Spooky Month is finally here, and what better way to celebrate the month than to listen to CARNIFEX's new highly anticipated album "Necromanteum?" Not only is this the ninth album overall by the American Deathcore band elites, but it is also their fifth album with German record label Nuclear Blast Records. Released quite recently on October 6th, it consists of 10 tracks totaling up to nearly 42 1/2 minutes. As a huge fan of CARNIFEX, I found "Necromanteum" to be a worthy improvement over their previous 2021 effort "Graveside Confessions," which I also enjoyed but also found to be unnecessarily lengthy.
"Torn in Two" is the first track of this album, and it is an incredible 4-minute opener. No slow intro, no bullshit. It just gets right to the point with guitar riffs from Neal Tiemann and Cory Arford, as well as blast beats from Shawn Cameron. If any of you are also a fan of fellow Deathcore elites CHELSEA GRIN like me, then you're in for a special treat with the second track "Death's Forgotten Children." Why do I say this? It's because this single from the album features Tom Barber, who has been the lead vocalist of CHELSEA GRIN since 2018, and his additional vocals make "Death's Forgotten Children" one of my personal favorites. After another banger from the title track--which is also CARNIFEX's first single from "Necromanteum"--things get significantly more solemn with "Crowned in Everblack." This is actually a tribute to THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER's former lead vocalist Trevor Strnad, who sadly died last year, traumatizing the heavy metal community. "Crowned in Everblack" is full of hard-hitting lines honoring Strnad, such as 'Sorcerer, musically masterful/We will forever be your dark soldiers.' With the addition of piano keys, haunting symphonic music and choirs, and an amazing guitar near the end, this track is a lovely final goodbye to our fallen comrade.
After the morbidly pleasant songs "The Pathless Forest" and "How the Knife Gets Twisted," we come to the album's longest track "Architect of Misanthropy." It's a little over 5 minutes, but by no means does CARNIFEX waste those 5 minutes. If anything, this is another one of my favorite songs from "Necromanteum," particularly because of that incredibly fast guitar solo! The band never falls short on their talented lyrical writing, but I absolutely loved the lyrics to "Infinite Night Terror." How can you not enjoy lines such as 'Chase the setting sun and it's endless rays/Once nightfalls, no one is safe?' I strongly believe that CARNIFEX wrote their songs to set the mood for this October, especially with Halloween drawing closer by the day. "Bleed More" runs for about 4 minutes and 17 seconds, before the ending of the track spills into the beginning of the closing song "Heaven and Hell All at Once." Classic choice of song title by CARNIFEX, don't you think?
Ever since hearing that one of my favorite Deathcore bands was working on a new album, I've been biting nails in anticipation and praying that it would be better than "Graveside Confessions." Now that I finally got to listen to "Necromanteum," I can say for sure that my prayers have been answered and then some. CARNIFEX successfully uses their formula from previous works without sounding redundant (and also makes it Halloween-appropriate for the occasion). With lyrical themes of death and darkness, resounding percussion and guitar riffs, and slight use of spooky symphonic music, "Necromanteum" has soared to clench a spot among my top favorite records by CARNIFEX and reminded everyone that they aren't going anywhere anytime soon. My only complaints: I wanted to hear more high-pitched shrieks from Scott Lewis, and the breakdowns were a little cliché. Thankfully, the heavy breakdowns were not overused. I've said my piece, so go listen to the album and give me yours!
Rating: 8.5/10 (bonus half-point for the artwork/Halloween vibes!)
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