People like to shit all over new Entombed records. "It's no Left Hand Path"...."They lost their death metal edge"...."Fucking pussies"....It's as though there was a memo sent with Wolverine Blues...."Please note, from this point forward, you are not allowed to like anything by Entombed."Mind you, I'm aware of the stylistic departures. But frankly, I was always willing to go along for the ride. They never seemed to be forcing records out, and even the ones I'm not overly fond of offer 2 or 3 redeeming songs on each.New Entombed records are sort of like cotton candy: they're never going to supply you with your needed nutrition, but they taste pretty good. However, if you eat too much, it's gonna make you sick.On Serpent Saints, thankfully, Entombed seems to have ditched the fluff for some fucking SUBSTANCE.This is easily their finest moment since Morning Star (my favorite post-Clandestine album), but don't go thinking this is a return to the buzzing early days.Instead, it's a focused take on what Entombed does best: thick, driving, crushing metal. Fuck "death n roll" and all that shit. This is just some good, fucking metal. They also do a good job of mixing up some midtempo tracks like "When In Sodom" (which was also on the EP from last year) in addition to the three-part RIPPING opening of "Serpent Saints", "Masters of Death", and "Amok." They also close the record off right with "Warfare Plague Famine Death" leading into "Love Song For Lucifer", a storming track leading into some grimm ambiance to end the album and leave no doubt as to what this record is all about.