Carve: Stillborn Revelations And Revel In Human Filth is not a new Paganizer-album, as the smartest amongst us would have guessed, probably. In fact this is a re-release compilation, dealing with both albums recorded and released under the Carve-moniker.
Carve was a side-project by Paganizer, or more specifically it was a temporary collaboration of Rogga Johansson (check out the review I did on this new project, Megascavenger, posted on March 3rd; I won’t list up all the bands and projects this guy is involved with) and some colleagues that were (and still are) very active within the Swedish Death Metal scene. The ‘band’ was active during the first half of the first decade of this century, and after two demos / promos, Carve recorded and released two full lengths as well.
This compilation deals with most material taken from these albums, Stillborn Revelations and Revel In Human Filth, which were originally released through the small yet highly interesting Brazilian Grindcore label Black Hole Productions (Flesh Grinder, Lymphatic Phlegm, Decomposing Serenity, The Black Coffins, Clawn a.o.).
Carve… opens with the 2002-full length Stillborn Revelations, which was originally done during two different recording sessions at the quasi-legendary Necromorbus Studio. On this album, Rogga worked with some colleagues from his main band, Paganizer, and that’s the main reason why this album sounds so much like earlier Paganizer (cf. especially Promoting Total Death and stuff like that). It means: so-called Swedeath, or intense, powerful, old-fashioned and little technical Death Metal with a total lack of modern gadgets.
Next come three bonus tracks that sound very alike, yet with a minor sound. Maybe, just maybe, these tracks might sound very little more varying, for the other songs, taken from the studio sessions, might seem too monotonous and flat-lined (got it?) from time to time.
Revel In Human Filth, from 2004, was done completely by Rogga alone, with the assistance of a drum computer. That drum computer might sound irritable and annoying from time to time, and I’ve never understood why Rogga did not recruit a suitable (session) drummer. Musically this material went on in the vein of Carve’s debut, yet with a more pounding tempo and a more technical general approach (i.e. the guitar solos, for example).
For this material is out of print and very difficult to find, this re-release might be interesting for those who do not possess this stuff yet. …but only in case you’re a fan of Paganizer, of course, or a rich amateur of the old-schooled Swedish scene… I don’t think Carve was the best thing ever done by Rogga (but I don’t get that aroused either by Paganizer, as a matter of fact [with exception of the grandiose Scandinavian War Machine-album, of course] – in contradiction to some of this guy’s other bands / projects; like mentioned before, you need to check out Megascavenger!), but at the same time it is another brick in the massive wall of Swedish-styled Death Grotesquery (got this one too?)!