ALBUM REVIEW: Necromanteum – Carnifex
With the growing popularity of deathcore bands introducing blackened elements, you could be forgiven for thinking that this style is a new creation – something unique that this modern crop of bands has created in the past few years. However, you would in fact be VERY wrong about that. San Diego natives CARNIFEX have been perfecting the aforementioned sound since their debut album Dead In My Arms more that 16 years ago. The boys have been criminally overlooked time and time again yet continue to pave the way for the younger bands that follow in their creative wake, and now they return with their ninth full-length album Necromanteum.
The album begins with Torn In Two and is exactly what you would imagine. A volley of double bass drumming, frantic riffs, and eerie synths with the famous vocal acrobatics of Scott Lewis soaring over the top. This is the sound of a band showing no sign of slowing down or giving any mercy. The rhythm section of drummer Shawn Cameron and bassist Fred Calderon sounds as tight as ever and the lead guitars from Cory Arford and Neal Tiemann sound fresh and exciting.
The pace doesn’t slow up for Death’s Forgotten Children which features a ferocious guest spot from CHELSEA GRIN’s own Tom Barber. The evil delivery from Lewis twins perfectly with the guest vocalist and creates one of the heaviest breakdowns you are likely to hear this year. The title track carries on very much in the same vein with the ethereal vocals in the background and symphonic elements adding another level to the already grandiose sound. The band are really firing on all cylinders by this point of the album and are proving at this early stage of the record why they are one of the titans of the scene.
The Pathless Forest is one of the real high points of the album. The bludgeoning, machine gun fire of the double bass at the beginning gives way to one of the most punishing tracks on the whole release. Once again Lewis proves that he is one of the most consistently brilliant vocalists in the game, shifting from obscene gutturals to shrill banshee-like highs at the drop of a hat. How The Knife Gets Twisted then carries on in very much the same vein, with Cameron once again playing the role of MVP with his insanely technical drum work pushing the entire song forward.
Towards the back end of the album there isn’t even a whiff of reprieve for the listener. Infinite Night Terror is an attack on the senses with the heavy chugging over the top of the breakneck drumming, with the riffs being some of the most memorable of the whole album. The atmospherics once again siphon in a taste of melody, but even they do little to ease the absolute devastation that this sort of aggression causes to the eardrums of the audience.
The closing track Heaven And Hell All At Once ensures that the album doesn’t go out with a whimper. The harmonised guitars in the introduction between Arford and Tiemann sound fantastic and perfectly showcase the possibilities that have reopened for the band now that they have stepped back up to being a five-piece. The solo towards the only serves to hammer that point home and put the perfect cap on one of the band’s most solid and accomplished albums to date.
There are some who criticise bands for staying their course and re-treading the same ground. However, with a group like CARNIFEX, each time they venture out they manage to make things sound fresh and exciting without straying too far from their tried and tested formula. Necromanteum is a marked improvement on the band’s previous effort Graveside Confessions, which was by no means a poor album, but felt like it ran a little too long and dragged a bit towards the end. It’s safe to say that CARNIFEX sound like more of a complete unit this time around and the addition of another creative songwriter to the mix has done the lads wonders.
Rating: 8/10
Necromanteum is set for release on October 6th via Nuclear Blast Records.
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