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Meatballs to the wall >> Après-metallists Entombed are Björn again by JOHNSON CUMMINS
"I love pop music but I don't really listen to that much ABBA," claims guitarist Alex over the phone from Florida. Aghast, I figure he must be kidding, so I test the boy out on the most popular band ever to come out of his country. To my total surprise, and slight disgust, Alex not only fails to come up with a single lyric from the entire ABBA repertoire, but nearly experiences a brain hemorrhage trying to name even one member of this genius pop quartet. "ABBA are still pretty big in Sweden, but I kind of missed them when they were around. I think my parents like them, though." Yeesh! Entombed are currently one of the most popular bands in Sweden and deservedly so, as their recent album is one of the best to come out this year. Unlike the mighty ABBA, though, Entombed's popularity has not been propelled to the level of arriving to their shows via helicopter. Still, this wacky pack of Swedes have managed to keep afloat while heavy metal desperately treads water in the deep end of DJ culture. "Obviously, with a name like Entombed, people are going to assume that we're just a heavy metal band, but our roots are everything from Tom Waits to Ennio Morricone." I suggest that maybe they should change their name to something more digestible like Super Duper Tramp and Alex agrees, proposing the band name "Rock Band." As I ponder whether I'm talking to an idiot or a genius, Alex adds, "We're really not focusing on the metal scene. We just try and write good songs. We're not another band with flaming skulls on our record cover." With a selection of cover songs which range from the Dwarves to Bob Dylan, it is quite obvious that Entombed are not really the band that their name would lead you to believe. "I think the influences of MC5, Kiss and Black Sabbath have always been there. I love melody and I really don't want to be another band whose only influence is Napalm Death." You mean instead the unparalleled melodic dishes such as "Fernando" or "Knowing Me Knowing You," Alex? "Oh, okay, I admit I like them," he says finally, serenading me with an excruciating chorus of "Knowing Me Knowing You." See, I knew it all along. With Bloodlet and Hatebreed at Foufounes Électriques, Thursday, Feb. 19. 7pm, $14.50
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The first things that pop into my mind when I think of Sweden is blond, blue-eyed swimsuit models and tennis stars shaking their electric boogaloos to ABBA. I could've sworn that "Dancing Queen" was their national anthem and that a mandatory recital of "Knowing Me Knowing You" took the place of the Lord's Prayer in schools all over Sweden. With their new album To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth, Entombed may be finally destroying this Swedish myth.