Carnal Forge - Testify For My Victims

Published May 30 2007

*=Staff's pick	Testify For My Victims* Burning Eden* Numb (The Dead) Godsend Gods End* End Game Question Pertaining The Ownership Of My Mind Freedom By Mutilation Subhuman No Longer Bleeding Biological Waste Matter Lost Legion Ante Mori*

Genre	Melodic Death Metal	Jens C. Mortensen	Vocals
Tracks	12	Jari Kuusisto	Guitar
Runningtime	48 Min.	Petri Kuusisto	Guitar
Label	Candlelight Records	Lars Lindén	Bass
Release	21 May 2007	Stefan Westerberg	Drums
Country	Sweden	-	Keyboard
Similar artists	Soilwork, The Haunted

If you want originality you have to look elsewhere. With Testify For My Victims Carnal Forge has taken a step away from the thrash they delivered on Aren't You Dead Yet (2004) and towards a more of 'melodic' death sound. This could just as well have been Soilwork, In Flames, The Haunted, Blinded Colony or any other of those Swedish 'melodic' death metal bands with some modern American metal in their sound. But on the other hand Carnal Forge has been around since 1997, so one can't blame them too much for copying the others.

It all starts promising with the title track, the closest you get a 'hit' in this genre, without compromising with heaviness. Burning Eden and Numb (The Dead) have already been chosen as 'video'-tracks. The former is a catchy piece of melodic death, reminding a bit of Arch Enemy. The latter is a faster, more thrashy tune, closer to earlier The Haunted, or their own previous Aren't You Dead Yet. Godsend Gods End presents a slower, groovier Carnal Forge. I have always had a weakness for groove. Freedom By Mutilation is again closer to thrash.

So far nice variation within the fixed concept, but the second half of the record passes on without any specific recognition the first couple of times, and still to this moment of writing has not evoked any specific feelings. Doomy Ante Mori is nice though. New vocalist Jens C. Mortensen sounds quite like Marco Aro (Face Down, ex. The Haunted), forceful indeed, but yet somehow a bit strained. I would ask for a bit more dynamic and power in the production - less American overdone and more direct live feeling. I bet the songs will grow further live.

See also review of: Aren't You Dead Yet?

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
6	3	5	6	6

Summary
6 chalices of 10 - David