Carnation - Chapel of Abhorrence

Carnation is a five-piece from Belgium (definitely Belgium the European country and not the town in Ohio this time) with your traditional death metal line-up (drums, vocals, two guitars, one bass), who formed in 2013 and released their first batch of material on an EP (Cemetery of the Insane) in 2015, a quick but impressively advanced opening statement of ruthless traditional death metal that both emulates and rivals Corpsegrinder-era Cannibal Corpse. Vocalist Simon Duson clearly studied the best as well, as his rumbling low growls bear striking resemblance to those of the longtime Cannibal Corpse frontman, and the instrumentalists around him do well to provide a relentless barrage of thick, blood-soaked riffage and furious rhythms.
As impressive as Cemetery of the Insane was, it felt a bit unoriginal after the first two tracks (I love the opening riff on “Explosive Cadavers”) and it didn’t create a premise for a whole lot of potential after proving they can play the brutal death metal game as hard as their older Floridian contemporaries/influences. Nevertheless, they were picked up by the Season of Mist label to release their debut LP, Chapel of Abhorrence, and I can say I am again, impressed.
It’s hard to put my finger on it, but even though Carnation still wears their Cannibal Corpse influence loud and proud on their sleeve, they managed to somehow address the only real issue I had with their EP, and have begun to cultivate a more signature sound for themselves. Again, the music is still unmistakably Cannibal Corpse-influenced, and even the modern production the band uses falls right in line with what Cannibal Corpse are doing this decade.
Once again, the band opens with a killer slow guitar intro on “The Whisperer” and when he comes in Duson sounds even more ferocious than he did on Cemetery of the Insane, his harsh demonic voice taking on qualities of Mikael Åkerfeldt in his prime, harkening back to his time in Bloodbath. The six-minute opener, though, works in a few interesting doom elements that mesh quite well with the brooding atmosphere the track sets up.
The second track, “Hellfire”, kicks the pace up a notch, sets a more apocalyptic tone than the introductory track, and even works some tasty bass lines into the forefront of the mix. The title track finds Duson channeling his inner Corpsegrinder more noticeably this time, and the band doing the same, though it’s probably not the most distinct track on the record. The performances are as tight as they’ve ever been though. “The Unconquerable Sun” and “Disciples of Bloodlust”, though, reinvigorate the track list with more Bloodbath-esque performances and some fiery guitar work.
“Hatred Unleashed” and “Plaguebreeder” up the thrash-influenced beats and double-bass rpms and the former even integrates a few Converge-esque pick slides. “Magnum Chaos” integrates a bit more interesting guitar melody (as well as a weird underwater vocal effect later on) and uses a more dynamic integration of blast beats and slow grooves to make for one of the more captivating tracks, which leads smoothly into the apocalyptic tremolo picking and immobilizing blast beats of “Sermon of the Dead”.
“Fathomless Depths” enters with another dissonant and sinister guitar melody which eventually lifts the song to chaotic ethereal levels, a great direction to take the album before its finish. The song “Power Trip” rounds off the album with a standard traditional death metal performance, but one that still comes with appreciable grooves and one that
With a new Bloodbath album slated for late October, it’s actually got some serious competition in this new Carnation record, not that they’re at odds or anything or that one hast to win and the other has to lose. We all win because we get that much more excellent death metal this year. This was exactly the kind of debut Carnation needed as well, one that improved on their preliminary material’s weaknesses and one that helps cement their sound, their competence in that sound, and their confidence as a major contributor to that sound. Hats off to these guys for a clearly, hard-worked debut album; I will definitely be looking forward to what they continue to do in the future.

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