It had been 13 years since they last toured Australia, but after a name and line-up change, the often imitated, never-duplicated Entombed A.D. finally returned to our shores. The last time they were down this way, they were known to many as Entombed – the band that formed in Stockholm in 1989. The band parted ways with guitarist Alex Hellid back in 2014, leaving sole founding member and vocalist L-G Petrov to steer the ship. Legal issues regarding the rights to the band name resulted in the re-dubbed Entombed A.D. But after all that mess, don’t be mistaken for thinking your beloved Swedish death metallers were anything but the masters of all that is rage.

However, I don’t judge you for your doubts, for I too had the same feelings of uncertainty when walking the Left Hand Path toward the Manning Bar on a very fresh, Wednesday evening. Was this feeling of coldness to be reflected in my emotions? After witnessing a performance by one of the most influential metal bands to emerge from the Swedish death metal scene, and considering all that has transpired in recent years, would I be disappointed? To answer the question – a big hell no!

Although the crowd was shockingly small for a band of their stature (mid-week gigs – never an ideal scenario for a band), it wasn’t long before the band had heads banging. Those who left their warm abodes in favour of something more lively were rewarded to a solid mixture of their early Swedeath cuts and (my favourite era of Entombed) the death ‘n’ roll bangers that the band introduced on their seminal album “Wolverine Blues”.

The band were on point, banging out classics like “Eyemaster”, “Left Hand Path”, and one of my favourites “To Ride, Shoot Straight And Speak The Truth”. Also, if the band called it quits tomorrow, L-G could have the fall-back of being a stand-up comic – his banter between songs had the crowd chuckling throughout the night.

Whatever thoughts I had at the beginning of the night as to whether or not seeing Entombed A.D.for the first time would be worth the 13-year wait – by the end of the encore, this bloke was a happy little Vegemite.

Review – Heath