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Carnal Savagery – Crypt of Decay Review

By Steel Druhm

Advanced scientific studies indicate that the style of metal known as “Swedeath” will not die and may, in fact, be incapable of being killed. The foundation created by Entombed and Dismember in the early 90s cemented the “Stockholm Sound” so deeply in musical bedrock that forecasters predict it could function like an everflowing stream for untold aeons. Enter Sweden’s Carnal Savagery. This gruesome duo have gone in big on the Swedeath formula, releasing 6 albums of it since 2020, all of which pay loving homage to the genre’s forefathers. Crypt of Decay is their 7th album in 5 years, so clearly, they just can’t stop spewing this fetid gunk into the world at a reckless pace. What does the new material sound like? Well, DisEntombed, of course. It’s got exactly zero new ideas, even less innovation, and you’ll be subjected to endlessly recycled ideas all powered by the force of the HM-2 pedal. Guitars will buzz, vocals will wretch, and you’ll ingest mass quantities d-beated death. Sound good?

As with many Carnal Savagery releases, they come out strong with a ripping, tearing monstrosity on “Entangled in Barbed Wire.” Rather than the usual thievery from the first few Dismember records, this sounds a whole lot like something off Slaughter of the Soul due to the riff patterns and the hyperkinetic energy (maybe even too much like something off Slaughter of the Soul). Flagrant influence humping aside, it’s a rousing blast of death metal with teeth and badass energy, so it works. As “Amputation” rolls in, it’s back to the Stockholm salt mines for the expected poaching off albums like Indecent and Obscene and Massive Killing Capacity. What sells it for me besides the furious energy is how it sounds like the vocalist keeps bellowing “GRAMPUTATION!,” leaving me to wonder why he hates old dudes so much. “Torn from the Grave” is another burner with vicious, blasting fury, and it’s interesting enough to get by despite some oh so familiar riffs.

From here, however, the ground becomes more unsteady. Some tracks just kinda lie there and refuse to play ball. “Scalped and Flayed” goes too far down a death-doom rat hole and feels lifeless and dull, while “Gruesome Death” feels generic and stock standard. At times, there’s an injection of the classic Wolverine Blues swagger and rock-based swing as on “Curse of the Catacomb” and the title track, but it doesn’t completely work. Overall, you get roughly half an album’s worth of C+ and B-level Swedeath with some clunkers and also-rans popping up to drag the momentum downward. Unfortunately, this is an issue Carnal Savagery struggles with regularly. They write some bangers to hook you in, then the wheels come off the War Wagon before they reach the finish line. Thankfully, most of the songs run only 2-3 minutes, so nothing gums up the works too severely (except “Gruesome Death”), and the 34-plus-minute runtime is short enough to stave off most variants of Swedeath fatigue.

Swedeath needs riotous, raucous and deadly riffs to fully capture the brainpan, and Mikael Lindgren can and does deliver some of these, usually with a strong Dismember flavor. But he also lapses into less stellar leads and ideas a bit too often, causing some cuts to feel generic and half-baked. His flowery solo style is a nice relief from the neanderthal buzz and brutality, showing another side of the duo’s identity, and that should be explored a bit more often to keep things interesting. Mattias Lilja’s death vocals are solid and full of greasy charm, sitting somewhere between the late, great L.G. Petrov and Dismember’s Matti Kärki. He doesn’t offer much in the way of versatility, but you don’t come here for that anyway. As per usual, it’s the songwriting that lets them down, with some tracks being killer and others ending up closer to filler.

Carnal Savagery usually serve up 3-4 songs that put a meat fork in your adrenal gland and activate your altered beat. The rest range from okay and underwhelming. Crypt of Decay is right in that modality. The good is fun, the rest is tolerable but non-essential. That sounds like a playlist poacher to me! Desecrate the Crypt and take what you like and leave the rest to rot in peace.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Moribund Records
Websites: facebook.com/carnalsavagery | instagram.com/carnalsavagery
Releases Worldwide: November 28th, 2025

#25 #2025 #carnalSavagery #cryptOfDecay #deathMetal #dismember #entombed #gravewormsCadaversCoffinsAndBones #moribundRecords #nov28 #review #reviews #slaughterOfTheSoul #swedishMetal

Carnal Savagery – Crypt of Decay Review

By Steel Druhm

Advanced scientific studies indicate that the style of metal known as “Swedeath” will not die and may, in fact, be incapable of being killed. The foundation created by Entombed and Dismember in the early 90s cemented the “Stockholm Sound” so deeply in musical bedrock that forecasters predict it could function like an everflowing stream for untold aeons. Enter Sweden’s Carnal Savagery. This gruesome duo have gone in big on the Swedeath formula, releasing 6 albums of it since 2020, all of which pay loving homage to the genre’s forefathers. Crypt of Decay is their 7th album in 5 years, so clearly, they just can’t stop spewing this fetid gunk into the world at a reckless pace. What does the new material sound like? Well, DisEntombed, of course. It’s got exactly zero new ideas, even less innovation, and you’ll be subjected to endlessly recycled ideas all powered by the force of the HM-2 pedal. Guitars will buzz, vocals will wretch, and you’ll ingest mass quantities d-beated death. Sound good?

As with many Carnal Savagery releases, they come out strong with a ripping, tearing monstrosity on “Entangled in Barbed Wire.” Rather than the usual thievery from the first few Dismember records, this sounds a whole lot like something off Slaughter of the Soul due to the riff patterns and the hyperkinetic energy (maybe even too much like something off Slaughter of the Soul). Flagrant influence humping aside, it’s a rousing blast of death metal with teeth and badass energy, so it works. As “Amputation” rolls in, it’s back to the Stockholm salt mines for the expected poaching off albums like Indecent and Obscene and Massive Killing Capacity. What sells it for me besides the furious energy is how it sounds like the vocalist keeps bellowing “GRAMPUTATION!,” leaving me to wonder why he hates old dudes so much. “Torn from the Grave” is another burner with vicious, blasting fury, and it’s interesting enough to get by despite some oh so familiar riffs.

From here, however, the ground becomes more unsteady. Some tracks just kinda lie there and refuse to play ball. “Scalped and Flayed” goes too far down a death-doom rat hole and feels lifeless and dull, while “Gruesome Death” feels generic and stock standard. At times, there’s an injection of the classic Wolverine Blues swagger and rock-based swing as on “Curse of the Catacomb” and the title track, but it doesn’t completely work. Overall, you get roughly half an album’s worth of C+ and B-level Swedeath with some clunkers and also-rans popping up to drag the momentum downward. Unfortunately, this is an issue Carnal Savagery struggles with regularly. They write some bangers to hook you in, then the wheels come off the War Wagon before they reach the finish line. Thankfully, most of the songs run only 2-3 minutes, so nothing gums up the works too severely (except “Gruesome Death”), and the 34-plus-minute runtime is short enough to stave off most variants of Swedeath fatigue.

