Review of Carnal Forge - Aren't You Dead Yet?

Does anyone else think that Carnal Forge has the best album titles? Between Please...Die! and Aren't You Dead Yet?, I'm not sure I can think of any other bands that can contend. With that said, does anyone else think that Carnal Forge do a really excellent job of making this Swedish thrash thing still interesting? I don't know, The Haunted haven't really done it for me since their self-titled album, Soilwork and Darkane both went in different directions, and although there are plenty of brilliant bands like Corporation 187, Terror 2000, and Dew Scented - none of them really hit that mark the same way Carnal Forge does. Maybe it's because they manage to put out a great album almost every year, so they're always fresh in my mind.

Well, I shouldn't have to explain to you what Carnal Forge sound like after all that namedropping, but I'll do it anyway. Made up of members of In Thy Dreams and Slapdash, Carnal Forge play a supercharged combination of old-school thrash with Slayer-riffs and melodic leads. It's all incredibly punchy and fast, with a lot of abrupt rhythm changes and breaks that rarely last too long. You're never going to get any goddamn ballads or acoustic medleys. Jonas Kjellgren (Dellamorte, Centinex) barks over the entire record with his gruff and versatile yell, delivering one of the more enjoyable vocal performances of the genre. They've got all the chugs, hammer-ons and quick pull-offs a fan could ask for. They're certainly one of the tightest bands to tackle thrash in quite a while, playing with staggering precision while still pulling off some amazing riffing. During the track "Inhuman", Carnal Forge take a break from the full-on assault and produce a groovier, mid-paced track more reminiscent of one long and tough hardcore breakdown, proving that they're just as capable songwriters at half the speed.

This was actually recorded in Jonas Kjellgren's very own studio and it sounds phenomenal. To my knowledge, Carnal Forge has always kept relatively similar production values, so there aren't any surprises. No keyboards or looped samples or anything like that. It's thrash from an experienced band of thrashers - they know what to do by now.

Do you really need to know more? It's Carnal Forge doing what Carnal Forge does. They basically do what 90% of new metalcore/thrash attempt but fail miserably at. If you're a fan of the up-tempo and straightforward Swedish brand of thrash, you should start making plans to pick this up. Aren't You Dead Yet? is another memorable release from an excellent band that no one who considers themselves a fan of heavy music should overlook.

Release Details

Carnal Forge

Aren't You Dead Yet?

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