THE BEAST

Carnival of Flesh - Anthems of Extinction - Reviewed By 195metalcds ! Check it out here at this link: https://www.195metalcds.com/2023/03/13/carnival-of-flesh-anthems-of-extinction-2022/

They say you should never judge a book by its cover. But oh! what a cover. This is possibly one of my favourite albums covers ever. Let’s see if this adage is correct in this case.

Carnival of Flesh formed in late 2002 when Dachaz and Dam wanted to reshape the Serbian black metal scene with a sound that escapes the traditional black metal boundaries. Due to frequent personnel changes, the desired sound was not reached, and the band officially split up in 2008 only to be reformed in 2014 as a studio project.

Taking their previously best songs, the band updated arrangements, rewrote lyrics and assembled a new cast to deliver Stories from a Fallen World (2015). Seven years later, the band gathered to sketch out and record a new album, Anthems of Extinction (2022), they say fuelled by profound misanthropy and driven by humanity’s hunger for environmental and social decay.

“Angst” (track 1) kicks off the album with a steady-paced slab of growling black metal with the occasional recitative and wailing guitars. It’s a good start and a track that grew on me the more I listened to it.

“The one” (track 2) has that Diabolical Masquerade style darkness and almost sour-sounding riff that seeps into your soul carried on the winds of the ferocious kick drums.

“Tropical plunder” (track 3) opens with a slow burning, atmospheric, melodic and quite beautiful intro that builds to a thrashing climax that clatters along like a train carrying heavy weapons until it explodes and burns out in a furious conclusion.

“Can of sorrow” (track 4) is a song of three halves: a battered anthem of sorrow that evaporates like mist to reveal a delicate, whispered passage accompanied by a tinkling piano and strings before blasting back into a rumbling and cacophonous conclusion.

“Mask of humanity” (track 5) growls and builds as expected, a bit of a filler track except for the quiet passage a little over halfway through that brings some character and interest.

“Rapacity” (track 6) opens with a chunky bass solo—nice! Again, it’s a bit stock black metal but it’s played well with a few neat riffs, flourishes and sudden changes in tempo thrown in for good measure. It’s a long track at 9′ 05″.

“The great escape” (track 7) begins with an almost punk bass riff that is soon joined by reverbed baritone vocals. It’s quite unique until the track’s black metal wings unfurl to reveal gothic-sounding strings and pummelling drums. As is typical for many of Carnival of Flesh’s songs so far, the song breaks down in the middle to explore a more tender and gentle path before exploding into life again to its final escape.

“Liberation” (track 8) is a warm, growling powerhouse of a track to help lead the album to its conclusion which is the twisting and turning darkness of “Requiem for a world” (track 9). “All that burned has turned to ash / Not a drop left of seven seas / History’s reduced to dust / There’s no trace we were ever here” … the shortest track on the album but it certainly leaves a trace as it quickly burns out.

Conclusion
It took me about three or four listens to this album to finally get it, to enter into it and appreciate its dark and sorrowful beauty. Sure, it’s a symphonic black metal album and I’ve never been too keen on those… although in many ways this reminds me of Celtic Frost’s early dalliances with orchestration, and that’s a good thing.

Just as when studying that iconic cover, the more I listened and paid attention to Anthems of Extinction, the more I heard, the more I saw, the more I leaned into it and let me take it on its journey. Check it out and see where it takes you.

Review score: 80% 195metalcds

Release Date: 01/01/2023

FFO: Anorexia Nervosa, Carach Angren, Dimmu Borgir

Location: Belgrade, Serbia

    The story of Carnival of Flesh starts in late 2002, when two guys, Dachaz and Dam, wanted to reshape the Serbian black metal scene with a sound that escapes the traditional black Metal boundaries. Due to frequent personnel changes, the desired sound was not reached, and the band officially split up in 2008.

    Carnival of Flesh was rebooted as a studio project in 2014. The best songs from the past were hand-picked from the vault, their arrangements updated, lyrics conceptually rewritten and some of the best personnel was engaged. Thus, “Stories From a Fallen World” were born. In 2015., “Stories From a Fallen World” was released both as a deluxe digipak edition and on digital. A year later, the band finally got its full form again and they deliver a stunning performance on the “Storytelling” event in Belgrade. To announce their European tour, Carnival of Flesh appeared on two warmup shows in Belgrade: with Rossomahaar and with Welicoruss. The tour, labelled “Storytelling across Europe”, took place in 14 European cities during October of 2018.

    A year after the tour, the band met again and put together the sketch of the next album. Fuelled by profound misanthropy and driven by humanity's hunger for environmental and social decay, they forge the opus that truly is a sign of the times. “Anthems of Extinction”, was recorded in mid-2021. and released in November of the same year as a deluxe digibook. While the pandemic delayed the album-promotion tour, the band made an epic appearance on “Festival of Serbian Underground” in October of 2021. The album won a prestigious title of “3rd best release of 2021”, according to the Serbian Metal Portal staff, while the first video single off the album “Tropical Plunder” has won “Song of the Month” award and has thus been aired both on the Serbian National Television, as well as Croatian Music Channel. The band is planning an album-promotion tour for the spring of 2023.

Check out this video!

Follow the band here at these links:

 https://www.facebook.com/carnivalofflesh
 https://www.youtube.com/@carnivalofflesh
 https://www.instagram.com/carnivalofflesh
 https://www.twitter.com/carnivalofflesh
https://song.link/anthems