album with the band’s new singer, Julian Bellenox, who joined the Vikings, and his harsh growls strengthen the oldschool death metal approach. His barking vocals add some morbid heaviness to the album, an effect that is also evident in ‘Inner Death’. With guest vocals from Nifelheim’s Per “Hellbutcher” Gustavsson, this riff monster comes at you with an evil grin. It is certainly a highlight of ‘Grip of Ancient Evil’.

As the album slowly approaches the finish line, we reach ‘Consumed by Insects’. Starting with a jungle-like intro, the song quickly turns into another massive death metal smasher. It is one of the standout tracks on the album and also features a sinister yet atmospheric middle section with an acoustic section provided by Matte Klang. This is a great showcase for the album’s versatility, which is generally geared towards being a sonic wrecking ball.

Entrails launch ‘Grip of Ancient Evil’, a blasting death metal album rooted in the ’90s — a time when Swedish death metal was reaching its first peak. The band doesn’t deviate from its approach to death metal, and I guess it’s this consistency that everyone expects from them. Horns up!