In the year of our Lord 2011, there was only one band we wished to see and review at Malmö Festivalen. Surely there were other rock and metal bands present, but Entombed was the only one for us.

Entombed had an hour to play, between midnight and one, as they entered the Lilla Sydsvenskan stage on Posthusplatsen, and they were ready to make most of it.
So, after a short intro consisting of a soundclip of one of actor Ernst-Hugo Järegård’s spiteful roof-speeches from the TV-series Riget (which garnered much appreciation from the crowd), all of the musicians entered with instruments held high and with thundering sound shooting out of the speakers; L.G. Petrov followed shortly thereafter, with a can of beer in each hand and a jovial smile on his lips. His gait told its own tale, whispering to us that these were probably not the first refreshments he had looked upon this night...
Still, the music kicked of loud and hard and there was nothing in the deliverance of it, neither instrumental nor vocal, to complain about.
Also performance-ways, the band showed real dedication this night; not that this in itself is unusual, but it all seemed to come together in a higher way this night than what I’m used to. Everyone took full advantage of the small stage and while not simply headbanging their asses off they were more than happy to throw some classic metal poses at us, especially bassist Victor Brandt.
But poses was not the only thing being thrown out by the band this night; already as early as before the third song, Revel In Flesh, Petrov shared his wealth by throwing a beercan out into the crowd! He also asked for a mosh, as if it was needed; the mosh had been present from the first notes being played...

It’s hard to say precisely how many people were in the audience as a whole, but up in the front where I was standing, it was sufficiently packed to make me feel like Malmö, and surrounding areas as well, had shown up in numbers to show their unyielding support for the old death metal masters. The frontrow held constant headbanging, and I have already mentioned the never-ending mosh that was going right behind our backs! It was no wonder then that there was a damn near constant smile on the faces of the musicians...
It wasn’t only the performance which we had to be happy about though, Entombed had also put together one sweet setlist with several of my favourites on it (not all, but many). Early on in the gig both To Ride, Shoot Straight And Speak The Truth and Damn Deal Done descended from riff heaven, and finishing the set (even going into overtime to do so) were the now well-known Roky Erickson cover Night Of The Vampire and Entombed’s own mega-hit Wolverine Blues. Also, finally, with a little help from Brandt and some well-placed digging, I finally (yes, it takes at least two) found out what that hilarious outro melody they use is called; Satan Is Real by The Louvin Brothers!
The way I was able to get a little help from Brandt was that, after the gig was done, both Alex Hellid and he took a few laps in the security pit to shake hands with the fans and hand out picks and setlists. Nice gesture!

Yes, brothers and sisters, there were many things to rejoice about with this Entombed gig, and I have here tried to bear testament of at least a few of these things. My hope is that you will bear these words in mind, and the next time you are faced with the possibility to go and see this band, make damn sure you do!

Setlist (incomplete):

Revel In Flesh
To Ride, Shoot Straight And Speak The Truth
Damn Deal Done
Chief Rebel Angel
Night Of The Vampire (Roky Erickson cover)
Wolverine Blues
Satan Is Real (The Louvin Brothers song)