Entombed vocalist L-G Petrov (1972-2021) remembered as a Morbid Nihilist with Allegiance to Black Satan, Comecon, Firespawn, and Entombed A.D.
L-G Petrov expressed an early admiration for British heavy metal, black metal, and thrash metal, mentioning bands like Iron Maiden, Bathory, Mercyful Fate, and Voivod.
“L-G” Petrov was a Swedish vocalist with Macedonian roots. Best known as the frontman of Scandinavian death metal pioneers Entombed (1989–2014) and the spin-off group Entombed A.D. (2014-2021), Petrov had started out as drummer in Morbid. He also recorded with Nihilist, Allegiance, Comecon, Firespawn, and others.
In August of 2020, Petrov announced that he was battling an incurable form of bile duct cancer, “gallvägscancer” in Swedish. He died on March 7th, 2021, aged only 49.
To help fund his treatment, a GoFundMe page had been launched following a suggestion from Slipknot drummer Jay Weinberg, the son of Max Weinberg of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. “I’ve been hit with uncurable cancer, and have been battling it for some time now,” Petrov wrote on the GoFundMe page. “It can’t be removed but the doctors are trying to control it with chemo therapy. Life takes its weird turns…” “Some of the pills are pretty expensive”, Petrov said, “but I aim to donate some of the money to [Swedish children’s cancer fund] Barncancerfonden. I feel like I owe it”. “There has been immense support. It brings a tear to your eye. Not one tear. Loads of them!”
LG praised the health service.
In a recent interview, Petrov recalled how he found out about his medical situation. “I felt a lump in my solar plexus. And I was, like, ‘OK, I’ll ignore it.’ But then it started to hurt, so I went to the doctor, and they X-rayed it quickly and said, ‘You have to go to the specialist.’”. “I’ve had a few beers throughout my life, but the liver is tip-top. I’ve smoked a lot, but the lungs are tip-top. It’s just very, very bad luck”. Petrov underwent treatment and said that “It’s very, very hard stuff. It’s not water they’re putting in you. You’re very, very weak. You get all these pills filled with cortisones, and you can’t sleep. Pills for nausea as well. But if you take a sleeping pill, then it works against it. I didn’t sleep at all last night. I waited until my local store opened at 8am, then put some clothes on and slowly walked there. It’s a mile but I had to sit down three times to rest. Your body gets so unimaginably weak.” Petrov did give “a big shout out to the Swedish health service. They’re awesome. They had a really tough spring and summer with the corona virus, but whenever I come in they’re always happy, always in a good mood. They’re amazing.”
Petrov had been singing with “Entombed A.D.” since 2014, as founding member Alex Hellid hold the rights to the name “Entombed”
Petrov’s bandmates in Entombed A.D. commented that “We are devastated to announce that our beloved friend Lars-Göran Petrov has left us. Our brother, leader, vocalist, our Chief Rebel Angel went on another ride last night. It’s with the deepest sadness that we have to announce that Lars-Göran Petrov has left us. He was (is!!!) an incredible friend, and a person that has touched so many people. He has changed so many lives with his voice, his music, his character and his unique personality. LG’s smile is something that we will carry forever in our hearts. When asked in an interview what he would like to have written on his grave and what about his legacy, he said: “I will never die, it will never die”. And you didn’t. You will live forever in our hearts.”
The original Entombed with LG Petrov far right.
Petrov’s death was met by an outpouring of online tributes, from bands like Opeth and Converge and artists like Hatebreed’s Jamey Jasta, Trivium’s Matt Heafy and Amon Amarth frontman Jonas Hegg. The latter wrote: “The word legend is too small to describe LG and what he meant for me as a friend and inspiration. Not only was he one of the best and original voices in metal, but the most kind, humble, funny and genuine person one could ever hope to meet. I will miss you my friend!”
Morbid soundcheck at Ultrahuset on November 22, 1987.
Born in Stockholm, Sweden, on February 17, 1972, Lars-Göran Petrov was known as “Drutten” when he joined Morbid as drummer in 1987. Per Yngve “Dead” Ohlin had formed the extreme metal band in Stockholm in 1986, and Petrov was around for their first demo, “December Moon”, recorded during two days at Stockholm’s Thunderload Studios in December of 1987.