Swedeath needs riotous, raucous and deadly riffs to fully capture the brainpan, and Mikael Lindgren can and does deliver some of these, usually with a strong Dismember flavor. But he also lapses into less stellar leads and ideas a bit too often, causing some cuts to feel generic and half-baked. His flowery solo style is a nice relief from the neanderthal buzz and brutality, showing another side of the duo’s identity, and that should be explored a bit more often to keep things interesting. Mattias Lilja’s death vocals are solid and full of greasy charm, sitting somewhere between the late, great L.G. Petrov and Dismember’s Matti Kärki. He doesn’t offer much in the way of versatility, but you don’t come here for that anyway. As per usual, it’s the songwriting that lets them down, with some tracks being killer and others ending up closer to filler.

Carnal Savagery usually serve up 3-4 songs that put a meat fork in your adrenal gland and activate your altered beat. The rest range from okay and underwhelming. Crypt of Decay is right in that modality. The good is fun, the rest is tolerable but non-essential. That sounds like a playlist poacher to me! Desecrate the Crypt and take what you like and leave the rest to rot in peace.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Moribund Records
Websites: facebook.com/carnalsavagery | instagram.com/carnalsavagery
Releases Worldwide: November 28th, 2025

#25 #2025 #carnalSavagery #cryptOfDecay #deathMetal #dismember #entombed #gravewormsCadaversCoffinsAndBones #moribundRecords #nov28 #review #reviews #slaughterOfTheSoul #swedishMetal

Carnal Savagery – Crypt of Decay Review

By Steel Druhm

Advanced scientific studies indicate that the style of metal known as “Swedeath” will not die and may, in fact, be incapable of being killed. The foundation created by Entombed and Dismember in the early 90s cemented the “Stockholm Sound” so deeply in musical bedrock that forecasters predict it could function like an everflowing stream for untold aeons. Enter Sweden’s Carnal Savagery. This gruesome duo have gone in big on the Swedeath formula, releasing 6 albums of it since 2020, all of which pay loving homage to the genre’s forefathers. Crypt of Decay is their 7th album in 5 years, so clearly, they just can’t stop spewing this fetid gunk into the world at a reckless pace. What does the new material sound like? Well, DisEntombed, of course. It’s got exactly zero new ideas, even less innovation, and you’ll be subjected to endlessly recycled ideas all powered by the force of the HM-2 pedal. Guitars will buzz, vocals will wretch, and you’ll ingest mass quantities d-beated death. Sound good?

As with many Carnal Savagery releases, they come out strong with a ripping, tearing monstrosity on “Entangled in Barbed Wire.” Rather than the usual thievery from the first few Dismember records, this sounds a whole lot like something off Slaughter of the Soul due to the riff patterns and the hyperkinetic energy (maybe even too much like something off Slaughter of the Soul). Flagrant influence humping aside, it’s a rousing blast of death metal with teeth and badass energy, so it works. As “Amputation” rolls in, it’s back to the Stockholm salt mines for the expected poaching off albums like Indecent and Obscene and Massive Killing Capacity. What sells it for me besides the furious energy is how it sounds like the vocalist keeps bellowing “GRAMPUTATION!,” leaving me to wonder why he hates old dudes so much. “Torn from the Grave” is another burner with vicious, blasting fury, and it’s interesting enough to get by despite some oh so familiar riffs.

From here, however, the ground becomes more unsteady. Some tracks just kinda lie there and refuse to play ball. “Scalped and Flayed” goes too far down a death-doom rat hole and feels lifeless and dull, while “Gruesome Death” feels generic and stock standard. At times, there’s an injection of the classic Wolverine Blues swagger and rock-based swing as on “Curse of the Catacomb” and the title track, but it doesn’t completely work. Overall, you get roughly half an album’s worth of C+ and B-level Swedeath with some clunkers and also-rans popping up to drag the momentum downward. Unfortunately, this is an issue Carnal Savagery struggles with regularly. They write some bangers to hook you in, then the wheels come off the War Wagon before they reach the finish line. Thankfully, most of the songs run only 2-3 minutes, so nothing gums up the works too severely (except “Gruesome Death”), and the 34-plus-minute runtime is short enough to stave off most variants of Swedeath fatigue.

Swedeath needs riotous, raucous and deadly riffs to fully capture the brainpan, and Mikael Lindgren can and does deliver some of these, usually with a strong Dismember flavor. But he also lapses into less stellar leads and ideas a bit too often, causing some cuts to feel generic and half-baked. His flowery solo style is a nice relief from the neanderthal buzz and brutality, showing another side of the duo’s identity, and that should be explored a bit more often to keep things interesting. Mattias Lilja’s death vocals are solid and full of greasy charm, sitting somewhere between the late, great L.G. Petrov and Dismember’s Matti Kärki. He doesn’t offer much in the way of versatility, but you don’t come here for that anyway. As per usual, it’s the songwriting that lets them down, with some tracks being killer and others ending up closer to filler.

Carnal Savagery usually serve up 3-4 songs that put a meat fork in your adrenal gland and activate your altered beat. The rest range from okay and underwhelming. Crypt of Decay is right in that modality. The good is fun, the rest is tolerable but non-essential. That sounds like a playlist poacher to me! Desecrate the Crypt and take what you like and leave the rest to rot in peace.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Moribund Records
Websites: facebook.com/carnalsavagery | instagram.com/carnalsavagery
Releases Worldwide: November 28th, 2025

#25 #2025 #carnalSavagery #cryptOfDecay #deathMetal #dismember #entombed #gravewormsCadaversCoffinsAndBones #moribundRecords #nov28 #review #reviews #slaughterOfTheSoul #swedishMetal

Carnal Savagery – Crypt of Decay Review

By Steel Druhm

Advanced scientific studies indicate that the style of metal known as “Swedeath” will not die and may, in fact, be incapable of being killed. The foundation created by Entombed and Dismember in the early 90s cemented the “Stockholm Sound” so deeply in musical bedrock that forecasters predict it could function like an everflowing stream for untold aeons. Enter Sweden’s Carnal Savagery. This gruesome duo have gone in big on the Swedeath formula, releasing 6 albums of it since 2020, all of which pay loving homage to the genre’s forefathers. Crypt of Decay is their 7th album in 5 years, so clearly, they just can’t stop spewing this fetid gunk into the world at a reckless pace. What does the new material sound like? Well, DisEntombed, of course. It’s got exactly zero new ideas, even less innovation, and you’ll be subjected to endlessly recycled ideas all powered by the force of the HM-2 pedal. Guitars will buzz, vocals will wretch, and you’ll ingest mass quantities d-beated death. Sound good?

