EP REVIEW: When Push Comes To Shove – Carnal Decay
Swiss brutal death metal mob CARNAL DECAY are a band with a long and storied recording history. Formed all the way back in 2002, the band have put out four ferocious full length records, with the latest of which, You Owe, You Pay, only having seen the light of day last year. Hot on the heels of this highly praised record, the band have recently released When Push Comes to Shove, a short, sharp shock of a record, clocking in at little under ten minutes. But what they manage to do within that ten minute span will, most likely, knock your head off.
The EP’s opening, self titled track, When Push Comes to Shove, begins with a palpably heavy, dense slam riff, backed by crashing symbols and machine gun precise drumming and sludgy gutturals. Starting in a far more measured, slower pace, it quickly shifts through the gear and becomes a far more intense and bestial track, with sharp and jarring guitar lines thrown into the already heady mix to provide a contrasting form of ferocity to the proceedings. It’s a really solid opening effort, and starts the record off on an incredibly strong note.
Food For Thought really ups the ante with regards to the aggression and speed. With gnarly, chugging riffs and a thick, bubbling bass heading up the sound, and some brilliantly frenetic and energetic drum lines adding plenty of cacophony to the mix. Igor Filimontsev‘s excellent guest vocals really suit the tone of the music, reaching bowel voiding lows and injecting plenty of acerbic power and viciousness into a song that is unflinchingly heavy and ferocious to begin with. Taking a more brutal death metal approach to the musicianship, with a few slam motifs thrown in for good measure, this track serves as the centrepiece of album.
The third and final track, We All Bleed Red, builds a vast, swarming wall of sound that lends itself well to the intensity and anger of the music, creating a monolithic musical base for the vocals to work with. The vocals are every bit as acerbic and primal as the music, ranging from unrelenting gutturals to tortured howls. Both musical and vocally, this is the most eclectic and impressive offering on the EP from CARNAL DECAY, showing the listener the full range of styles and tones that this band can perform in, jumping from crunching, palm muted triplets to intricate and discordant hooks. It’s a great and impressive way to bring this record to a close.
For an album with such a short length, it’s nonetheless an excellent record. It’s got some truly crushing brutal death metal riffs, and it manages to pepper the record with enough slam elements to add some variety, without overdoing it. This is a great follow up to You Owe, You Pay, and it also acts as a brilliant introduction to CARNAL DECAY and their music. With any luck, this will act as a precursor to the direction the band will be taking the music in the future, because every single one of the 592 seconds of the music on this EP are as spectacular as they are punishingly heavy.
Rating: 8/10
When Push Comes To Shove is out now via Rising Nemesis Records.
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