Those four tracks were the only things recorded in a studio before Pelle (i.e. “Dead”) went to Norway to join the black metal band Mayhem, who’d lost Sven Erik “Maniac” Kristiansen after the release of their “Deathcrush” EP. “Dead” would commit suicide in 1991 before the recording of their first full-lenght studio album, “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas”. “Dead” can be heard on “Live in Leipzig”, however, recorded in 1990 but not released until 1993.
“December Moon” was reissued in 1994 and 2000, with six rehearsal recordings added as bonus tracks. A compilation called “Year of the Goat” was released in 2011, featuring the “December Moon” demos and various other tracks with Dead. Three tracks from one of Dead’s last gigs with Morbid, on February 26th of 1988, was released as a picture disc called “Death Execution III” in 2001. Live recordings from 1987 was also released in 1995 on an LP called “Death Execution” and in 2000 on “Live In Stockholm”.
Morbid with “Drutten”, “Dr. Schitz”, “Dead” and “Gehenna”.
Either way, after “Dead” and guitarist John “Gehenna” Hagström (the only other member remaining from when the group was formed as Scapegoat in 1985) had left the band, Petrov and the other members of Morbid (bass player Jens “Dr. Schitz” Näsström and guitarist Ulf “Napoleon Pukes” Cederlund) brought in guitarist Zoran Jovanovic and singer Johan Scarisbrick for their second and final demo, 1988’s “Last Supper”.
Petrov and Cederlund then went on to join Nihilist.
https://youtu.be/fT5StunD9eg
Poster for concert featuring Morbid and Nihilist along with Dismember and Treblinka. The latter band briefly featured Nicke Andersson of Nihilist on drums. Treblinka would later change their name to Tiamat.
Nihilist was formed in 1987 by drummer Nicke Andersson (later also singer and guitarist in The Hellacopters, The Solution, Death Breath, Imperial State Electric, Lucifer, etc.) and guitarist Alex Hellid, the sole constant member of both Nihilist and Entombed.
Nihilist never recorded a full-length album before their final line-up (except bassist Johnny Hedlund, who went on to form Unleashed) re-formed as Entombed in 1989, but a collection of their demo work was released in 2005 as “Carnal Leftovers” or simply “Nihilist (1987-1989)”. In total, Nihilist recorded three demo tapes: “Premature Autopsy” (1988), “Only Shreds Remain” (1989) and “Drowned” (1989). There was also two semi-official 7″ singles, “Drowned” and “Radiation Sickness”, released posthumously in 1992.
Petrov and Cederlund were listed only as “session members” on the first demo, recorded in March of 1988. L.G. Petrov had become their vocalist in time for “Only Shreds Remain” but Cederlund did not play on that one. Cederlund had become a proper member in time for “Drowned”, however, recorded in August of 1989.
Credited as “Drutten”, Petrov also sang on the first demo by Allegiance, a band formed in 1989 that featured two men (Fredrik Andersson and Roger “Bogge” Svensson) who’d later appear in the black metal band Marduk. “Sick World” was a six track demo recorded at Jade Music in September 1989.
Petrov also played drums with Black Satan, something which can be heard in the form of rehearsal recordings on a cassette simply called “Reh. 89”. Also featuring “Tommy”, “Matte” and “Pelle”, this death/black metal band from Stockholm was active during 1988-1991.
https://youtu.be/kG6xItch_fo
Nicke Andersson, Uffe Cederlund, Lars-Göran Petrov and Alex Hellid recorded Entombed’s first studio album, “Left Hand Path”.
Entombed rose out of the ashes of Nihilist, with guitarists Alex Hellid and Uffe Cederlund joined by drummer Nicke Andersson and LG Petrov on vocals. After parting ways with Nihilist’s Johnny Hedlund, bass player David Blomqvist was briefly brought in. He left before the recording of Entombed’s legendary debut album, however.
Andersson and Cederlund shared bass duties when recording “Left Hand Path”, a phrase which Hellid found in Anton LaVey’s 1969 book “The Satanic Bible”. Andersson and Cederlund were also credited for co-composing all of the music with former Nihilist bass/guitar player Leif Cuzner (1987–89). Most of the tracks on “Left Hand Path” (1990) had previously featured on various Nihilist demos.
Petrov was briefly fired from Entombed after “making an ill-advised pass” at Nicke Andersson’s girlfriend. Petrov was replaced by Orvar Säfström (1991) and Johnny Dordevic of Carnage (1991–1992) but it was Nicke Andersson who sang on “Clandestine” (1991), their sophomore album.
