zombies must make terrible dancers
When I think of death metal, I think "ballet". Don't we all?
Well, apparently someone does. In 2002, veteran death metal band Entombed and the Swedish Royal Ballet joined forces and put on eight nights together at the Stockholm Royal Opera House. Real, professional dancers, choreography, beautiful stage and lighting design, all set to brutal live death metal. Earplugs were handed out at the door. Standing ovations ensued. Luckily, someone had the good sense to record it and a DVD's coming out later this year which I'm looking forward to immensely.
In the meantime, there's an audio recording of the event available, from which the track above was taken. The sound on it is fabulous, although much of Entombed's charm for me has always been the really raw sound of their guitars and the generally minimalist approach they have to songwriting and recording. Eg, on "Wolverine Blues" off their classic album of the same name, the fuzz, feedback, loose playing, slightly relaxed groove and relative lack of overdubs gives it a live feel that's pretty uncommon in death metal.
My only complaint is that it's awful short for a live album. But it's totally worth getting for the booklet full of gorgeous photographs from the show (did I mention I really can't wait for the DVD?).