Please... Die!

Sweden’s Carnal Forge is one of those bands of which you know what to expect with every release: fast, furious, violent, short, sweaty, deaththrash attacks. I’ve always been quite fond of their previous album, Firedemon. That one isn't a world class genre-surpassing record, but it does contain some killer songs and provides enough headbanging pleasure.

Within a year Carnal Forge already released a follow-up to Firedemon, the rather silly-titled “Please… Die!”. A band so violent and skullcrushing could at least just command you to simply “DIE!”, not beg-on-their-knees “pleeeeeaaaaase, do us a favour: die, if it’s not too much trouble”. On Firedemon, the guitars had a fuller, dirtier, muddier production. This time around they sound a tad milder and cleaner, I don’t know whether that was a conscious decision, or a result of budgetary constraints.

Carnal Forge do what they stand for. The band name, the logo, the album cover, the song titles, the lyrics, the music: the whole package breathes aggression and violence. Just listen to the opening track, the aptly titled “Butchered, Slaughtered, Strangled, Hanged”. Well, I guess that says it all… From the off, Carnal Forge puts the pedal to the metal and they won’t slow down.

A couple songs in and so far, so good. “Hand Of Doom” and “Totalitarian Torture” are definitely among the stronger tracks on “Please… Die!”. Fast, thrashy, memorable, with a good balance between death-riffs and more melodic work. After that, there is unfortunately a serious drop in quality. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t a bad release at all, but several of these songs start to sound alike, even after multiple listens. Given the fact that "Please... Die!" was recorded and released relatively short after Firedemon, it feels like a collection of left-over riffs and ideas from said album, with the band deciding there was enough material left for another release.

There really isn’t anything particularly wrong with this album. These guys know how to write a song, they master their instruments, the production quality is pretty good. This release just fails to stand out from the plethora of bands who play a similar style. It doesn’t hurt to listen to, but it doesn’t excite you enough to press repeat either. “Please… Die!” has its strong moments, but it’s also easily forgotten once it's over. Definitely not as good as Firedemon.

Recommended tracks: Hand Of Doom, Totalitarian Torture, Becoming Dust

58/100