One of the songs released with Orvar Säfström on vocals, “Forsaken”, had also been recorded with Petrov on vocals. That version was originally released on “Projections of a Stained Mind”, a compilation album from 1991 which also featured Mayhem, Grotesque, Therion, House Of Usher, Merciless, Unleashed, Nirvana 2002, Mourning, Chronic Decay, Skull, and Dismember.
Comecon
After being fired from Entombed, Petrov joined Comecon, a Swedish death metal project founded in 1990 by Pelle Ström and Rasmus Ekman. Entombed producer Tomas Skogsberg worked on all three Comecon albums but Petrov only sang on their debut, “Megatrends in Brutality” from 1992.
Jocke Granlund och Kentha Philipsson were Leukemia.
Leukemia was a Swedish extreme metal duo led by House of Usher drummer Kenth Daemon Philipson. Better known as “Lord K.”, Kenta Philipson would later form The Project Hate MCMXCIX and work with Torture Division, God Among Insects, Rosicrucian, Candlemass, Grave, Vomitory, and Dark Funeral.
Leukemia’s debut album, 1993’s “Suck My Heaven”, was produced by Tomas Skogsberg and featured several prominent guests. Grave’s Jörgen Sandström (later bassist in Entombed) and L.G. Petrov both provided backing vocals.
“Suck My Heaven” was made with several famous collaborators, among them LG Petrov.
Petrov was re-instated in time for 1993’s “Wolverine Blues”, Entombed’s third studio album. This album marked a change in sound for Entombed, adopting a Pantera-like mid-tempo groove. Elements of hard rock, heavy metal, and hardcore punk were combined with traditional death metal, creating a style later known as death ‘n’ roll. “Wolverine Blues” was the second and final Entombed album featuring bass player Lars Rosenberg (1990-1995) of Carbonized, Monastery, and Serpent. Rosenberg soon joined Therion for the recording of their landmark album “Theli”.
“Hollowman” (1993) was an EP with two songs off “Wolverine Blues” and four new tracks.
Following the passing of Petrov, former touring partners Refused posted a tribute on their Instagram page. “Today we celebrate the life and times of a friend and true rocker. LG Petrov, Rest in power. In 1996 we were lucky enough to do a tour with Entombed and Fireside. It was a wild ride and Entombed was so damn amazing.”
1995 saw the release of a split-single with The New Bomb Turks, with Entombed doing a cover of “Night Of The Vampire” by Roky Erickson of the 13th Floor Elevators.
Entombed toured with Refused and Fireside in 1996 and the following year saw the release of “Entombed”, a compilation of tracks from various singles and EP releases.
“Night of the Vampire” was featured, as were songs recorded with Orvar Säfström of Nirvana 2002 (i.e. the “Crawl” EP, 1991) and Nicke Andersson (off the “Stranger Aeons” EP, 1992) on vocals. Petrov provided vocals on six of the tracks, including two covers lifted off the 1994 “Out of Hand” single: “God Of Thunder” by Kiss and Repulsion’s “Black Breath”. Petrov also sang on the previously unreleased Unsane cover “Vandal X” and “State Of Emergency”, a Stiff Little Fingers cover that had featured on the promotion single “Full Of Hell” in 1993.
Subtitled “DCLXVI” (“666” in Roman numerals), “To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth” (1997) was the first Entombed album featuring former Grave frontman Jörgen Sandström on bass. While still recorded with producer Tomas Skogsberg at Sunlight Studio, this album saw Entombed move further away from traditional death metal, bringing more stoner and garage rock into their “death ‘n’ roll”. Petrov was also credited as composer for the first time, on the short track “DCLXVI”.
Following this album, Nicke Andersson left Entombed to focus fully on The Hellacopters, the band that he formed in 1994 with Dregen of the Backyard Babies and some other former Entombed roadies. One of the other members of The Hellacopters, bassist Kenny Håkansson (a childhood friend of Nicke Andersson, not to be confused with the guitarist in the progressive folk rock band Kebnekajse) had previously contributed lyrics to serveral songs by Entombed.
