Sweden’s Karnivore were initially formed in 2002 as Karneywar, and they recorded three interesting demos until the name-change a couple of years ago, as well as a first album, The Triumphant Khaoz. This album, however, wasn’t released until 2012 (under their new moniker), despite being finished in 2009. This delay had to do with the (sad) decease of long-time guitar player Patrik (f*cking cancer destroyed another life) and bad support (read: no decent label to take the opportunity to etc…).
Now the band, consisting of three original members (string master Jens Englund, vocalist Martin Holmqvist, and drummer Mattias Johansson), and acting under their new moniker, returns with the sophomore full length, In The Halls Of The Wicked, which has duration of forty minutes. Karnivore’s Death Metal contains elements that do typify the Swedish scene, and this in a rather shameless manner. It is melodic and comes with a firm rhythm, and it includes elements from Thrash Metal and, even though less pronounced, from Black Metal. The material is energetic, not of the lightning-fast kind, yet still very intense and powerful. Each song varies when it comes to the tempo, with some interesting breaks. The whole sounds modern, yet without forgetting to inject traditional elements, such as timeless riffs and traditional Swedish-inspired tremolo rhythms. The production is clean and decent, and maybe little too clinical. But of course that fits to the modern approach. However, despite the best intentions, this stuff will not suffice for there is an overload on comparable material, and In The Halls Of The Wicked is not fully convincing. There are no refreshing or original details to ‘distinct’ from the grey masses, and more than once it sounds predictable and heard-it-before. Therefore I am afraid this second full length will be forgotten pretty soon.
Forgotten already… What was this review all about?...