Review: Carnosus – Visions of Infinihility

Style: Technical death metal (harsh vocals)
Recommended for fans of: The Black Dahlia Murder, Revocation, Archspire, Infant Annihilator
Review by: Zach
Country: Sweden
Release date: 10 Feburary, 2023

Something about tech death gets the little hamster in my brain running. Truly nothing is more pleasing to my ears than hearing virtuosos firing at all cylinders for however long they want to serenade me with 300 bpm shredding and blast beat-y nonsense. Archspire is as pleasing to my ears as soft acoustic ballads are to people whose brains function correctly. Unfortunately, as I’ve stated in prior reviews, tech’s gotten a bit stale in recent years. The greats continue to be great, but the newer, smaller bands make something worthwhile less and less often. When the shreddies aren’t doing it for me anymore, I go across the pond and throw on something a little jazzier and dissonant to do the trick.

But not everything needs to be cerebral. Sometimes, I don’t need Ulcerate. Sometimes, I just want a fun, short album full of nasty riffs and disgusting vocals. Oh, what’s this? Carnosus released a new album? It’s only 35 minutes and has some of the best tech I’m probably going to hear all year? Sign me the fuck up.

Right off the bat, Carnosus seem like fun guys. Anyone who refers to their drums as “confused unga bunga” has my infinite respect, because we all know tech-death drummers are unfrozen cavemen. The young Swedes caught my eye for the first time back in 2020 with their debut, combining the best of The Black Dahlia Murder with a more tech-y approach. And as great as I found Dogma of the Deceased, it just sounded like Ryan Knight-era TBDM, which isn’t exactly a bad thing, just not a very original one.

However, on Visions, Carnosus clearly spent not a second dilly-dallying as they found their perfect sound. From the very first second of ‘Ossein Larcenist’, groovy, and refreshingly original sounding riffs drive this song forward. From the midsection onward, a spidery riff precedes the spirit of Oliver Rae Aleron possessing the vocalist as he spits fire with those screechy highs.

Unlike a lot of tech-death albums, Visions isn’t just a guitar album for me. Jonatan Karasiak brings a whole new layer of filth to this album. His vocals are reminiscent of the late, great Trevor Strnad, but he puts his own spin on things this time around. He’s increased that screechy quality to his highs, adding in vocal harmonies and rolling his fucking Rs all over the album. The amount of improvement from three years ago seems almost inhuman, and some of the noises he lets out on this album are downright Dickie Allen-esque. I would love to scream along to ‘In Debt to Oblivion’, but I’m afraid I’d tear my throat to shreds trying to attempt what he’s doing.

Speaking of ‘In Debt’, I’d be remiss to not mention that song in my review. The riffs that drive this song sound like Psycroptic riffs from another dimension. I can’t believe this album has a standout, because every song is downright jaw dropping. There is no wrong answer to the best song on Visions, and right as I proclaim a standout song on one listen, it changes on the next. But ‘In Debt’ is a contender for not only SOTY, but for one of my favorite techy songs ever.

To top it all off, due to how fun-size this album is, repeated listens are a breeze. This has been on heavy rotation for me since it came out because it’s so incredibly easy to listen to. I figured I’d be exhausted by the end of my fourth listen, but I just wanted to replay it over again. In fact, I’d even say the back half of Visions is just a tad (literally a hair’s length) stronger than the front half. Carnosus know how to pace an album and know that I love some slower, chuggy songs even on my proggier tech-death albums to mix up the shreds.

I guess if I had to nitpick anything on Visions, these Swedish cave-wizards need to mix the bass higher! The man’s playing a seven-string bass, yet I only heard him on certain parts of the album. With a better mix, I could see myself bumping this up another .5, but for the time being, Carnosus should be incredibly proud of what they’ve accomplished. A young band finding this solid of a sound so early in their career is no easy feat, but Visions is excellent.

Recommended tracks: In Debt to Oblivion, Castle of Grief, Devourer of Light
You may also like: Hath, Slugdge, Contrarian, Killitirous

Final verdict: 9/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal Archives Page

Label: Independent

Carnosus is:
– Marcus Strindlund (bass)
– Jacob Hedner (drums)
– Rickard Persson (guitars)
– Jonatan Karasiak (vocals)
– Markus Jokela Nystrom (guitars)