Carniwhöre
Rising Up
5
[Rapid Fire]The cover of Carniwhore’s EP, Rising Up depicts a moldering corpse clawing its way out of the grave. Judging from the music on the EP, I would have to say that the corpse represents Eighties thrash metal which just refuses to stay buried. Carniwhore, you see--with little more than a handful of riffs and a snarl--thrash away like it is 1985.
Carniwhore’s primitive bashing harkens back to the mid-Eighties, when bands like Mantas, Master, Kreator and Possessed walked the thin line between thrash and death metal. Rising Up is a no-frills affair: no solos, no harmony, and no melody to speak of, just some savage riffs and a whole lot of attitude, but for what it is, it works. This is not thrash for the eighteen-year-old college student who listens to Warbringer and Evile; this is thrash for the forty-year-old burnout who works at the gas station and has an original Apocalyptic Raids patch on the back of his jean jacket--metaphorically speaking of course.
Carniwhore are not going to be the next Municipal Waste, nor are they trying to be. If the band sells a few hundred copies of Rising Up to some hardcore death/thrash fans and makes Fenriz’s band of the week, they would likely consider that feat a rousing success. For me, Rising Up was an enjoyable way to spend eleven minutes and forty-six seconds, but for the average metal fan, I would hardly call it essential.
