IEntombed - Left Hand Path (Earache Records, 1991)

Entombed's explosive debut virtually came out of nowhere and planted the flag for the Scandinavian death metal so deeply that it would prove to be both a boon and a curse. The boon was that the Swedish metal movement properly erupted and many excellent and long-standing bands grew out of it; the curse was that the rest of the pack were mostly Entombed clones who oversaturated and almost killed the scene outright by 1995. Luckily, the new wave of Swedish black metal intervened and most of the also-rans died with a whimper. In the meantime, Entombed indelibly made their mark with some of the fuzziest guitar tones ever and the eponymous opening mini-opus of “Left Hand Path”. While the rest of the album is a ripping collection of shaggy death metal fun, it is the title track that will be forever remembered as the band's greatest moment. As is the story of many death metal bands, the following album was not as strong, there were personnel problems, and the magic evaporated pretty quickly overall. Entombed still labors away with new albums but mostly they continue to thrive on fans' treasured memories of Left Hand Path.

For more info: Check out this week's list of best death metal albums.