As with many Carnal Savagery releases, they come out strong with a ripping, tearing monstrosity on “Entangled in Barbed Wire.” Rather than the usual thievery from the first few Dismember records, this sounds a whole lot like something off Slaughter of the Soul due to the riff patterns and the hyperkinetic energy (maybe even too much like something off Slaughter of the Soul). Flagrant influence humping aside, it’s a rousing blast of death metal with teeth and badass energy, so it works. As “Amputation” rolls in, it’s back to the Stockholm salt mines for the expected poaching off albums like Indecent and Obscene and Massive Killing Capacity. What sells it for me besides the furious energy is how it sounds like the vocalist keeps bellowing “GRAMPUTATION!,” leaving me to wonder why he hates old dudes so much. “Torn from the Grave” is another burner with vicious, blasting fury, and it’s interesting enough to get by despite some oh so familiar riffs.

From here, however, the ground becomes more unsteady. Some tracks just kinda lie there and refuse to play ball. “Scalped and Flayed” goes too far down a death-doom rat hole and feels lifeless and dull, while “Gruesome Death” feels generic and stock standard. At times, there’s an injection of the classic Wolverine Blues swagger and rock-based swing as on “Curse of the Catacomb” and the title track, but it doesn’t completely work. Overall, you get roughly half an album’s worth of C+ and B-level Swedeath with some clunkers and also-rans popping up to drag the momentum downward. Unfortunately, this is an issue Carnal Savagery struggles with regularly. They write some bangers to hook you in, then the wheels come off the War Wagon before they reach the finish line. Thankfully, most of the songs run only 2-3 minutes, so nothing gums up the works too severely (except “Gruesome Death”), and the 34-plus-minute runtime is short enough to stave off most variants of Swedeath fatigue.

Swedeath needs riotous, raucous and deadly riffs to fully capture the brainpan, and Mikael Lindgren can and does deliver some of these, usually with a strong Dismember flavor. But he also lapses into less stellar leads and ideas a bit too often, causing some cuts to feel generic and half-baked. His flowery solo style is a nice relief from the neanderthal buzz and brutality, showing another side of the duo’s identity, and that should be explored a bit more often to keep things interesting. Mattias Lilja’s death vocals are solid and full of greasy charm, sitting somewhere between the late, great L.G. Petrov and Dismember’s Matti Kärki. He doesn’t offer much in the way of versatility, but you don’t come here for that anyway. As per usual, it’s the songwriting that lets them down, with some tracks being killer and others ending up closer to filler.

Carnal Savagery usually serve up 3-4 songs that put a meat fork in your adrenal gland and activate your altered beat. The rest range from okay and underwhelming. Crypt of Decay is right in that modality. The good is fun, the rest is tolerable but non-essential. That sounds like a playlist poacher to me! Desecrate the Crypt and take what you like and leave the rest to rot in peace.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Moribund Records
Websites: facebook.com/carnalsavagery | instagram.com/carnalsavagery
Releases Worldwide: November 28th, 2025

#25 #2025 #carnalSavagery #cryptOfDecay #deathMetal #dismember #entombed #gravewormsCadaversCoffinsAndBones #moribundRecords #nov28 #review #reviews #slaughterOfTheSoul #swedishMetal

Carnal Savagery – Crypt of Decay Review

By Steel Druhm

Advanced scientific studies indicate that the style of metal known as “Swedeath” will not die and may, in fact, be incapable of being killed. The foundation created by Entombed and Dismember in the early 90s cemented the “Stockholm Sound” so deeply in musical bedrock that forecasters predict it could function like an everflowing stream for untold aeons. Enter Sweden’s Carnal Savagery. This gruesome duo have gone in big on the Swedeath formula, releasing 6 albums of it since 2020, all of which pay loving homage to the genre’s forefathers. Crypt of Decay is their 7th album in 5 years, so clearly, they just can’t stop spewing this fetid gunk into the world at a reckless pace. What does the new material sound like? Well, DisEntombed, of course. It’s got exactly zero new ideas, even less innovation, and you’ll be subjected to endlessly recycled ideas all powered by the force of the HM-2 pedal. Guitars will buzz, vocals will wretch, and you’ll ingest mass quantities d-beated death. Sound good?

As with many Carnal Savagery releases, they come out strong with a ripping, tearing monstrosity on “Entangled in Barbed Wire.” Rather than the usual thievery from the first few Dismember records, this sounds a whole lot like something off Slaughter of the Soul due to the riff patterns and the hyperkinetic energy (maybe even too much like something off Slaughter of the Soul). Flagrant influence humping aside, it’s a rousing blast of death metal with teeth and badass energy, so it works. As “Amputation” rolls in, it’s back to the Stockholm salt mines for the expected poaching off albums like Indecent and Obscene and Massive Killing Capacity. What sells it for me besides the furious energy is how it sounds like the vocalist keeps bellowing “GRAMPUTATION!,” leaving me to wonder why he hates old dudes so much. “Torn from the Grave” is another burner with vicious, blasting fury, and it’s interesting enough to get by despite some oh so familiar riffs.

From here, however, the ground becomes more unsteady. Some tracks just kinda lie there and refuse to play ball. “Scalped and Flayed” goes too far down a death-doom rat hole and feels lifeless and dull, while “Gruesome Death” feels generic and stock standard. At times, there’s an injection of the classic Wolverine Blues swagger and rock-based swing as on “Curse of the Catacomb” and the title track, but it doesn’t completely work. Overall, you get roughly half an album’s worth of C+ and B-level Swedeath with some clunkers and also-rans popping up to drag the momentum downward. Unfortunately, this is an issue Carnal Savagery struggles with regularly. They write some bangers to hook you in, then the wheels come off the War Wagon before they reach the finish line. Thankfully, most of the songs run only 2-3 minutes, so nothing gums up the works too severely (except “Gruesome Death”), and the 34-plus-minute runtime is short enough to stave off most variants of Swedeath fatigue.

Swedeath needs riotous, raucous and deadly riffs to fully capture the brainpan, and Mikael Lindgren can and does deliver some of these, usually with a strong Dismember flavor. But he also lapses into less stellar leads and ideas a bit too often, causing some cuts to feel generic and half-baked. His flowery solo style is a nice relief from the neanderthal buzz and brutality, showing another side of the duo’s identity, and that should be explored a bit more often to keep things interesting. Mattias Lilja’s death vocals are solid and full of greasy charm, sitting somewhere between the late, great L.G. Petrov and Dismember’s Matti Kärki. He doesn’t offer much in the way of versatility, but you don’t come here for that anyway. As per usual, it’s the songwriting that lets them down, with some tracks being killer and others ending up closer to filler.

