Wolverine Blues

The Artist

Entombed emerged from Stockholm's late-1980s underground, rising out of the band Nihilist to become one of the founding forces of Swedish death metal. Their 1990 debut Left Hand Path helped define the "Stockholm sound": buzzsaw guitar tone, crusty punk energy and murky, horror-soaked atmosphere. Drummer Nicke Andersson, who later formed The Hellacopters, was a key songwriter, and vocalist LG Petrov became the voice most fans associate with the band. Wolverine Blues is their third album and the moment they swerved from pure death metal toward a groovier, rock-driven style that fans would dub "death 'n' roll."

The Album

Wolverine Blues was released in 1993 on Earache, recorded with producer Tomas Skogsberg at Sunlight Studio in Stockholm, the room behind much of the scene's signature sound. The famously chainsaw-like guitar tone remains, but the riffs are slower, swaggering and built around hooks rather than blasts. The release drew controversy when the label marketed some editions with Marvel's Wolverine character, a tie-in the band reportedly resented. Thematically, the record trades occult gore for aggression, alienation and self-destruction, delivered with a barroom snarl.

Listen For

The Sunlight Buzz. Notice how the fuzzy, overdriven guitar tone sits up front on "Eyemaster," less a clean metal crunch than a blown-out amplifier roar.

Drums That Swing. On "Wolverine Blues," the drumming leans into a rock shuffle and groove, letting the rhythm section carry the song's swagger.

Tempo Gear Shifts. "Demon" and "Contempt" lurch between mid-paced stomps and faster punk bursts, so track where the songs suddenly kick into a higher gear.

A Shouted, Not Growled, Delivery. LG Petrov often sounds closer to a hardcore bark than a cavernous growl, which makes words easier to catch on "Hollowman."

Bookends. Compare the punchy opener "Eyemaster" with the closer "Out Of Hand" and consider how the album frames its rock-leaning identity from start to finish.