Carnifex Until I Feel Nothing

[ 10,044 views ]

Reviewed by: David Keevill   //   Published: 10/26/2011

Carnifex walk a very fine line between parody and an actual realization of the sincerest and most brutal deathcore. This problem is compounded no end by the most cynical trolls trawling the Internet and waging ineffectual wars of semantics, one of the main targets being the swollen and bloated pantheon of metal genres. As a consequence, bands like Carnifex whose sound, undoubtedly towards the brutal end of the genre spectrum, receives persistent and heavy abuse from these Internet 'intellectuals' and metal heavyweights for contradictorily neither fitting comfortably enough within a genre bracket or sounding too predictable. With Carnifex's previous efforts it's been hard to tell whether it's imitation or innovation, and as a consequence, they've yet to produce an overwhelming demonstration of their craft.

However their latest release, Until I Feel Nothing, whilst going some way to throw these criticisms aside, never quite relieves itself of the oh-so-predictable formula. This album, much to its detriment, carries the baggage of its genre, to the extent that it's easy to be disheartened by the fairly uninspiring palm muted riff, the satisfactory yet wholly uninspiring growls of misanthropy and the pit-friendly breakdown. Yet Carnifex's fourth full-length, although not thoughtful in the way that Descartes was 'thoughtful,' does piece together some semblance of brain matter.

Initially, however, the album sinks rather than swims, with opener "Deathwish" spluttering some ominous 'atmosphere' into your ears and then goes some way to sound like Parkway Drive's Samsara, but ultimately providing little of its own promise except for a gateway into the opening riff of "We Spoke of Lies." This and "A Grave to Blame" are decent, if unmemorable, songs that flail around at top-speed, asking no quarter and yet really giving not a huge amount beyond tight, insistent musicianship. "Dead but Dreaming" drops the pace at first, and although picking it back up, provides the first instance of any melodic element in the form of the two-note chugging chorus riff, later followed up by underlying dissonant synths. Relief at this diversity gives way to disappointment as it becomes clear that you're four tracks into an album and only now can you step off the conveyer belt and survey the devastation around you. It's a feeling that's about as comfortable as an episiotomy, I would imagine.

"Creation Defaced" is an album highlight which is laden with a derogatory but effective tonal/synth breakdown, and convincingly dark lyrics 'I dream of the end of the world//as it dreams of the end of me.' Indeed the second half of the album, persistently flags up reasons to grasp to sanity; the title track spits venom and wrecks limbs with Carcass-esque riffs and there's plenty of splintering guitar work and ferociously dutiful drumming on "Never Forgive Me." It's just unfortunate that there's so much that's instantly forgettable, so many generic and formulaic set-pieces that rarely explode and do well to push themselves beyond the mundane. Yes, it's brutal, but with no counterpoint to this within the music, it's always in danger of becoming swept away by its own intent. Additionally, "Curse My Name" finishes the album in a lacklustre fashion, flogging the same horse into a similar but final oblivion.

Bottom Line The moments of musical brilliance on Until I Feel Nothing, although few and far between, are the only thing that drag this generic deathcore record into the realms on decency. Overall, it's a fairly flaccid attempt at a vision of a brutal world that gets too bogged down in the dogma of its own religion. Undoubtedly Carnifex have built their sound, their vision and their raison d'etre upon the altar of this genre, and have done well so far, but have not gone far beyond tightening the musicianship up beyond their previous releases. It's a disappointing album that will serve as good pit-fodder, but not much more.

Tweet