Carnal Savagery usually serve up 3-4 songs that put a meat fork in your adrenal gland and activate your altered beat. The rest range from okay and underwhelming. Crypt of Decay is right in that modality. The good is fun, the rest is tolerable but non-essential. That sounds like a playlist poacher to me! Desecrate the Crypt and take what you like and leave the rest to rot in peace.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 8 | Format Reviewed: 256 kbps mp3
Label: Moribund Records
Websites: facebook.com/carnalsavagery | instagram.com/carnalsavagery
Releases Worldwide: November 28th, 2025

#25 #2025 #carnalSavagery #cryptOfDecay #deathMetal #dismember #entombed #gravewormsCadaversCoffinsAndBones #moribundRecords #nov28 #review #reviews #slaughterOfTheSoul #swedishMetal

Carnal Savagery – Graveworms, Cadavers, Coffins and Bones Review

By Steel Druhm

HM-2 pedal worshiping Swedeath purveyors Carnal Savagery have a strange way of doing business. In 2022 they released not one, but TWO full-length albums. The product was the same both times: Dismember and Entombed worship with enough buzz and fuzz on the guitars to disrupt air traffic over Scandinavia. I covered Worm Eaten and found it to be “meat n’ scab taters death” and enjoyable if not essential. They were pretty quiet in 2023, but in January of this year, they dropped Into the Abysmal Void, which our man Felagund considered a standard issue “Meat and potatoes”1 death platter with enough good bits to hit the spot. Now, 10 months later they drop a second album. Graveworms, Cadavers, Coffins and Bones may sound like the companion album to Autopsy’s Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts, but it’s another dose of Dismembercore with only occasional nods to American stenches. Can the band keep producing fresh sounds with such an ambitious release schedule and a style that was already dated at the turn of the century? Let’s examine their burial plan.

You know exactly what you’re getting with these guys, so when opener “Nailed to the Cross” mimics the sound of Dismember’s magical debut, it won’t come as an everflowing stream of surprise. It’s quite good and those H(e) M(an)-2 riffs are potent and packed with raw power. It’s thrashing, brutish, and reeks of 1991 so I’m hard-wired to enjoy it. If the rest of Graveworms were this stout, I would put myself on a strict Diet of Worms. Unfortunately, the album swings from tasty gravecakes to bland and timid entries, suitable, perhaps, for patients recovering from a Taylor Swift deprogramming. First the good. “Gallery of Flesh” is a slashing, flaying warbeast full of sharp riffs and bulldozing momentum. It got moved to Steel‘s Leg Day Playlist after half a spin and there it will live in eternal infamy. The title track is also highly enjoyable, ripping away with whirring riffs and thunderous drumming only to segway into hideously massive death doom that smells like Autopsy looks. At one point vocalist Mattias Lilja bellows something that sounds like “PAPA JOHNS” and it makes me want to order crappy, salty pizza every time I hear it. “Burnt to Death” also stands out with a mighty d-beat and some shockingly nimble and slick solo work.

On the flip side of the casket garden, several tracks feel stock standard or suffer from issues that derail otherwise decent tuneage. “Carnal Blasphemy” has a jaunty swagger that feels out of place with the rest of the album and the song never really clicks into high gear. “Bind, Torture, Kill” is the most rudimentary caveman shit imaginable and it never leaves mom’s basement despite melodic soloing that stands out like a turd in a Cannibal Corpse. The low point comes with “Autopsied Alive” which is just painfully listless and dull as fook. Things wind out with back-to-back lackluster nuggets, making the bulk of Graveworms underwhelming. The 35-minute runtime helps the entire concoction go down relatively easy though, aided by song lengths that generally run 2-3 minutes. The production is fine for the style with a mastering job by Dan “the Fucking MAN” Swanö that accentuates that harsh, raw guitar tone to the nth degree.

Mikael Lindgren handles guitars, bass and drums here and his riffing is the most appealing aspect of the Carnal Savagery experience. He has the classic Dismember sound and style down cold, but he also borrows from the likes of Bolt Thrower and every so often, Cannibal Corpse and Autopsy. He really breaks out of the mold when it comes to soloing, at times reminding of prime James Murphy. He even goes neo-classical here and there, creating an interesting counterpoint to the Neaderthal thuggery the album marinates in. His bass work is also tasty and often quite present. Mattias Lilja is a solid death croaker with a sound somewhere between L.G. Petrov and Marduk’s Mortuus. He fits the material just fine. It’s the inconsistent writing that submarines things, with less than half of the songs delivering a nasty wallop.

I’m not in the business of giving free advice, but it might be in Carnal Savagery’s best interest to release one album a year. If you take the best moments from Graveworm and add them to the top bits on Into the Abysmal Void, you’d be cooking with cadaver gas. Sometimes less is Moar when it helps the less BE MOAR. You can count on a few ace moments, but this trip to the chopping mall gets boring.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Moribund
Websites: carnalsavagery.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/carnalsavagery | instagram.com/carnalsavagery
Releases Worldwide: November 22nd, 2024

#25 #2024 #Cadavers #CarnalSavagery #CoffinsAndBones #DeathMetal #Dismember #Entombed #Graveworms #IntoTheAbysmalVoid #MoribundRecords #Nov24 #Review #Reviews #SwedishMetal #WormEaten

Carnal Savagery – Graveworms, Cadavers, Coffins and Bones Review

By Steel Druhm

HM-2 pedal worshiping Swedeath purveyors Carnal Savagery have a strange way of doing business. In 2022 they released not one, but TWO full-length albums. The product was the same both times: Dismember and Entombed worship with enough buzz and fuzz on the guitars to disrupt air traffic over Scandinavia. I covered Worm Eaten and found it to be “meat n’ scab taters death” and enjoyable if not essential. They were pretty quiet in 2023, but in January of this year, they dropped Into the Abysmal Void, which our man Felagund considered a standard issue “Meat and potatoes”1 death platter with enough good bits to hit the spot. Now, 10 months later they drop a second album. Graveworms, Cadavers, Coffins and Bones may sound like the companion album to Autopsy’s Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts, but it’s another dose of Dismembercore with only occasional nods to American stenches. Can the band keep producing fresh sounds with such an ambitious release schedule and a style that was already dated at the turn of the century? Let’s examine their burial plan.

You know exactly what you’re getting with these guys, so when opener “Nailed to the Cross” mimics the sound of Dismember’s magical debut, it won’t come as an everflowing stream of surprise. It’s quite good and those H(e) M(an)-2 riffs are potent and packed with raw power. It’s thrashing, brutish, and reeks of 1991 so I’m hard-wired to enjoy it. If the rest of Graveworms were this stout, I would put myself on a strict Diet of Worms. Unfortunately, the album swings from tasty gravecakes to bland and timid entries, suitable, perhaps, for patients recovering from a Taylor Swift deprogramming. First the good. “Gallery of Flesh” is a slashing, flaying warbeast full of sharp riffs and bulldozing momentum. It got moved to Steel‘s Leg Day Playlist after half a spin and there it will live in eternal infamy. The title track is also highly enjoyable, ripping away with whirring riffs and thunderous drumming only to segway into hideously massive death doom that smells like Autopsy looks. At one point vocalist Mattias Lilja bellows something that sounds like “PAPA JOHNS” and it makes me want to order crappy, salty pizza every time I hear it. “Burnt to Death” also stands out with a mighty d-beat and some shockingly nimble and slick solo work.

