Description

Entombed – Clandestine – Cassette

Clandestine is the second studio album by the Swedish death metal band Entombed, released in 1991. The album is widely regarded as a classic in the death metal genre and is considered one of Entombed’s most influential releases.

Clandestine features a blend of aggressive guitar riffs, pounding drums, and guttural vocals, characteristic of the death metal sound. The album showcases Entombed’s talent for crafting brutal and uncompromising music that pushes the boundaries of extreme metal.

Some standout tracks from Clandestine include Living Dead, Sinners Bleed, and Stranger Aeons. These songs exemplify the album’s dark and atmospheric vibe, as well as its exploration of themes such as mortality, decay, and existential dread.

Clandestine is celebrated as a landmark album in the death metal genre, earning acclaim for its aggressive sound, innovative songwriting, and influential impact on subsequent generations of metal bands. It remains a favorite among fans of extreme music and continues to be hailed as a classic in Entombed’s discography.

Upon its release in 1992, Clandestine was unanimously championed as trendsetting death metal at a time when the genre’s future seemed uncertain and the album’s importance has only increased with time. While some bands spend a few years realizing a particular sound or phase, Entombed experienced drastic growth with each successive album in the 1990s. Clandestine serves as the perfect bridge between Left Hand Path’s rawness and Wolverine Blues’ reservation.

Where Left Hand Path showcased a young group exploding with malevolent ambition and Wolverine Blues showcased a matured group focused on writing accessible yet powerful songs, Clandestine finds the Swedish artists retaining the complexity, brutality, and savage recklessness of Left Hand Path yet simultaneously trying to bring a stronger sense of craft to the music. As a result, the album features excellent production, tremendous musicianship, and better songwriting.

It should also be noted that Clandestine was largely the result of drummer Nicke Andersson, who not only redefined the traditionally speed-oriented role of the death metal drummer but also wrote the majority of the album’s songs and handled all the vocals. Besides moments of perfection such as Stranger Aeons and Crawl, Clandestine pictures an intrinsically motivated band realizing its direction.

After the group fully achieved its vision on the Wolverine Blues album, Entombed struggled with its direction, indecisively moving from tame cleanliness (Same Difference) to gritty abandon (Uprising) to becoming a cover band (Black Juju), sadly leading to the loss of Andersson, an essential member of the group. The more Entombed albums one hears, the greater the realization that the band was truly inspired on Clandestine.

Earache Records

Song List
1. Living Dead
2. Sinners Bleed
3. Evilyn
4. Blessed Be
5. Stranger Aeons
6. Chaos Breed
7. Crawl
8. Severe Burns
9. Through The Collonades