A limited digipak edition came with “Family Favourites”, a bonus CD featuring four cover songs: MC5’s “Kick Out the Jams”, “21st Century Schizoid Man” by King Crimson, Venom’s “Bursting Out” and the Black Sabbath classic “Under the Sun”. These songs were also included on the Japanese edition of the “Wreckage” EP, a release which in Europe featured covers of Twisted Sister’s “Tear It Loose”, “Lost” by Jerry’s Kids, “Satan” by The Dwarves, and Bob Dylan’s “Ballad of Hollis Brown”. All of these songs were later included on the double CD “Sons of Satan Praise the Lord” (2002), a compilation album with covers recorded by Entombed between 1993 and 1999.
Entombed took a turn towards alternative rock with 1998’s “Same Difference”. Petrov himself though it was the band’s weakest moment. Nicke Andersson had been replaced by drummer Peter Stjärnvind, formerly of Unanimated and Merciless. Stjärnvind has also played with Nifelheim, Krux, Murder Squad, Black Trip, and others. The album was followed by an EP in 1999, “Black Juju”.
The title “Black Juju” referred to the Alice Cooper song that was included. Entombed also covered “Sentimental Funeral” by Hey on Glue (excluded from “Sons of Satan Praise the Lord”) and “Mesmerization Eclipse” off the self-titled masterpiece by Captain Beyond. The final song on the EP was “Vices by Proxy”, an original song also included on some editions of “Same Difference”.
The Project Hate MCMXCIX was formed by “Lord K” Philipson (ex-Leukemia, House of Usher, Lame, Toolshed) and Entombed’s Jörgen Sandström (ex-Grave) after Philipson abandoned his Deadmarch project. Towards the end of 1998, they recorded a three-song demo produced by Dan Swanö (Edge of Sanity, Nightingale, etc.) and featuring Petrov on backing vocals. The demo was sent out to four labels and in 1999 they signed with Massacre Records. “MCMXCIX”, of course, is “1999” in roman numerals. The 20 minutes of demo material was eventually included as bonus tracks on “Killing Helsinki”, a live album released by The Project Hate MCMXCIX in 2003.
Petrov and Thåström in the photo to the right on the album cover.
Djurgårdens IF is a Swedish football club which Petrov supported. In 1999, a tribute CD called “Blåränderna går aldrig ur” was released. Swedish punk band Coca Carola provided most of the tracks while “Pedda Pedd” and “Gurra G” of the hiphop trio Just D performed the title track.
Either way, LG Petrov teamed up with punk rock legend Joakim Thåström (ex-Ebba Grön, Imperiet, Peace, Love and Pitbulls) for the song “Kommando Gösta Knivsta”.
The 69 Eyes released “Wasting The Dawn” in 1999. The 69 Eyes were formed as a glam metal band in Helsinki, Finland in the summer of 1989. They were joined by drummer Jussi 69 (later in The Local Band with Alexi Laiho) in 1992 and their style eventually took a turn towards goth rock. The title track off “Wasting the Dawn”, their fourth studio album, paid tribute to Jim Morrison of The Doors and featured Ville Valo of HIM. Petrov guested on two other tracks off the album, “Who’s Gonna Pay the Bail?” (also featuring Alex Hellid of Entombed) and “Hand of God”.
LG Petrov was with Entombed when they joined Carcass, Cathedral and Confessor on the Gods of Grind tour in 1992.
Entombed’s “Monkey Puss (Live in London)” was also released in 1999. It was actually recorded back in 1992, however, during the Gods of Grind tour with Carcass, Cathedral, and Confessor.
L-G Petrov was back in Entombed by that point, forming the “Wolverine Blues line-up” with Cederlund, Hellid, Andersson, and Rosenberg.
Earache Records also released a split-album compilation with all four bands back in 1991. The tracks by Entombed were all lifted from releases without Petrov, however.
“Monkey Puss” was also released on VHS and DVD with five additional non-live videos: “Left Hand Path”, “Stranger Aeons”, “Hollowman”, “Wolverine Blues” and “Night of the Vampire”.
“Uprising” (2000) was co-produced by Nico Elgstrand and saw Entombed return to a death ‘n’ roll sound reminiscent of “Wolverine Blues”. Elgstrand would later join Entombed on bass (2004-2010) and guitar (2010-2013) before forming Entombed A.D. with Petrov.