On the flip side of the casket garden, several tracks feel stock standard or suffer from issues that derail otherwise decent tuneage. “Carnal Blasphemy” has a jaunty swagger that feels out of place with the rest of the album and the song never really clicks into high gear. “Bind, Torture, Kill” is the most rudimentary caveman shit imaginable and it never leaves mom’s basement despite melodic soloing that stands out like a turd in a Cannibal Corpse. The low point comes with “Autopsied Alive” which is just painfully listless and dull as fook. Things wind out with back-to-back lackluster nuggets, making the bulk of Graveworms underwhelming. The 35-minute runtime helps the entire concoction go down relatively easy though, aided by song lengths that generally run 2-3 minutes. The production is fine for the style with a mastering job by Dan “the Fucking MAN” Swanö that accentuates that harsh, raw guitar tone to the nth degree.

Mikael Lindgren handles guitars, bass and drums here and his riffing is the most appealing aspect of the Carnal Savagery experience. He has the classic Dismember sound and style down cold, but he also borrows from the likes of Bolt Thrower and every so often, Cannibal Corpse and Autopsy. He really breaks out of the mold when it comes to soloing, at times reminding of prime James Murphy. He even goes neo-classical here and there, creating an interesting counterpoint to the Neaderthal thuggery the album marinates in. His bass work is also tasty and often quite present. Mattias Lilja is a solid death croaker with a sound somewhere between L.G. Petrov and Marduk’s Mortuus. He fits the material just fine. It’s the inconsistent writing that submarines things, with less than half of the songs delivering a nasty wallop.

I’m not in the business of giving free advice, but it might be in Carnal Savagery’s best interest to release one album a year. If you take the best moments from Graveworm and add them to the top bits on Into the Abysmal Void, you’d be cooking with cadaver gas. Sometimes less is Moar when it helps the less BE MOAR. You can count on a few ace moments, but this trip to the chopping mall gets boring.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Moribund
Websites: carnalsavagery.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/carnalsavagery | instagram.com/carnalsavagery
Releases Worldwide: November 22nd, 2024

#25 #2024 #Cadavers #CarnalSavagery #CoffinsAndBones #DeathMetal #Dismember #Entombed #Graveworms #IntoTheAbysmalVoid #MoribundRecords #Nov24 #Review #Reviews #SwedishMetal #WormEaten

Carnal Savagery – Graveworms, Cadavers, Coffins and Bones Review

By Steel Druhm

HM-2 pedal worshiping Swedeath purveyors Carnal Savagery have a strange way of doing business. In 2022 they released not one, but TWO full-length albums. The product was the same both times: Dismember and Entombed worship with enough buzz and fuzz on the guitars to disrupt air traffic over Scandinavia. I covered Worm Eaten and found it to be “meat n’ scab taters death” and enjoyable if not essential. They were pretty quiet in 2023, but in January of this year, they dropped Into the Abysmal Void, which our man Felagund considered a standard issue “Meat and potatoes”1 death platter with enough good bits to hit the spot. Now, 10 months later they drop a second album. Graveworms, Cadavers, Coffins and Bones may sound like the companion album to Autopsy’s Ashes, Organs, Blood and Crypts, but it’s another dose of Dismembercore with only occasional nods to American stenches. Can the band keep producing fresh sounds with such an ambitious release schedule and a style that was already dated at the turn of the century? Let’s examine their burial plan.

You know exactly what you’re getting with these guys, so when opener “Nailed to the Cross” mimics the sound of Dismember’s magical debut, it won’t come as an everflowing stream of surprise. It’s quite good and those H(e) M(an)-2 riffs are potent and packed with raw power. It’s thrashing, brutish, and reeks of 1991 so I’m hard-wired to enjoy it. If the rest of Graveworms were this stout, I would put myself on a strict Diet of Worms. Unfortunately, the album swings from tasty gravecakes to bland and timid entries, suitable, perhaps, for patients recovering from a Taylor Swift deprogramming. First the good. “Gallery of Flesh” is a slashing, flaying warbeast full of sharp riffs and bulldozing momentum. It got moved to Steel‘s Leg Day Playlist after half a spin and there it will live in eternal infamy. The title track is also highly enjoyable, ripping away with whirring riffs and thunderous drumming only to segway into hideously massive death doom that smells like Autopsy looks. At one point vocalist Mattias Lilja bellows something that sounds like “PAPA JOHNS” and it makes me want to order crappy, salty pizza every time I hear it. “Burnt to Death” also stands out with a mighty d-beat and some shockingly nimble and slick solo work.

On the flip side of the casket garden, several tracks feel stock standard or suffer from issues that derail otherwise decent tuneage. “Carnal Blasphemy” has a jaunty swagger that feels out of place with the rest of the album and the song never really clicks into high gear. “Bind, Torture, Kill” is the most rudimentary caveman shit imaginable and it never leaves mom’s basement despite melodic soloing that stands out like a turd in a Cannibal Corpse. The low point comes with “Autopsied Alive” which is just painfully listless and dull as fook. Things wind out with back-to-back lackluster nuggets, making the bulk of Graveworms underwhelming. The 35-minute runtime helps the entire concoction go down relatively easy though, aided by song lengths that generally run 2-3 minutes. The production is fine for the style with a mastering job by Dan “the Fucking MAN” Swanö that accentuates that harsh, raw guitar tone to the nth degree.

Mikael Lindgren handles guitars, bass and drums here and his riffing is the most appealing aspect of the Carnal Savagery experience. He has the classic Dismember sound and style down cold, but he also borrows from the likes of Bolt Thrower and every so often, Cannibal Corpse and Autopsy. He really breaks out of the mold when it comes to soloing, at times reminding of prime James Murphy. He even goes neo-classical here and there, creating an interesting counterpoint to the Neaderthal thuggery the album marinates in. His bass work is also tasty and often quite present. Mattias Lilja is a solid death croaker with a sound somewhere between L.G. Petrov and Marduk’s Mortuus. He fits the material just fine. It’s the inconsistent writing that submarines things, with less than half of the songs delivering a nasty wallop.

