Slow Death

I have never been too much into deathcore and I always had just a handful of bands that i genuinely enjoyed in this genre. So it wasn't until last year I gave Carnifex a chance. To be fair, I always thought of them just as another myspace era spawned Suicide Silence clone with the same beaten to death mix of chugs, dull uninteresting vocals and predictable breakdowns. So I was naturally blown away, when I saw them live with corpse paints, leather jackets and all those metal manners doing hell of a show. This was the particular moment I started to be strongly convinced, that they are something else and I have to give Slow death a chance.

For this album, Carnifex decided to further expand the black metal influence that started to be more apparent on it's predecessor and it mostly worked out for them. The first song starts off with a short melancholic intro, that unlike many simmilar intros doesn't fall flat and actually sets the dark and eerie atmosphere. The songs flow generally really well. Most of the time the leads are on point and make you remember the good ol' black/death and meloblack like Dissection or Necrophobic. The gothenburg style solos are also really catchy and pleasant to listen to.

The synths and orchestration work nicely and help to shape the evil blackish ambience. They are used prominently yet wisely and by no means sound they cheap. Especially the mellow wicked intro makes you realize that some truly dark music is on its way.

Unfortunatelly I can't say the same for the breakdowns. Don't get me wrong, I love breakdowns and Carnifex wrote some of my favourites in the past, but I feel that on this album, they fall flat and feel really basic and random. Some of them feel just mindlesly inserted in a song without having any purpose just so they fit in the "core" genre. Luckily though, the amount of them is reduced and they are not long enough to really bother me or ruin the whole songs.

Another huge highlight of this release and a pleasant surprise is the addition of very mature and well placed intermezzo in the form of 2 minutes long instrumental Life fades to a funeral. Just a few minutes before the end of the album Carnifex makes you remember that heavy music, specifically deathcore (or black metal if you will) doesn't necessarily have to be all just about breakdowns and head banging.

I realize, that the whole blackened deathcore thing is bit too overhyped and that Carnifex aren't the first band to explore these shores (pun intended) but no band did this quite as well as Carnifex did. Overall I don't understand the hate this album is getting on this page. I think that it might be their most mature effort to this day and I'm looking forward what more can they offer in the future.

Deathcore is a genre that I absolutely hate for the most part. Aside from old Suicide Silence (before the Tee-hee's became a thing), Whitechapel, and Thy Art Is Murder, most deathcore is the SAME chug chug, breakdown, chug chug, highs mixed with some gutturals that feel out of place, and more breakdowns. Carnifex however, is one of the few bands that I actually really like that aren't really that original, but at the same time have their own unique style within the genre. Until I Feel Nothing is a good album with some original ideas being thrown into them from time to time, and also ACTUAL riffage is found on that album. So imagine my disappointment when I listened to this steaming pile of shit. (Fun fact: this was the first Carnifex album I bought and initially liked it too at first, until further listening)

The biggest con I have with this album, is that it's SO FUCKING GENERIC, Seriously, the first two songs on this album are the only "good" songs on this turd, and even then they're a good indication of what we're in for. This album has NO variety whatsoever. Those first two songs are the entire album (save for the instrumental track which is quite nice). Seriously, I'm not fucking joking, same structure, same riffs, and even the same drum beats. It really amazes me how much a band can regress within the course of 5 years since they released my personal favorite album from the boys, Until I Feel Nothing. I can't even review these damn songs because it's literally the SAME song over and over again. Seriously, the music on this album blows.

Another big con is how grating Scott Lewis' vocals on this album are. Say what you will about Carnifex, but Scott has a great voice. It's a nice mix between black metal and deathcore, and even some traditional death metal. So I don't know what the fuck went wrong on this album, because his voice sounds extremely worn out on this album. It's almost like he just did his vocals in one take and didn't even bother trying to see if he could do better. I'm all for a raw sounding performance, but as long as it's done right! And here it isn't, it just comes across as absolute slop to my ears honestly. Hell, even the lows don't sound good at all, and that's something I find shocking considering the talent Scott has.

