Carnifex – Graveside Confessions
Release Date: 3rd September 2021
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Order
Genre: Deathcore, Blackened Deathcore.
FFO: Whitechapel, Suicide Silence, Slaughter To Prevail.
Review By: Ross Bowie
Deathcore pioneers Carnifex return with their signature deathcore sound while continuing to incorporate some blackened brutality into the mix. The band have recently become a four piece after parting ways with former lead guitarist Jordan Lockrey. However, this doesn’t dilute the sonic heaviness Carnifex continue to conjure up throughout all of Graveside Confessions run time.
Graveside Confessions explores all areas of Carnifex’s career to date. The album right from the start comes roaring out the speakers with the blackened deathcore Carnifex has perfected for years but also flirts with new synth and piano ideas the band have only experimented with in the past. The use of these new elements is a perfect blend between the old and the new. Dialling up the use of synths has become a common occurrence in the deathcore scene, but Carnifex are able to deploy these flourishes very sparingly and they’re utilised to elevate the track rather than become the main-focus.
The album hits all the deathcore beats that fans of the band will be longing for as the brutality is relentless and the production job leaves the listener with no space for air. The album is tight and compact but can also be fun. Carnifex aren’t scared to incorporate some of Nu-Metal’s signature bounce while riffing and this is shown through the bands cover of Korn’s Dead bodies Everywhere, but the band incorporate their influences into a melting pot to make a sound that is uniquely their own.
Carnifex have been at the forefront of deathcore since 2010s iconic Hell Chose Me and this album demonstrates why. There might not be a lot of variation across the tracks as the deathcore sound can be quite a tight box to burst out of, but Carnifex consistently do their sound to a high standard. The band can turn up and write songs that are always at a high level. Other bands in the scene have shifted to different terrains by becoming more melodic or adding in modern sounds but for the most part Carnifex do the same blackened deathcore they have been doing for years, they just continue to do it better than anyone else. 
(4 / 5)