I’m not in the business of giving free advice, but it might be in Carnal Savagery’s best interest to release one album a year. If you take the best moments from Graveworm and add them to the top bits on Into the Abysmal Void, you’d be cooking with cadaver gas. Sometimes less is Moar when it helps the less BE MOAR. You can count on a few ace moments, but this trip to the chopping mall gets boring.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Moribund
Websites: carnalsavagery.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/carnalsavagery | instagram.com/carnalsavagery
Releases Worldwide: November 22nd, 2024

#25 #2024 #Cadavers #CarnalSavagery #CoffinsAndBones #DeathMetal #Dismember #Entombed #Graveworms #IntoTheAbysmalVoid #MoribundRecords #Nov24 #Review #Reviews #SwedishMetal #WormEaten

Sathanas – Into the Nocturne Review

By Mark Z.

They always said consistency and hard work pay off. I’m starting to think they fucking lied. Pennsylvania quartet Sathanas have been peddling their witch’s brew of black, death, and thrash metal since 1988, yet the poor saps still have less than 1,000 monthly listeners on Spotify at the time of this review. That’s not for lack of trying, either. Over the years the group have released eleven full-length albums, along with a shitload of splits and even a few EPs. After listening to their back catalog, I’ve started to think that the group’s unwavering devotion to the old school makes them their own biggest enemy. Since their formation, the band have been practically militant in their refusal to progress beyond crunchy mid-paced songs that sound a bit like Hellhammer with whiffs of 90s black and death metal mixed in. Other than improvements in production, there is virtually no development throughout their discography, let alone many hooks or standout riffs. A lack of highlights was certainly my main gripe when I reviewed the band’s tenth album Necrohymns in 2018, but has the group finally upped their game with their twelfth record Into the Nocturne?

Opener “Beyond the Witch” certainly offers something slightly different. While the band’s typical primitive riffs and mid-paced rhythms are still here in full force, the track also features frosty chords that carry a more prominent than usual influence from 90s black metal. “Raise the Chalice” kicks off the record’s second half in similar fashion, with chilly and reflective progressions that are augmented by a catchy half-time thrash break and anthemic snarls of the track title. A slightly different strain of black metal appears on “There Will Be Demons,” with the song marching forward on stomping riffs that sound like a devolution of Bathory’s Hammerheart era. The vocals, which are presumably once again performed by guitarist Paul Tucker, consist of a biting and evil rasp that perfectly captures the wicked spirit of these songs.

Sadly, other than the aforementioned tracks, Into the Nocturne is largely business as usual for Sathanas. As before, many of these songs simply coast along on languid riffs that sound like transitional moments between better ideas that never actually come. “Reaperlord,” for example, is full of stock progressions that haven’t excited anyone since 1985, and the song’s shouts of the track title are hardly enough to redeem it. Much of the album also becomes monotonous, with many of these tracks featuring overly similar vocal patterns, riffs, and tempos.

While some attempts at diversity work, often they don’t go far enough. On songs like “To Bring the Sabbat,” drummer James Strauss (ex-Acheron) throws in a few brief blast beats, but doing so adds little energy to the proceedings and instead just feels like a halfhearted attempt to add variety. Closer “Where Death and Darkness Entwine” is more successful in this regard, with its peppier beats offering a sense of urgency and inspiration that’s lacking elsewhere. The album’s production also works well, with a sharp guitar tone, a clear overall sound, and a wide dynamic range that gives everything plenty of space. And, with the album moving through its ten tracks in just 33 minutes, neither any song nor the record as a whole feels too long.

This is exactly the kind of review I hate to write. Sathanas seem like a devoted bunch of dudes, and I can’t imagine they’re playing this music for any reason other than their love of it. They’re also competent musicians, and Paul’s raspy voice sounds more venomous and evil than many of his peers. Unfortunately, I just don’t find myself particularly excited about this record. If I want to experience this type of primitive extreme metal, I’d much rather listen to Gravewürm, who have a similar style but with far more catchy material in their spellbook. Though Sathanas have certainly put in the work over the years, it seems their steadfast devotion to a very specific sound has become their undoing. Into the Nocturne is, unfortunately, simply the latest example of this. Thus, despite a few decent moments, this album is ultimately not something I can heartily recommend.

Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 192 kbps mp3
Label: Moribund Records
Websites: sathanas666.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/sathanasmetal
Releases Worldwide: September 27th, 2024

#20 #2024 #Acheron #AmericanMetal #Bathory #BlackMetal #DeathMetal #Gravewürm #Hellhammer #IntoTheNocturne #MoribundRecords #Review #Reviews #Sathanas #Sep24 #ThrashMetal

Sathanas – Into the Nocturne Review

By Mark Z.

They always said consistency and hard work pay off. I’m starting to think they fucking lied. Pennsylvania quartet Sathanas have been peddling their witch’s brew of black, death, and thrash metal since 1988, yet the poor saps still have less than 1,000 monthly listeners on Spotify at the time of this review. That’s not for lack of trying, either. Over the years the group have released eleven full-length albums, along with a shitload of splits and even a few EPs. After listening to their back catalog, I’ve started to think that the group’s unwavering devotion to the old school makes them their own biggest enemy. Since their formation, the band have been practically militant in their refusal to progress beyond crunchy mid-paced songs that sound a bit like Hellhammer with whiffs of 90s black and death metal mixed in. Other than improvements in production, there is virtually no development throughout their discography, let alone many hooks or standout riffs. A lack of highlights was certainly my main gripe when I reviewed the band’s tenth album Necrohymns in 2018, but has the group finally upped their game with their twelfth record Into the Nocturne?

Opener “Beyond the Witch” certainly offers something slightly different. While the band’s typical primitive riffs and mid-paced rhythms are still here in full force, the track also features frosty chords that carry a more prominent than usual influence from 90s black metal. “Raise the Chalice” kicks off the record’s second half in similar fashion, with chilly and reflective progressions that are augmented by a catchy half-time thrash break and anthemic snarls of the track title. A slightly different strain of black metal appears on “There Will Be Demons,” with the song marching forward on stomping riffs that sound like a devolution of Bathory’s Hammerheart era. The vocals, which are presumably once again performed by guitarist Paul Tucker, consist of a biting and evil rasp that perfectly captures the wicked spirit of these songs.

Sadly, other than the aforementioned tracks, Into the Nocturne is largely business as usual for Sathanas. As before, many of these songs simply coast along on languid riffs that sound like transitional moments between better ideas that never actually come. “Reaperlord,” for example, is full of stock progressions that haven’t excited anyone since 1985, and the song’s shouts of the track title are hardly enough to redeem it. Much of the album also becomes monotonous, with many of these tracks featuring overly similar vocal patterns, riffs, and tempos.

While some attempts at diversity work, often they don’t go far enough. On songs like “To Bring the Sabbat,” drummer James Strauss (ex-Acheron) throws in a few brief blast beats, but doing so adds little energy to the proceedings and instead just feels like a halfhearted attempt to add variety. Closer “Where Death and Darkness Entwine” is more successful in this regard, with its peppier beats offering a sense of urgency and inspiration that’s lacking elsewhere. The album’s production also works well, with a sharp guitar tone, a clear overall sound, and a wide dynamic range that gives everything plenty of space. And, with the album moving through its ten tracks in just 33 minutes, neither any song nor the record as a whole feels too long.

