Entombed

A far cry from the death styling of Entombed releases of yesteryear, this expanded CD version of Black Juju, with four more songs than the vinyl, is a journey into boogie-metal-punk-rock. The title track is the classic Alice Cooper song from his Love it to Death album, which gets the low 'n' growly treatment by the band. In fact, most of the songs here are covers, with only two of the eight, "Vices By Proxy" and "Sentimental Funeral," being originals. The covers come from extremely diverse sources with the Dwarves' "Satan," Twisted Sister's "Tear It Loose," Captain Beyond's "Mezmerization Eclipse" and Bob Dylan's "Ballad Of Hollis Brown" all getting a hearty working over. Arguably the coolest song here is "Lost," originally done by '80s Boston hardcore legends Jerry's Kids. Anyone can bust out a Black Flag or Germs song and expect credibility to follow, but let's face it, not a lot of people are sitting around talking about how great Jerry's Kids were, and that's what makes this song selection so great. Black Juju is a good little record that shows Entombed to be more than just your typical Nordic metal-heads, and showcases some excellent songs along the way.