Fred Estby (ex-Carnage with Michael Amott of Carcass, Arch Enemy and Spiritual Beggars) of Dismember (1988–1989, 1990–2007, 2019– ) played drums on “Year in Year Out” and “Returning to Madness”. Estby and Elgstrand (a.k.a. “Nico Moosebeach”) had recently worked together on the debut album by Terra Firma, a stoner metal band formed by Fredrik “Freddie Eugene” Lindgren (ex-Unleashed) and Christian “Lord Chritus” Lindersson of Count Raven and Saint Vitus.
In an episode of the Swedish podcast Rockpodden, friends of Petrov recalled how his only lyrical contribution to Entombed was the line “I drink my coffee black” from “In The Flesh”.
“Morning Star” (2001) introduced a handful of straightforward, fast-paced death/thrash tracks in the midst of a return to more traditional death metal. The lyrics for “I For An Eye” were provided by Orvar Säfström, Petrov’s replacement back in 1991. In my opinion, this album features some of Entombed’s very best songs, such as “Chief Rebel Angel” and “Bringer of Light”.
In 2002, Entombed performed with the Royal Ballet(!) at the Royal Opera Hall in Stockholm, Sweden. This was documented on the 2004 live album “Unreal Estate”.
As previously mentioned, “Sons of Satan Praise the Lord” (2002) was a double CD compilation of songs that Entombed covered in 1993-1999. In addition to songs already mentioned, it featured Stillborn’s “Albino Flogged in Black”, “March of the S.O.D”, “Sergeant D. & The S.O.D.” (both originally by Stormtroopers of Death), “Some Velvet Morning” (Lee Hazlewood), “One Track Mind” (Motörhead), “Hollywood Babylon” (The Misfits), “Something I Learned Today” (Hüsker Dü), “Hellraiser” (Christopher Young), “Yout’ Juice” (Bad Brains), and “Scottish Hell” by Dead Horse. Each disc was concluded by “Amazing Grace”, performed in a “punk” and “mellow drunk” version.
In 2002, Petrov re-united with Nicke Andersson, his former Entombed bandmate, and recorded some backing vocals for “By The Grace Of God”, the fifth studio album by The Hellacopters.
Entombed returned with their eighth full-length studio album in 2003, “Inferno”. The album was re-issued the following year with a second disc, “Averno”, featuring videos (and “video edits”) and three new tracks: “When Humanity’s Gone”, “There are Horrors of 1000 Nightmares” and “Random Guitar”. Jörgen Sandström (2004), Ulf Cederlund (2005) and Peter Stjärnvind (2006) would all leave Entombed before their next album, leaving Petrov and Hellid to carry on with new musicians.
Nine is a Swedish hardcore punk/metal band formed in 1994. Their “Killing Angels” album of 2004 featured Petrov providing vocals to “Them”.
“Loud Pipes Save Lives” (2004) was the fifth studio album by E-Type, the eurodance project by Martin Erikson, formerly drummer in the speed metal bands Maninnya Blade and Hexenhaus. Both of those bands had also featured guitarist Mikael Vikström, better known as “Mike Wead” in various bands featuring Leif Edling and King Diamond.
Petrov joined NaNa D’aquini (Nana Ann-Helene Hedin Pranschke) on “Forever More”.
LG Petrov provided vocals to one track off the Iron Maiden tribute album “Now Thats What I Call ‘kin’ Music”
Using the name “Food For Thought”, Henrik Johansson and Mattias Reinholdsson brought various musicians together to record Iron Maiden covers in different styles of music. Erik “Tyrant” Gustavsson of Nifelheim provided the album cover and LG Petrov added vocals to “The Trooper” on 2005’s “Now Thats What I Call ‘kin’ Music”.
“When In Sodom” was an EP released by Entombed in 2006. It was the final release featuring Peter Stärnvind on drums, with Cederlund and Sandström having already left. Hellid and Petrov were joined by Nico Elgstrand on bass, having previously helped record “Uprising” and “Morning Star”. Erik Danielsson of Watain provided lyrics to “Carnage”.