This is exactly the kind of review I hate to write. Sathanas seem like a devoted bunch of dudes, and I can’t imagine they’re playing this music for any reason other than their love of it. They’re also competent musicians, and Paul’s raspy voice sounds more venomous and evil than many of his peers. Unfortunately, I just don’t find myself particularly excited about this record. If I want to experience this type of primitive extreme metal, I’d much rather listen to Gravewürm, who have a similar style but with far more catchy material in their spellbook. Though Sathanas have certainly put in the work over the years, it seems their steadfast devotion to a very specific sound has become their undoing. Into the Nocturne is, unfortunately, simply the latest example of this. Thus, despite a few decent moments, this album is ultimately not something I can heartily recommend.

Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 192 kbps mp3
Label: Moribund Records
Websites: sathanas666.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/sathanasmetal
Releases Worldwide: September 27th, 2024

#20 #2024 #Acheron #AmericanMetal #Bathory #BlackMetal #DeathMetal #Gravewürm #Hellhammer #IntoTheNocturne #MoribundRecords #Review #Reviews #Sathanas #Sep24 #ThrashMetal

Sathanas – Into the Nocturne Review

By Mark Z.

They always said consistency and hard work pay off. I’m starting to think they fucking lied. Pennsylvania quartet Sathanas have been peddling their witch’s brew of black, death, and thrash metal since 1988, yet the poor saps still have less than 1,000 monthly listeners on Spotify at the time of this review. That’s not for lack of trying, either. Over the years the group have released eleven full-length albums, along with a shitload of splits and even a few EPs. After listening to their back catalog, I’ve started to think that the group’s unwavering devotion to the old school makes them their own biggest enemy. Since their formation, the band have been practically militant in their refusal to progress beyond crunchy mid-paced songs that sound a bit like Hellhammer with whiffs of 90s black and death metal mixed in. Other than improvements in production, there is virtually no development throughout their discography, let alone many hooks or standout riffs. A lack of highlights was certainly my main gripe when I reviewed the band’s tenth album Necrohymns in 2018, but has the group finally upped their game with their twelfth record Into the Nocturne?

Opener “Beyond the Witch” certainly offers something slightly different. While the band’s typical primitive riffs and mid-paced rhythms are still here in full force, the track also features frosty chords that carry a more prominent than usual influence from 90s black metal. “Raise the Chalice” kicks off the record’s second half in similar fashion, with chilly and reflective progressions that are augmented by a catchy half-time thrash break and anthemic snarls of the track title. A slightly different strain of black metal appears on “There Will Be Demons,” with the song marching forward on stomping riffs that sound like a devolution of Bathory’s Hammerheart era. The vocals, which are presumably once again performed by guitarist Paul Tucker, consist of a biting and evil rasp that perfectly captures the wicked spirit of these songs.

Sadly, other than the aforementioned tracks, Into the Nocturne is largely business as usual for Sathanas. As before, many of these songs simply coast along on languid riffs that sound like transitional moments between better ideas that never actually come. “Reaperlord,” for example, is full of stock progressions that haven’t excited anyone since 1985, and the song’s shouts of the track title are hardly enough to redeem it. Much of the album also becomes monotonous, with many of these tracks featuring overly similar vocal patterns, riffs, and tempos.

While some attempts at diversity work, often they don’t go far enough. On songs like “To Bring the Sabbat,” drummer James Strauss (ex-Acheron) throws in a few brief blast beats, but doing so adds little energy to the proceedings and instead just feels like a halfhearted attempt to add variety. Closer “Where Death and Darkness Entwine” is more successful in this regard, with its peppier beats offering a sense of urgency and inspiration that’s lacking elsewhere. The album’s production also works well, with a sharp guitar tone, a clear overall sound, and a wide dynamic range that gives everything plenty of space. And, with the album moving through its ten tracks in just 33 minutes, neither any song nor the record as a whole feels too long.

This is exactly the kind of review I hate to write. Sathanas seem like a devoted bunch of dudes, and I can’t imagine they’re playing this music for any reason other than their love of it. They’re also competent musicians, and Paul’s raspy voice sounds more venomous and evil than many of his peers. Unfortunately, I just don’t find myself particularly excited about this record. If I want to experience this type of primitive extreme metal, I’d much rather listen to Gravewürm, who have a similar style but with far more catchy material in their spellbook. Though Sathanas have certainly put in the work over the years, it seems their steadfast devotion to a very specific sound has become their undoing. Into the Nocturne is, unfortunately, simply the latest example of this. Thus, despite a few decent moments, this album is ultimately not something I can heartily recommend.

Rating: 2.0/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 192 kbps mp3
Label: Moribund Records
Websites: sathanas666.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/sathanasmetal
Releases Worldwide: September 27th, 2024

#20 #2024 #Acheron #AmericanMetal #Bathory #BlackMetal #DeathMetal #Gravewürm #Hellhammer #IntoTheNocturne #MoribundRecords #Review #Reviews #Sathanas #Sep24 #ThrashMetal

Carnal Savagery – Into the Abysmal Void Review

By Felagund

I’m a sucker for a gnarly album cover. Give me a detailed image of a zombie, ghoul or otherwise undead creature holding a bladed instrument for use in committing appalling acts, and I’m a happy guy. It was this passion for putridity that led me to choose Into the Abysmal Void, the fifth album by Gothenburg, Sweden-based death metallers Carnal Savagery. While I wasn’t at all familiar with the band’s music, I just couldn’t say no to this most common of death metal tropes. Sure, we’ve all seen our fair share of monsters, madmen and mayhem gracing album covers, but unlike some buzzkills out there, I’ve never grown tired of this pastime. And so I grabbed Carnal Savagery in my grungy mits, hoping that they would prove to be just as grimy and gratuitous as their artwork.

Carnal Savagery are nothing if not grimy n’ gratuitous, and that’s exactly what I was hoping for. They traffic in a pungently pleasant, meat-and-potatoes style of OSDM (a similar point the Good Lord Steel made in his review of the band’s fourth outing in 2022), overflowing with guts, gore, filthy guitar tones, crunchy riffs, beastly grooves, and inhumane snarls. Is it any surprise these Swedish carnal savages kneel and worship at the combined altars of Dismember and Entombed? One of the more interesting aspects of Into the Abysmal Void is the light layer of blackened char that crusts over this death metal behemoth’s scarred hide. Vocalist Mattias Lilja’s vox are a bit higher pitched and dynamic than your average OSDM growler, and the guitar is muddy while still maintaining a dangerous, highly-honed edge. Taken together, these elements result in an album that, much like a Bowie knife duct taped to a sledgehammer, both pummels and slices.

