 |
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| Left Hand Path | |
|---|---|
| Album info | |
| Release | June 4, 1990 |
| Recorded | December 1989 at Sunlight Studio, Stockholm |
| Genre | Death metal |
| Length | 46:38 |
| Label | Combat/Earache |
| Producer | Tomas Skogsberg |
Left Hand Path is the debut album from Entombed from 1990 that is known for defining the style of Swedish death metal by being the first recording to use the "buzzsaw" guitar tone. The tone was created by heavily detuned electric guitars (To B) used with a maxed out Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal Pedal and the DS-1 Distortion pedal into a Peavey amp. The originator of this guitar tone was Nihilist guitarist Leif "Leffe" Cuzner. The album's liner notes give thanks to Nirvana, but the band in question is the Swedish death metal group Nirvana 2002, not the famous grunge act.
The title of the album refers to a Left-Hand Path belief system. Guitarist Alex Hellid found the term in Anton LaVey's book The Satanic Bible.[1] This is explored in the eponymous opening track of the album, with the first verse saying:
- I am my own God, master, slave
- And I will be beyond the grave
- No one will take my soul away
- I carry my own will and make my day
The more melodic, ambient section that comes in at 3:54 in the title track is a cover of the theme of the 1979 horror film Phantasm.[2]
Two songs from the album were covered by Belgian death metal band Aborted. Drowned for the re-release of The Archaic Abattoir and the title track 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.
Track listing[]
All tracks by Entombed (lyrics: Nicke Andersson and Alex Hellid / music: Nicke Andersson, Uffe Cederlund and Leffe Cuzner)
| # | Track 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 |
| 11. | "Carnal Leftovers" (Bonus Track) | 3:00 |
| 12. | "Premature Autopsy" (Bonus Track) | 4:26 |
Personnel[]
- Entombed
- Lars Göran Petrov - Vocals
- Uffe Cederlund - Guitars, Bass
- Alex Hellid - Guitars
- Nicke Andersson - Drums, Bass, Logo
- Production
- Produced by Tomas Skogsberg, Entombed
- Cover art by Dan Seagrave
- Photos by Micke Lundstrom
- Design by David Windmill