Explaining the relevance and influence of Entombed is probably as superfluous as pointing out why Slayer rule, Lemmy is bigger than God and the passing of Dio was the greatest loss in metal history. A legend is a legend. Full stop. Fuck off!

Explaining the reason for the name change and the length of time it took to unleash “Back To The Front” might require more effort but why waste precious space? Let the music speak for itself because at the end of the day, that’s what the underground is all about, right? Heavy music for heavy music fans.

When speaking about ENTOMBED A.D.’s initial offering though, we must tie in Entombed’s 9th studio offering from 2007, “Serpent Saints – The Ten Amendments” to understand how we ended up with “Back To The Front.” For that bit of knowledge, we check in with vocalist extraordinaire, L-G Petrov…

“”Serpents…” was a fairly good album but a little weak compared to previous (Entombed) works and the distribution wasn’t that great yet we continued playing shows throughout the past years but never really got going with new songs. At some point we decided that it was time for a new album, so we sat down and played riffs that we had from before as well as many new riffs and started putting them together which really sparked our motivation. That really gave us a push! We feel that this is the best album so far in many years and I think you can hear it on the album!”

Thematically, the will and determination to back up such words with fantastic songs is reflected in the powerful album title and part of the concept of the record as guitarist Nico Elgstrand describes:

“A lot of the album is about being at war in different ways and struggles/shortcomings of mankind, so we felt that “Back To The Front” fitted really well. It has a military reference obviously and we also feel like a platoon (ha ha, a small platoon) that has been behind the frontlines for a long time anxious to get back into battle. Not mean and lean but rather fat and bored and really keen on getting back to what we do best, which of course is to kill! Metaphorically speaking needless to say, ha ha. Also it is a very direct way of saying we’ve been away for way too long, we know and that we will now aim to stay at the front until the friggin’ battle is won! The cavalry has finally arrived if you will (without horses though, ha ha)!”

Well spoken, Sir, yet expectations will be incredibly high on this one as a lot of people will weight ENTOMBED A.D. against Entombed’s long standing past. For those needing a bit of a brush up, the legacy goes way back into the year 1987 when the band originally formed under the name Nihilist. In 1989 the formation changed its name to Entombed and together with Morbid (for whom singer L-G played drums), Treblinka/Tiamat, Grave and Dismember, Entombed /Nihilist established themselves among the earliest bands to forge the immortal Swedish death metal sound that became really popular and unique due to its punkish roots and especially that chainsaw guitar sound, today inseparably linked to terms like “Skogsberg”, “Sunlight Studio” or just “Stockholm sound”. Inspired by such diverse acts as Autopsy, Motörhead, Discharge or Kiss, over the years Entombed did not shy away from thinking outside of the coffin resulting in a style some fans called death’n’roll but in the end it was, is and will be just a band with a style and impact entirely their own.

So, what awaits the listener on “Back To The Front”? Produced by Roberto Laghi (In Flames, Hardcore Superstar) at Studio Bohus (Abba, Europe) in Kungälv, it’s 666% true to the Entombed sound everybody loves, just under a new name. While not falling for total regression back to the early classics “Left Hand Path” or “Clandestine”, it is a total bone-crushing opus that will have fans of all periods cry tears of joy and even the most stubborn fan of the early days join in shame. “The goal was to have riffs that felt fresh and exciting, to make an album that felt old school as well as up to date, showing who ENTOMBED A.D. are today,” L-G puts it quite simply and Nico continues: “I thoroughly enjoy the fact that I find it super hard to pick 2 or 3 songs as the best of it, because I really like ‘em all. I think that they all have something new and fresh yet it feels very old school in some way. “Kill To Live” with its surprising intro turned out very cool and the track also has an almost cinematic yet classic metal feel to it, dunno why, but it just invigorates me. “Second To None” kinda makes me wanna drive a tank while listening, and that to me is how proper metal should sound! It makes you wanna do mighty things so to speak!”

From the morbid, pissed-off lyrics over down tuned massive riffs to the inimitable brick-heavy groove to L-G Petrov’s titanic roar and to sweeten the boiling pot, “Back To The Front” will not only deliver musically but also visually with its stunning cover art painting by Necropolitus Cracoviensis Zbgniew Bielak II (Watain, Ghost, Vader). If the art seems to send a respectful nod to the old school, it’s for good reason, as L-G confirms: “The skull will always be a part of our band. I totally agree, we have taken away some of the "rock" parts and gone with more metal, and I think fans new and old will appreciate that.”

With European festival appearances already on the books and US action being discussed, the Swedish metal platoon ENTOMBED A.D. has all its weapons polished and reloaded and is ready to shatter the entire music scene with an uncompromising full frontal assault. So, let us all enjoy “Back To The Front” and celebrate the fact that the legend called Entombed has been given new life through ENTOMBED A.D. and all there is left to say is… goddamn!