The first track is called “Defleshing The Bones.” What more do I need to say? This is a buzzy, bloody, and brief OSDM onslaught with a memorable chorus to boot (albeit just a hearty repetition of the song title). It’s also a perfect roadmap for the rest of Into the Abysmal Void. You get plenty of frenetic blast-beats, screaming solos, and a guitar that should be legally required to have “The Saw Is Family” inlaid on fretboard (thank you, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, for making that tortured reference possible). “Stench of Burnt Decay” slices through your eardrum with crunchy, eviscerating riffs, as does the mutilating maelstrom that is “Reek of Decomposing Flesh.” At the same time, Carnal Savagery are more than willing to slow things down, building atmosphere and crushing you beneath more unbearable heaviness than Giles Corey. “Morbid Death” is a true groove fest that weds sparse drumming with plodding, hefty riffing. “Column of Maggots,” which wins the award for best song title, leans into that doomy groove, while also throwing in some ominous keys that establish a perfect, unsettling tone and serve as the ideal setup for the return of a grimy, Swedeath adrenaline surge.

Where Carnal Savagery fall a bit short on Into the Abysmal Void is their overreliance on repetition. While there’s no bad song on the album, there are certainly ones that tend to drag, especially on the back half, and I chalk most of that up to too much emphasis on the band’s established songwriting structure. By the time you’ve gotten to the seventh song “The Revenant,” you realize it sounds a lot like the previous tune “Choked to Death.” And while the deathened charm is still there, it’s not quite strong enough to make you forget that even fun filler is still filler. Add in the nit-picky observation that nearly every chorus is simply the song title emphatically growled several times, and it’s clear that while repetition is a generally effective part of Into the Abysmal Void’s formula, Carnal Savagery could stand to shake things up a bit more.

The term “Meat and potatoes” seems to have garnered a negative connotation, and that’s a shame. I used it earlier in this review, and I meant it as a genuine compliment. The idea, as far as I see it, is that something doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel to be engaging and enjoyable. Sometimes comfortable, straightforward and reliable is good. And for us unwashed miscreants, old school death metal is just that. Despite some of its issues, Abysmal Void’s latest is honest to goodness meat and potatoes, and for that, I give thanks. I’ll happily clean my plate and go back for seconds, just do me a favor and don’t tell me where this slab o’ protein came from.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 192 kbps mp3
Label: Moribund Records
Websites: carnalsavagery.bandcamp.com | instagram.com/carnalsavagery
Releases Worldwide: January 26th, 2022

#2024 #30 #CarnalSavageryIntoTheAbysmalVoid #DeathMetal #Dismember #Entombed #Jan24 #MoribundRecords #Review #Reviews #SwedishDeathMetal

Carnal Savagery – Into the Abysmal Void Review

By Felagund

I’m a sucker for a gnarly album cover. Give me a detailed image of a zombie, ghoul or otherwise undead creature holding a bladed instrument for use in committing appalling acts, and I’m a happy guy. It was this passion for putridity that led me to choose Into the Abysmal Void, the fifth album by Gothenburg, Sweden-based death metallers Carnal Savagery. While I wasn’t at all familiar with the band’s music, I just couldn’t say no to this most common of death metal tropes. Sure, we’ve all seen our fair share of monsters, madmen and mayhem gracing album covers, but unlike some buzzkills out there, I’ve never grown tired of this pastime. And so I grabbed Carnal Savagery in my grungy mits, hoping that they would prove to be just as grimy and gratuitous as their artwork.

Carnal Savagery are nothing if not grimy n’ gratuitous, and that’s exactly what I was hoping for. They traffic in a pungently pleasant, meat-and-potatoes style of OSDM (a similar point the Good Lord Steel made in his review of the band’s fourth outing in 2022), overflowing with guts, gore, filthy guitar tones, crunchy riffs, beastly grooves, and inhumane snarls. Is it any surprise these Swedish carnal savages kneel and worship at the combined altars of Dismember and Entombed? One of the more interesting aspects of Into the Abysmal Void is the light layer of blackened char that crusts over this death metal behemoth’s scarred hide. Vocalist Mattias Lilja’s vox are a bit higher pitched and dynamic than your average OSDM growler, and the guitar is muddy while still maintaining a dangerous, highly-honed edge. Taken together, these elements result in an album that, much like a Bowie knife duct taped to a sledgehammer, both pummels and slices.

The first track is called “Defleshing The Bones.” What more do I need to say? This is a buzzy, bloody, and brief OSDM onslaught with a memorable chorus to boot (albeit just a hearty repetition of the song title). It’s also a perfect roadmap for the rest of Into the Abysmal Void. You get plenty of frenetic blast-beats, screaming solos, and a guitar that should be legally required to have “The Saw Is Family” inlaid on fretboard (thank you, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, for making that tortured reference possible). “Stench of Burnt Decay” slices through your eardrum with crunchy, eviscerating riffs, as does the mutilating maelstrom that is “Reek of Decomposing Flesh.” At the same time, Carnal Savagery are more than willing to slow things down, building atmosphere and crushing you beneath more unbearable heaviness than Giles Corey. “Morbid Death” is a true groove fest that weds sparse drumming with plodding, hefty riffing. “Column of Maggots,” which wins the award for best song title, leans into that doomy groove, while also throwing in some ominous keys that establish a perfect, unsettling tone and serve as the ideal setup for the return of a grimy, Swedeath adrenaline surge.

Where Carnal Savagery fall a bit short on Into the Abysmal Void is their overreliance on repetition. While there’s no bad song on the album, there are certainly ones that tend to drag, especially on the back half, and I chalk most of that up to too much emphasis on the band’s established songwriting structure. By the time you’ve gotten to the seventh song “The Revenant,” you realize it sounds a lot like the previous tune “Choked to Death.” And while the deathened charm is still there, it’s not quite strong enough to make you forget that even fun filler is still filler. Add in the nit-picky observation that nearly every chorus is simply the song title emphatically growled several times, and it’s clear that while repetition is a generally effective part of Into the Abysmal Void’s formula, Carnal Savagery could stand to shake things up a bit more.

The term “Meat and potatoes” seems to have garnered a negative connotation, and that’s a shame. I used it earlier in this review, and I meant it as a genuine compliment. The idea, as far as I see it, is that something doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel to be engaging and enjoyable. Sometimes comfortable, straightforward and reliable is good. And for us unwashed miscreants, old school death metal is just that. Despite some of its issues, Abysmal Void’s latest is honest to goodness meat and potatoes, and for that, I give thanks. I’ll happily clean my plate and go back for seconds, just do me a favor and don’t tell me where this slab o’ protein came from.

Rating: 3.0/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 192 kbps mp3
Label: Moribund Records
Websites: carnalsavagery.bandcamp.com | instagram.com/carnalsavagery
Releases Worldwide: January 26th, 2022

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