Left Hand Path is the debut album from Entombed

Entombed (band)

Entombed is a Swedish death metal band which formed in 1987 under the name of Nihilist. Though Entombed began their career as an early pioneer of Scandinavian death metal which initially differed itself from its American counterpart with its distinct guitar tone, by the early 1990s their sound had...

 from 1990 that is known for defining the style of Swedish death metal by being the first recording to use the "buzzsaw" guitar tone. The tone was created by heavily detuned electric guitars (To B) used with a maxed out Boss

Boss Corporation

Boss is a manufacturer of effects pedals for electric guitar and bass guitar. It is a division of the Roland Corporation, a Japanese manufacturer that specializes in musical equipment and accessories...

 HM-2 Heavy Metal Pedal and the DS-1 Distortion pedal into a Peavey amp. The originator of this guitar tone was Nihilist

Nihilist (band)

Nihilist was a Swedish Scandinavian death metal band formed in 1987 by Nicke Andersson and Alex Hellid.The band split-up in 1989 when Johnny Hedlund left to form Unleashed...

 guitarist Leif "Leffe" Cuzner.
The album's liner notes give thanks to Nirvana, but the band in question is the Swedish death metal group Nirvana 2002

Nirvana 2002

Nirvana 2002 was a Swedish death metal band active between 1988 and 1992. The band was originally called Prophet 2002, but decided to change its name to Nirvana. However, it had to add the "2002" after seeing an advertisement for Nirvana's debut single, "Love Buzz/Big Cheese", released in October...

, not the famous grunge act

Nirvana (band)

Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...

.

The title of the album refers to a Left-Hand Path belief system. Guitarist Alex Hellid found the term in Anton LaVey

Anton LaVey

Anton Szandor LaVey , born Howard Stanton Levey, was the founder of the Church of Satan as well as a writer, occultist, and musician...

's book The Satanic Bible

The Satanic Bible

The Satanic Bible is a collection of essays, observations, and rituals published by Anton LaVey in 1969. It contains the core principles of LaVeyan Satanism, and is considered the foundation of its philosophy and dogma. It has been described as the most important document to influence contemporary...

. This is explored in the eponymous opening track of the album, with the first verse saying:

I am my own God, master, slave

And I will be beyond the grave

No one will take my soul away

I carry my own will and make my day

The more melodic, ambient section that comes in at 3:54 in the title track is a cover of the theme of the 1979 horror film

Horror film

Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...

 Phantasm

Phantasm (film)

Phantasm is a low-budget "cult classic" horror film produced in 1977 and released in 1979. The film was directed, written, photographed, co-produced and edited by Don Coscarelli...

.

Two songs from the album were covered by Belgian death metal band Aborted. Drowned for the re-release of The Archaic Abattoir

The Archaic Abattoir

The Archaic Abattoir is the fourth album by Aborted. The song "Dead Wreckoning" contains audio samples from the film American Psycho, and the song "Threading On Vermillion Deception" contains audio from the film Blade.-Track listing:...

 and the title track for the EP Coronary Reconstruction

Coronary Reconstruction

Coronary Reconstruction is an EP by the Belgian death metal band Aborted, released on January 14, 2010 through Century Media Records. The album is the first to be recorded with the band's new 2009 line-up, and was released mainly as a digital EP, with only 1,000 physical copies made...

"Drowned" was featured in the 2009 video game Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned is the first of two episodic expansion packs developed for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC versions of Grand Theft Auto IV, developed by Rockstar North. It was first released for the Xbox 360 on 17 February 2009 and on PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Windows...

on the radio station Liberty City Hardcore.

Track listing

All tracks by Entombed

Entombed (band)

Entombed is a Swedish death metal band which formed in 1987 under the name of Nihilist. Though Entombed began their career as an early pioneer of Scandinavian death metal which initially differed itself from its American counterpart with its distinct guitar tone, by the early 1990s their sound had...

 (lyrics: Nicke Andersson

Nicke Andersson

Nicke Andersson , born 1 August 1972 is a singer, guitarist, drummer, songwriter and composer most known for his work as the singer and guitarist of the successful Grammy award winning rock band The Hellacopters as well as the former drummer for Swedish death metal band Entombed...

 and Alex Hellid

Entombed (band)

Entombed is a Swedish death metal band which formed in 1987 under the name of Nihilist. Though Entombed began their career as an early pioneer of Scandinavian death metal which initially differed itself from its American counterpart with its distinct guitar tone, by the early 1990s their sound had...

 / music: Nicke Andersson, Uffe Cederlund

Entombed (band)

Entombed is a Swedish death metal band which formed in 1987 under the name of Nihilist. Though Entombed began their career as an early pioneer of Scandinavian death metal which initially differed itself from its American counterpart with its distinct guitar tone, by the early 1990s their sound had...

 and Leffe Cuzner

Nihilist (band)

Nihilist was a Swedish Scandinavian death metal band formed in 1987 by Nicke Andersson and Alex Hellid.The band split-up in 1989 when Johnny Hedlund left to form Unleashed...

)

Personnel

Dismember

• Lars Göran Petrov
  Lars Göran Petrov
  Lars Göran Petrov, better known simply as LG Petrov, is a Swedish singer of Macedonian background , born 17 February 1972. He is best known for his work with the band Entombed. In 1991 he was forced to quit Entombed, due to personal problems. He then did the vocals for Comecon's debut album...
  
   - Vocals
• Uffe Cederlund - Guitars, Bass
• Alex Hellid - Guitars
• Nicke Andersson
  Nicke Andersson
  Nicke Andersson , born 1 August 1972 is a singer, guitarist, drummer, songwriter and composer most known for his work as the singer and guitarist of the successful Grammy award winning rock band The Hellacopters as well as the former drummer for Swedish death metal band Entombed...
  
   - Drums, Bass, Logo

Production

• Produced by Tomas Skogsberg, Entombed
  Entombed (band)
  Entombed is a Swedish death metal band which formed in 1987 under the name of Nihilist. Though Entombed began their career as an early pioneer of Scandinavian death metal which initially differed itself from its American counterpart with its distinct guitar tone, by the early 1990s their sound had...
  
  
• Cover art by Dan Seagrave
  Dan Seagrave
  Daniel Seagrave is a British artist, who created many record covers for death metal bands especially in the early 1990s. He currently lives in Toronto, Canada. He grew up in Ravenshead, near Nottingham....
  
  
• Photos by Micke Lundstrom
• Design by David Windmill