San Diego brutalists Carnifex return with a new slab of unrelenting terror in the form of the new album “Slow Death”. Steve gives a rundown of the new songs.
The very first thing that I noticed was that this was a departure from previous outings like the stellar 2010 full length album “Hell Chose Me”. On this album there is a definite change in the bands overall tone with more leanings towards black metal – think Cradle Of Filth meets Dimmu Borgir.
Prime examples of this include “Drown Me In Blood” and the track “Countess Of The Crescent Moon”. Another change that can’t go unmentioned is the instrumental track “Life Fades To A Funeral”, this track comes as a surprise as it puts the brakes on the album ever so slightly. All of this being said there is still plenty to keep long time fans of the band coming back for more, “Necrotoxic” is punishing straight forward death/grind metal with trademark Scott Lewis snarls and barks that we have come to know and trust.
Guitar tone and bass tone remain fairly unchanged but still pushing their respective instruments to the absolute limits. The track “Pale Ghost” has a real electro feel about it and some really solid solo work interweaved into it, I could go on. “Servants To The Horde” sounds like a slow descent into hell, rather fitting given the title of the album. The absolute Carnifex sound is here by the absolute bucket load, overall a very solid effort. This is guaranteed to be on high rotation for the next few month so I would goes as far as to say it’s firmly in my top 10 for 2016.
TRACKLIST
Dark Heart Ceremony
Slow Death
Drown Me In Blood
Pale Ghost
Black Candles Burning
Six Feet Closer To Hell
Necrotoxic
Life Fades To A Funeral
Countess Of The Crescent Moon
Servants To The Horde