Also, the production on this album sounds somewhat sterile, which doesn't help at all if you ask me. No clipping or compression to be found here, just something doesn't feel right here. It's almost as if the record could benefit from a bass boost, because even the guitars have a weird blending effect going on from to time, which gives off somewhat of a clipping sound from time to time if you really listen to it. I could just be talking out of my ass, but who knows

In conclusion, Slow Death to me represents EVERYTHING wrong with deathcore. Piss poor vocals, repetitive song structures and instrumentation, and shoddy production. Ya know, it really amazes me how much Carnifex have regressed with this album. I really hope that they can get their shit together by the time it's time to make their next album, because this is almost as bad as the new Suicide Silence album, but at least this album doesn't sound like an outdated nü metal album. It just sounds like an extremely out of date 2007 MySpace deathcore album/EP. And even then, I'd take 2007 MySpace deathcore over this turd.

I remember hearing Carnifex for the first time; a friend of mine showed me the title track of what was then their latest album “Die Without Hope”. I was immediately entranced with the incredible lines and melodicism of the song. This very concept of soaring phrases and melody is what had me immediately in love with their latest album to date; Slow Death. The immense instrumentation of each track adds a gorgeous symphonic feeling to the album that truly darkens the atmosphere. After further listening, I realized how much influence the classic ideas of black metal had on this record. Blackened deathcore, something never before truly heard in the metal world. All in all, it is a perfect concoction of what once were separate ideas in metal music.

I listened to the track “Drown Me in Blood” once it was released as a teaser for the album. The first thing I noticed was the shape, line, and sense of direction that is generally found in classical and symphonic music, this influence makes “Slow Death” a very unique album in deathcore. This shaping and musical melody also in turn makes these tracks extremely catchy, I find myself playing them over in my head often after I listen to it. The symphonic influence also adds a sense of atmosphere to the record that I haven’t heard in deathcore since The Acacia Strain’s “Observer”. An extremely dark listen, due to these influences, this album is perfect on any playlist.

In listening to this album, I can hear how much this band has pulled it together over the years. They sound not as though they are five people playing instruments, but like one unit pouring soul into every note. The interactions between every set of instruments in the group sound exactly tailored to the feel and musical ideas of the album. I find this album to be extremely innovative in this way for very few deathcore bands truly seem to feel like a unit while they play. Carnifex’s first works were very good, but they sounded a little sloppy and a lot like other metal albums that were out at the time, like Suicide Silence’s “The Cleansing”. Over time, they have ameliorated their craft and really differentiated themselves from other bands and have made a serious name for themselves while cultivating a new kind of metal that has never been heard before.

In the metal community, it is generally understood that many black metal fans would define deathcore as “not true cult”, “not even metal”, or some other hardcore bullshit like that. I see this album like a giant fuck you to those people, this album shows black metal fans that ignore deathcore based on its label that the genre has the potential to capture many of the elements of black metal we’ve come to know and love.

The only complaint I have (and it’s not huge), is the occasional bad lyric. Sometimes a line just feels out of place and a little awkward. For example: in the title track “Slow Death”, the lyric “I know you want to die but just hang on” sounds whiny, typical, annoying, and just out of place with the general depressive tone of the song and album. Some of them just weren’t terribly original, “we are the dead generation” (also found in the title track) has been said a million times over. “Rest in pain” sounds one hell of a lot like “rest in piss” (Human Disaster”, The Acacia Strain) However it doesn’t really hurt the album much and I would think most people could get past it.

I would definitely recommend this album to any deathcore, or black metal enthusiasts such as myself. Especially fans of bands such as The Acacia Strain, (early) Suicide Silence, Whitechapel, Black Tongue, (mid to later) Marduk, or Watain. Carnifex’s Slow Death is the ultimate concoction of black metal and deathcore drenched in atmosphere and instrumentation. I would rate Slow death with a 94%.