A lot has changed since Sweden's Entombed last visited the North American shores and it was quite evident at their February 13th appearance at NY's Coney Island High. The venue was smaller, none of their hardcore opening acts had the suffix "-ion" attached to their names and some of its members even sported buzz cuts. Despite all this, Entombed's one constant remained -- the same one that helped them survive the early '90s metal backlash: their ability to tear it up live.

Storming onto the stage amid smoke and green lights, Entombed exhibited their go-for-the-jugular performance strategy with stellar versions of "Eyemaster", "Out of Hand" and the title track of their latest album, "To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth". Lead vocalist L.G. Petrov frolicked onstage like a madman, his long hair stringing over his face like a fisherman's net while he dug into the Entombed discography with vintage tracks like "Crawl" and "Left Hand Path". Unlike many groups who compose their set lists from their last two records, Entombed mixed enough gems with later material to satisfy the crowded masses. Overall, the band lived up to their well-earned reputation as a force to be reckoned with and showed us Yankees just how it should be done.

Entombed certainly had reason to hone their chops as opening act Hatebreed gave them a run for their money. After listening to their blazing Victory debut _Satisfaction is the Death of Desire_, I pegged them 'Entombed Jr.' as vocalist Jamie Jasta sounds eerily like Petrov and their hardcore sound is ingrained heartily with an obvious metal influence. Pile-ons, sing-alongs and overall mayhem were the order of the evening as the band plowed through songs like "Last Breath", "Driven by Suffering" and the hit single "Kill an Addict".

Having experienced both the older legends and the new sensations, my metal experience on Friday the 13th was the perfect blend of nostalgia, exuberance and aggression. In other words, it fuckin' rocked!