Decapitated - Carnival Is Forever

Published July 21 2011

*=Staff's pick	The Knife* United* Carnival Is Forever* Homo Sum* 404 A View From A Hole Pest Silence

Genre	Technical Death Metal	Ráfal Piotrowski	Vocals
Tracks	8	Vogg	Guitar
Runningtime	45 Min.	-	Guitar
Label	Nuclear Blast	Heinrich	Bass
Release	12 July 2011	Krimh	Drums
Country	Poland	-	Keyboard
Producer	Vogg/Daniel Bergstrand
Similar artists	---

It took me quite a number of listenings before I really got just how good Polish death metal legends Decapitated's return to the metal scene with Carinval Is Forever is. That the band has had its fare share of trouble is well known - drummer Vitek dying in an accident on tour in Russia and singer Covan very badly hurt with a full recovery uncertain at least this humble writer had serious doubts about Decapitated continuing at all. Only remaining originalmember Vogg decided to go on after a brief spell in Vader, and I am very happy that he came to this conclusion, because this is a very strong comeback.

That the music is different from prior releases is perhaps a result of the events in the past - but you'll find the technical vein still very much pulsing with life: gnarly playing and the guitarproduction recognized from previous records. But to demand the band to sound exactly like on Nihility for example would be asking too much. That record set the standard on how far you could use double bassdrumplaying in one song, Spheres Of Madness, and just how extreme you could press a steel clad production in my book.

There are some of this on Carnival Is Forever, mostly in songs like The Knife and United that showcases fine technical drumming from Krimh and guitarshredding from Vogg that makes the hair on my arms stand up. The titletrack, an almost nine minutes long demonstration of brilliant songwriting, is what puts the scales over in Decapitated's favor. Holy shit what a song! And it's the same with Homo Sum, a song that manages to combine ferociously technical playing with groove - the result is amazing. I also enjoy that the production is evenly balanced between a hard compressordriven guitarsound and a more organic drumsound.

Have patience when listening to Carnival Is Forever - it's worth it big time - and hopefully you'll join me after saying welcome back Decapitated!

See also review of: Organic Hallucinosis

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
8	7	7	7	8

Summary
8 chalices of 10 - Martin