Sons of Satan Praise the Lord

Entombed's Sons of Satan Praise the Lord collects every cover song the Swedish death pioneers ever recorded -- all 27 of them, spanning through the 1990s. And while this unwieldy two-disc compilation is entertaining and provides insight into the group's wide range of influences, it's by nature a strictly novel excursion. Songs range from the obvious -- S.O.D. ("Stormtroopers of Death")'s "March of the S.O.D.," Repulsion's "Black Breath," Kiss' "God of Thunder," the Misfits' "Hollywood Babylon," Motörhead's "One Track Mind" -- to left-field entries, including a somewhat kitschy hack job on Lee Hazlewood's rhythmically challenging "Some Velvet Morning," a punishing hardcore version of Bob Dylan's "The Ballad of Hollis Brown," and not one, but two inebriated versions of "Amazing Grace," vocalist L.G. Petrov growling with blasphemous glee on one, and moaning off-key on the other. Most notable is the band's nod to obscure Texas death-grinders Dead Horse, "Scottish Hell," which, with its sludgy minor-key melodies and bursts of rampant speed, betrays a major influence on the Swedes' early sound. Otherwise, Sons of Satan is loaded with fun, albeit disposable groovy-death covers, notably Roky Erickson's "Night of the Vampire," King Crimson's "21st Century Schizoid Man," and Hüsker Dü's "Something I Learnt Today." Die-hard Entombed fans will appreciate the detailed liner notes and find a few rare tracks here, but no new tunes were recorded strictly for this compilation, and the majority of songs are culled from previously released sources (including rarities compilation Entombed, out-of-print Man's Ruin eight-tracker Black Juju, the Wreckage EP, the U.S./bonus tracks version of Same Difference, and various singles). Ultimately, Sons of Satan's random sequencing and scattershot approach parallel the group's sonic-identity issues in the mid-to-late '90s, and, while it's a fun piece for collectors, it most likely won't be in anyone's regular listening rotation.