The title track was re-used in 2012 on a single called “When In Sodom Revisited”. Klaus Q Hedegård Nielsen (Beta Satan, Marybell Katastrophy, Tiger Tunes) was responsible for “Sodom Revisited” but the release also featured Entombed doing a cover of “Welcome Home”, the King Diamond classic off 1988’s “Them”. Petrov, Hellid and Elgstrand (2004–2013, on guitar since 2010) had by that time been joined by drummer Olle Dahlstedt (2006–2013) and Victor Brandt (2010–2013) on bass. Dahlstedt had previously played with Misery Loves Company and Alpha Safari (with former Entombed guitarist Ulf Cederlund) while Brandt had a past in Totalt Jävla Mörker and Satyricon.
https://youtu.be/lrFvBnvtF-4
Some years before that, in 2007, Entombed released the studio album “Serpent Saints – The Ten Amendments”. It was their first and only with drummer Olle Dahlstedt.
Pungent Stench is a death metal band formed in Austria in 1988. “Smut Kingdom” (eventually released in 2018) was recorded in 2007 and featured Petrov on the track “Suicide Bombshell”.
Formed in 1992, Amon Amarth emerged from Scum, a death metal band formed in 1988. Their 7th studio album, “Twilight Of The Thunder God” (2008), featured Apocalyptica and Roope Latvala of Children of Bodom. LG Petrov guested on “Guardians Of Asgaard”.
A decade after providing backing vocals to their initial demo, “Lord K” Philipson and Jörgen Sandström brough Petrov back in to do the same on “The Lustrate Process” (2009), the sixth studio album by The Project Hate MCMXCIX. Dan Swanö, who produced said demo, was on hand to mix and master this album. Petrov can be heard on “Descend Into the Eternal Pits of Possession”, “You Come Through Me to Hell” and “The Locust Principles”.
Martin van Drunen (Asphyx, Hail of Bullets, ex-Pestilence, Comecon, Bolt Thrower) was featured on all tracks but Petrov was also joined by Christian Älvestam (Scar Symmetry, Unmoored, Miseration, etc.) on the latter two songs. The album also featured Amon Amarth’s Johan Hegg and Bibleblack’s Mike Wead (ex-Mercyful Fate, King Diamond, The Haunted, Edge of Sanity, Maninnya Blade, Hexenhaus, Memento Mori, Abstrakt Algebra) of Candlemass fame. Speaking of Candlemass, Sandström (also in Krux with Leif Edling of Candlemass) and Philipson of The Project Hate MCMXCIX have both joined Candlemass as live musicians on tour since 2015-2016.
Volbeat formed in Copenhagen, Denmark in 2001. Their 2010 album “Beyond Hell / Above Heaven” featured Mark “Barney” Greenway of Napalm Death on the track “Evelyn”. The following concert DVD “Live from Beyond Hell/Above Heaven” (2011) featured LG Petrov singing Greenway’s parts on “Evelyn”. The performance was recorded at the Forum in Copenhagen on November 19th, 2010.
Formed in Vaasa in 1993, the Finnish grindcore band Rotten Sound released “Cursed” in 2011. Petrov provided guest vocals to “Superior” and “Choose”.
In 2012, Sweden Rock Magazine celebrated their issue #100 by including a CD single featuring exclusive recordings by Entombed and Candlemass. The doom metal legends did a cover of the Entombed classic “To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth” while Entombed themselves did a take on “Black Dwarf” off the self-titled Candlemass album from 2005.
2012 was also the year when Entombed released “When In Sodom Revisited” and a “Ninetone version” of “Amok”, a song off the “Serpent Saints – The Ten Amendments” album.
2012 saw the release of “Turn Off The World” by The Very End, a German metal band formed in 2004 by former members of Night In Gales and Ninnghizhidda. Petrov sang on “The Black Fix”.
Undercroft emerged from the obscurity of the South American underground in 1993. “Ruins Of Gomorrah” (2012) was the sixth studio album by the Chilean band which features Alvaro Lillo (bass, vocals) of Watain’s live line-up. “Ruins of Gomorrah” was produced by Daniel Bergstrand (Meshuggah, In Flames, Dark Funeral, Behemoth, Dimmu Borgir, Soilwork, Devin Townsend) and featured Petrov on “Triunfo De La Muerte” (with Watain’s Erik Danielsson and Dismember’s Matti Kärki, ex-Carbonized, General Surgery, Carnage, Murder Squad), “At The Gardens Of Hatred” and “Legions Of Beelzebub”. These tracks also featured Tobias Sidegård of Necrophobic.
Petrov could be heard on “Pillars Of Perennity” off “Wake” (2013) by Colossus, a Swedish progressive stoner/sludge metal band formed in 2008. Another track on the album featured drummer Morgan Ågren (Fredrik Thordendal, Magma, Devin Townsend, Kaipa, etc.) of Mats/Morgan Band.
