''Left Hand Path'' is the debut studio album by Swedish
death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, fe ...
band
Entombed, released on 4 June 1990 by
Earache Records.
Background
The title of the album refers to the
left-hand path belief system. Guitarist Alex Hellid found the term in
Anton LaVey's book ''
The Satanic Bible''.
The title track contains an interpolation of the theme from the 1979
horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes.
Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apo ...
''
Phantasm'' at 3:54.
Legacy
Guitar tone
''Left Hand Path'' is noted for defining the style of
Swedish death metal by being the first studio album to feature the "buzzsaw" guitar tone that would later become a staple for the regional scene thereafter. The guitar tone was achieved using guitars tuned to
B standard tuning through a
Boss HM-2 Heavy Metal pedal with all the controls set to max. These guitars were panned to the left and right channels, while a third guitar using a
Boss DS-1 distortion pedal was placed in the center channel along with the bass. Leif "Leffe" Cuzner has been credited as the creator of the Swedish death metal guitar tone, who was a guitarist in the band
Nihilist (who later reformed as Entombed).
Accolades
''Left Hand Path'' was ranked No. 82 on
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...
's 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.
In August 2005,
Decibel inducted ''Left Hand Path'' into the Decibel Magazine Hall of Fame, naming it the first "proper" Swedish death metal album, with the "buzzsaw" guitar tone being crowned as the legendary "Entombed sound".
Cover versions
Two songs from the album were covered by Belgian death metal band
Aborted: "Drowned" for the re-release of ''
The Archaic Abattoir'' and "Left Hand Path" for the EP ''
Coronary Reconstruction''.
In popular media
"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
Personnel
Entombed
*
Lars-Göran Petrov
Lars-Göran Petrov (17 February 1972 – 7 March 2021), often abbreviated as L-G or LG Petrov, was a Swedish singer. He is best known for his work with death metal band Entombed.
Career
Petrov's musical career began with his playing drums in ...
– vocals
* Uffe Cederlund – guitar, bass
* Alex Hellid – guitar
*
Nicke Andersson
Nicke Andersson (born 1 August 1972), also known as Nick Royale, is a Swedish musician best known for his work as the singer and guitarist for the rock band The Hellacopters and drummer for the death metal band Entombed. He was also briefly th ...
– drums, bass
Technical personnel
* Tomas Skogsberg – production, engineering
*
Dan Seagrave
Daniel Seagrave (born 1970) is a British artist, who created many record covers for death metal bands especially in the early 1990s. He lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He grew up in Ravenshead, near Nottingham.
Seagrave's works are typically ...
– cover art
* Micke Lundstrom – photography
* David Windmill – design
References
{{Authority control
1990 debut albums
Entombed (band) albums
Albums with cover art by Dan Seagrave
Earache Records albums