ALBUM REVIEW: Carnal Tomb – Abhorrent Veneration

Here I review the second album of German Death Metal titans CARNAL TOMB. Set for release via Testimony Records on July 26th. It is time for butchery!

1. Putrid Fumes sets in with classic Horror sounding sampling, a perfect mood is created for the Death Metal assaults ahead. Feedback brings us into the bludgeoning aggression with blastbeats, soaring guitar solos and ferocious riffs, perfectly violent and chaotic from the onset. The nicely paced barrage features some nice crawling guitars and slamming brutality with grisly growls emanating through the instrumental onslaught beautifully. Catchy hooks make for some great headbanging material with thunderous bass really punctuating the grooves. A nasty and downright crushing opening track with some intensely impressive instrumental work. What a great way to start the album off with total ferocity. Excellent.

2. Abhorrent Veneration follows up with more total strength, violently barbaric guitar riffs and cavernous drums bringing the heavyweight backing to the glorious snarls of the vocalist beautifully. The impeccable grooves of the band are incredibly catchy with storming guitars hooking nicely around the vocals while barbaric drum hits keep you on your toes. Intimidating and monstrous, the tones of this song are utterly decimating and certainly leave a fulfilment with us fans of brutal savagery after such a gruesomely epic mid-tempo slab of meaty riff-worship. Fans of early Bloodbath shall certainly enjoy this one. The soulfulness of the solos was truly awe-inspiring too as were the higher-octane assaults nearer the end. Wonderful.

3. Cryptic Nebula begins with doomy guitars, chiming drums and a thoroughly foreboding atmosphere. Gruesome grooves are once more what really grip me with the high adrenaline blasting sections truly feeling like a stampede before some stunning tapped guitar work breaks up the aggression with atmospheric melody. Blistering riffs soon enough kick back in for another bout of hellish warfare and utterly morbid violence. The frenzied putridity of the band coats the musical blitzkrieg with a freshly rotten feel that only adds to the macabre charm of the barbaric soundscapes. Definitely a brutal piece of work from the band that also has some beautiful doomy nuances adding to the atmosphere between the savage breaks. Fantastic.

4. Amid the Graves falls into place with thunderous bellowing guitar riffs and fierce drum work with a gnarly bass-driven groove that immediately gets you headbanging to the awesome hooks of the song which has some utterly filthy musicianship filled with a venomous bite, perfectly suited to the roaring vocals that are used carefully to allow the riffs to do plenty of the heavy lifting for the menacing music. The band do an excellent job with varying the tempos and utilising slower sections to make a crushing atmosphere before continuing the decimating onslaught of blasts and tremolo picked riffs. There is a really unique vibe to this song with its huge walls of barbarism yet stunningly melodic solo work. Magnificent.

5. Dissonant Incubation comes in with hammering drum beats before breaking into dismally mournful guitar atmospherics and vomited snarls. The foreboding feel of the music soon breaks into chunky riff slams, hammering drums and vocal morbidity that is torturously heavy with its slow and doomy funeral march that features more haunting lead guitar work that really brings the melancholic dragging grooves to life. The band do an excellent job of conjuring up some gorgeously atmospheric Death-Doom in the vein of Hooded Menace before churning out barbaric chugs that bring the whiplash headbanging right back into motion. A fiercely heavy song with a primal swamp-crawl through some damn awesome Death Metal. Brilliant.

6. Feeding Mold unexpectedly brings in volatile and dissonant riffs at high speed which excellently contrasts the previous track, this time firing into mortuary crawling violence with a frenzied barrage of blastbeats and tremolo picked riffs underlying the demonic vocal work. Savagery from the full band who thrown forth a putrid aggression that is inescapable is what this song is made up of with some fierce breaks that make you want to smash the hell out of something. Upbeat swings bring in the next unexpected turn with some fantastic bass work that builds beautifully into some utterly barbaric and meaty Death Metal excellency. The guitar tone spews some true nastiness upon this Earth-shatteringly heavy track. Great stuff.

7. Sepulchral Descent has the bold task of closing such a well-varied and devastating album, I am excited to see how the band do so after such volatile diversity. Setting off with some fun Horror samples, the crisp guitar riffing soon whips into shape. Crashing drum work brings the band together with roaring vocals also ensuing. Well-spaced tension is created and a thunderously storming assault of pure grooves and 90s Death Metal riff-work is set loose but with some stunningly balanced atmospheres due to the lead guitar work. The main riff from this song will get stuck in your head as the track goes from a headbanging storm to a moshing frenzy with blastbeats and grisly riffing insanity. There is evidently time for one last blistering solo thankfully. A killer closing track.

Fans of bludgeoning Swedish style Death Metal will certainly be happy with this gorgeously varied album featuring excellent tempo diversity and crushing instrumental work that packs a hell of a punch under the vocalists snarls. Riffs galore, dirty tones and a tight as hell production with plentiful Death-Doom atmospherics to really show the bands ability at concocting killer music that is forebodingly devastating. Another brilliant release from Testimony Records. -8/10