Deathchain released “Ritual Death Metal” in 2013. Petrov was featured on “Like Worms Upon The Lands”, the sixth track on the album. Deathchain is a death-thrash metal band from Kuopio, Finland, formed in 1997 under the name Winterwolf.
Entombed disbanded in 2013. As a result of the band’s trademark being held by Alex Hellid, Petrov went on to form “Entombed A.D.” with the other members of the final Entombed line-up: drummer Olle Dahlstedt, bass player Victor Brandt, and Nico Elgstrand on guitars. Hellid himself soon re-united with Uffe Cederlund and Orvar Säfström to perform “Clandestine” with a symphony orchestra. Nicke Andersson was unable to participate due to scheduling conflicts in 2013. Hellid and Cederlund eventually reunited with Andersson to perform as Entombed in 2016.
LG Petrov, meanwhile, spent the remaining years of his life alternating between two bands. Entombed A.D. and Firespawn both featured him and former Entombed member Victor Brandt. Firespawn had actually formed prior to the break-up of Entombed, in 2012 as “Fireborn” and with the intention to “play faster and harder death metal than in our other bands.”
Entombed A.D. managed to release their debut album first, though. “Back to the Front” was released in 2014. Some editions included “Gospel Of The Horns”, a song otherwise available on a split-single with Voïvod from 2016. Entombed A.D. also featured guitarist Johan Jansson around the time of the debut. He’d be replaced by Guilherme Miranda in 2015, though neither appeared on the band’s first two albums.
Mefisto was an extreme metal band originally active in 1984-1987. They released two demos in 1986 with vocals by Sandro Cajander, also the drummer in Morbid before Petrov replaced him in 1987. Cajander’s style of vocals was considered more extreme than those in Bathory or Venom, something which supposedly inspired Petrov as he joined Nihilist. The demos were eventually re-issued as “The Truth” in 1999 and “The Megalomania Puzzle” in 2014. Original members Omar Ahmed (guitar, vocals) and Robert “Thord” Granath (drums) also re-formed Mefisto in 2014 and released a self-titled album in 2017. Petrov appeared on that album, singing on “Let Go Of Life”.
Petrov, Folkare, Modin, Brandt and “A. Impaler” of Firespawn.
“Shadow Realms” was the title of Firespawn’s debut album of 2015. In addition to Petrov and Brandt (guitar) of Entombed A.D., the band was formed by bass player Alexander “Impaler” Friberg of Necrophobic and Naglfar. The line-up was completed by guitarist Fredrik Folkare (Unleashed, Necrophobic) and Defleshed drummer Matte Modin (Raised Fist, ex-Dark Funeral). Necrophobic first formed in 1989 but Friberg (2008–2019) and Folkare (2011–2016) joined them much later.
Entombed A.D. returned with “Dead Dawn” in 2016. A deluxe edition included a cassette tape with four additional demo recordings. Anders Wikström of Treat (1981–1993, 2006–present) added backing vocals to “Down To Mars To Ride” and “As The World Fell”. Wikström’s composition “World of Promises” (off the Treat album “Dreamhunter” of 1987) was incidentally covered by In Flames on “Power From The North – Sweden Rocks The World”, a compilation to which Entombed contributed “Albino Flogged In Black” back in the year 2000.
Firespawn
“The Reprobate” (2017) was the title of Firespawn’s second album.
German metal band Atrocity formed in 1985 as the grindcore act Instigators. Alexander Krull has led the band since then, eventually releasing “Okkult II” in 2018. Petrov appeared on the track “Devil’s Covenant”. Alexander Krull is also a member of Leaves’ Eyes, a band which he formed with his then-wife, Liv Kristine Espenæs, formerly of the gothic metal band Theatre of Tragedy. The couple split up in 2016, the year which also saw Liv Kristine replaced by Elina Siirala (second cousin of Nightwish founder Tuomas Holopainen) of Angel Nation (formerly EnkElination) as vocalist in Leaves’ Eyes.
Angerot released their debut, “The Splendid Iniquity”, in 2018 and Petrov was featured on “Rivers of Chaos”. The album also featured guitarist James Murphy (Death, Obituary, Testament). The members of Angerot had previously featured in bands like Pukus and Suffer.
