Carnosus – Wormtales
Release Date: 18th October 2024
Label: Willowtip
Bandcamp
Genre: Technical Death Metal
FFO: Archspire, Cognitive, Continuum, Cognizance.
Review By: Eric Wilt
It was only 20 months ago that Carnosus set social media ablaze with their second independently released full length, Visions of Infinihility. Even without a label to back it, the technical death metal masterpiece kept popping up in my feed as more and more metal fans caught the Carnosus wave. Now with Willowtip in their corner, Carnosus is poised to release their third full length, Wormtales. Intended as a lyrical prequel to Visions of Infinihility, the album sees Carnosus continue to push their sound in ever more diverse directions. While still rooted in tech-death, the new record incorporates influences from various subgenres, from melodic death to thrash and from progressive to black.
When you listen to a Carnosus album, the first thing that jumps out at you is the vocals of Jonatan Karasiak. With a range and diversity of delivery similar to Oli Peters of Archspire, Karasiak gives the listener a masterclass in death metal vocals. Joining Karasiak on this recording are guitarists Rickard Persson and Marcus Jokela Nyström, bassist Marcus Strindlund, and drummer Jacob Hedner, all of whom are phenomenal musicians in their own rights.
Carnosus sets the tone of the album with the opening track, Birthless. From the pummeling first riff to the tech death of the verses to the melodicism of the bridge, Birthless lets the listener know that Carnosus means business. Other standout moments on the album are the melodic death metal leaning Neglectikon, which rides a wave of groove between brief spurts of blast-beats. The slow and heavy intro on Worm Charmer that leads to a mid-paced verse and bass solo that really changes up the feel of the song. And finally, the technical riffing of Wound of Wisdom, which sounds like it could have come out of the Visions of Infinihility sessions.
Carnosus gained a lot of acclaim on the interweb on the back of Visions of Infinihility, and I expect Wormtales to be even more popular. If you haven’t jumped on their bandwagon yet, it’s time to climb aboard while you can still say you listened to them before they blew up.
(4 / 5)
