Entombed - Unreal Estate (2005)

They have been the forefathers of stoner-tinged grindcore, offering their dark, Sabbathesque vibe to the overtones of Napalm Death relevant glory, but nobody ever thought that Entombed (or any hard-edged group for that matter) could have influenced and helped create what is hard to believe – a ballet. Yes, I said it, literally a performance of about 30 dancers doing a routine to "Entombed" music.

What we get with Unreal Estate is a live recording of a performance at Sweden's Royal Opera Hall, with the music speaking for itself. There is a dark vibe found within the record with complete grinding thrusts of tracks such as "Say It In Slugs," "Mental Twin" and "In the Flesh" offering the classic sound of Entombed. This is a typically tight musical performance from these guys, but that is only the audio portion...it's hard to imagine what the dancing was like, being that there is no DVD included. Normally you would think of slam-dancing or moshing among the thick cloud of pot smoke at an Entombed show, but not in this case. Even for a live record, the crowd is fairly subdued; the only applause you hear is at the end.

A very strange feat for Entombed, which began as an idea by choreographers who were fans of the band that decided to try something unique, and unique this is. When looking at this recording, it's not like you have to think that the band has the balls to do something like this. It's more like the band has to have discrete and precise musicianship, similar to an orchestra (by the way there is no orchestra, just the band themselves). So it remains an honor that Entombed was chosen to create the musical mastery behind such a different approach to the world of the dancing arts. (Candlight Records)

Review by Tommy "Hashman" Hash, copyright 2005

(Click on the CD cover to buy Unreal Estate from Amazon.com)