Firespawn launched “Abominate” in June of 2019, three months ahead of Entombed A.D.
Victor Brandt left Entombed A.D. in 2018 and was replaced in concert by Tobias Cristiansson (2018–2019) and Cauê De Marinis (2019–present) on bass. Petrov released his final album when Entombed A.D. returned with their third offering, “Bowels of Earth”, in August of 2019.
Presenting themselves as a quartet, the bass playing was credited to “Putz Weck”, possibly referring to not having a bass player? “Puts väck” is Swedish for “gone” but “Putzweck” has also been credited on releases by Nirvana 2002, Blackshine and Murder Squad. Possibly a death metal scene inside joke?
The album included a cover of “I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive” by Hank Williams, originally released in 1952, and the limited edition featured a Motörhead cover as a bonus track, “Back At The Funny Farm” off 1983’s “Another Perfect Day”.
Back in 2016, Petrov had been asked to list 11 metal songs that changed his life. “Back At The Funny Farm” was the first song he mentioned, adding that “Lemmy did everything right. This was the first album I ever owned – I didn’t buy it, my mother actually bought it for me! There was no Led Zeppelin or anything, I went straight in with Motörhead. Another Perfect Day is still my favourite record of theirs, and the way that first song came thundering out, the bass sound on it… For me, it’s better than Ace Of Spades!”
In December of 2019, deluxe subscriber issues of Decibel Magazine #182 included a flexi disc with Entombed A.D. doing a cover of Piledriver’s “Metal Inquisition”. Rather than an actual band, Piledriver was actually a studio project using vocalist Gord Kirchin. “Metal Inquisition” (1984) was composed by Leslie “Bud Slaker” Howe and Louise “Sal Gibson” Reny while the second and final Piledriver album (1986) was partly made by David DeFeis of Virgin Steele.
Lars-Göran Petrov discography:
1987: Morbid – December Moon (demo)
1988: Morbid – Last Supper (demo)
1988: Nihilist – Premature Autopsy (demo)
1989: Nihilist – Only Shreds Remain (demo)
1989: Nihilist – Drowned (demo, re-issued as a 7″ single in 1990)
1989: Entombed – But Life Goes On (demo, included in the “Nihilist” compilation)
1989: Allegiance – Sick World (demo)
1989: Black Satan – Reh. 89 (demo)
1990: Entombed – Left Hand Path
1992: Nihilist – Radiation Sickness (semi-official 7″ single with demos from 1989)
1992: Comecon – Megatrends in Brutality
1993: Entombed – Wolverine Blues
1993: Entombed – Hollowman (EP)
1993: Entombed – Full of Hell (single)
1994: Entombed – Out of Hand (single)
1997: Entombed – DCLXVI: To Ride, Shoot Straight and Speak the Truth
1997: Entombed – Wreckage (EP)
1997: Entombed – Entombed (rarities compilation, 1991-1995, with Petrov on six tracks)
1998: Entombed – Same Difference
1999: Entombed – Black Juju (EP)
1999: The Project Hate MCMXCIX – 1999 Demo (included on 2003’s “Killing Helsinki”)
1999: Entombed – Monkey Puss (Live in London) (live 1992 on CD, VHS, DVD)
2000: Entombed – Uprising
2001: Entombed – Morning Star
2002: Entombed – Sons of Satan Praise the Lord (compilation of cover songs, 1993-1999)
2003: Entombed – Inferno
2004: Entombed – Averno (EP included with re-issues of “Inferno”)
2004: Entombed – Unreal Estate (live 2002)
2005: Nihilist – Nihilist (1987-1989) (demo compilation, a.k.a. “Carnal Leftovers”)
2006: Entombed – When In Sodom (EP)
2007: Entombed – Serpent Saints – The Ten Amendments
2012: Entombed – When In Sodom Revisited (single)
2012: Candlemass vs Entombed (split-single included with Sweden Rock Magazine #100)
2014: Entombed A.D. – Back to the Front
2015: Firespawn – Shadow Realms
2016: Voïvod / Entombed A.D. – Fall / Gospel Of The Horns (split-single)
2016: Entombed A.D. – Dead Dawn
2017: Firespawn – The Reprobate
2019: Firespawn – Abominate
2019: Entombed A.D. – Bowels of Earth
2019: Entombed A.D. – Metal Inquisition (flexi-single included with Decibel Magazine #182)
