Within the heart of Sweden lay the gem of Örebro. With its ancient city blocks and various buildings that date back to as early as the 1300’s, this city offers a great deal and is a main commerce hub of the region. But underneath all of this lay a dark element enriched in distortion and hymns of manic technical melodics that carry the stench of death upon them. CARNOSUS, the chaotic force of manic destruction. A band with a vile agenda to display their putrid harmonies of death and display this to the world.

 Having formed back in the year of 2011 within their beautiful city, they got to work and later released their first demo that was simply named “Demos”. Fast forward till today and looking back over the years CARNOSUS has evolved over the years with multiple releases. With an EP, a handful of singles and two previous full-length albums all released independently prior to their latest instilment, this band has no signs of slowing down or having no label behind them stop them.

 Their latest full-length album “Wormtales” is a disgusting display of just how far these guys have come. Released on October 18, 2024 under the banner of Willowtip Records and offering up a torrent of melodics that are coated in technicality and festering with the ripe elements of death. With ten heavy tracks this album will hit you hard and fast for 40:05 minutes. Coming from more of a fast paced thrash tainted death to their new take that is more melodic and technical, Im curious to see if this album will build in hype and sustain what their fans expect or will it fall short. Let’s get into this.

 First off, that album art. A somber painted portrait  of an elderly woman of a Victorian era with half her face rotting off. The color palette is that of an older photograph of the time. Sepia and deep browns with even splotches on parts. The band’s logo and name of the album sits upper left. A beautiful display of decay.

 An ominous ambience echoes a bit before a heavy low tuned guitar kicks in with some well timed drum rolls. Screams and the lead pick up as “Birthless” opens the album with a complex torrent of melodic chord progressions. The track is heavily ingrained in melodic death while often playing with elements of technical chord progressions and sets the tone for the overall album.

 “Yearnings of A Rotten Spine” Wastes no time as it rushes forth in a bombardment of pure aggression. The manic visceral vocals just rip through a heavy and fast pace of solid old school death riffs. The track builds with intensity and aggression that builds into some solid breakdowns as well. You can definitely hear the thrash pace coated in putrid death. The track hits fast and hard and leads perfectly into “Worm Charmer”. A solid slam riff takes the lead on the track backed by a thick bass chord progression and thatched vocals that coat everything.The drum switch ups are executed decently with perfect blasts . A solo even makes its way into shred.

 This album is well crafted and disgusting in all the right ways. Even reminds me of elements of ARCHSPIRE at times. Heavy in old school death metal but coated in elements of melodics while at times tinged in technical death . With their use of pinch harmonics at times that peek in, the sound of various harmonic minors used and open string leads with various octaves, this makes for a very dynamic album. The vocals carry the right tone and style that pair and synergise decently as well.  I do, however, notice that the tracks start to bend in together with very little differentiating elements. They do kind of sound all the same in some regard after a bit. That being said, that does not minimize the talent and musicianship that went into the album. 

 “Solace In Soil” begins with a solid melodic chord progression.Simple but to the point. The visceral vocals growl out slowly over the melody. The lead kicks in and rings out with a chord before the drums create a decent fill. With a slower paced start the track slowly builds into a bombardment of aggression. A solo comes in hard near the end that carries on under the vocals before the track ends in an atmospheric tone.

 Overall, “Worm Charmer” is an album definitely worth adding to your collection. The manic aggression of the visceral vocals paired with the intensity and build up of the albums tone was executed amazingly. The memorability does get a bit lost in how the overall tone throughout the album takes shape. But despite this, the album was decently crafted and had a heavy fast pace. I personally enjoyed it and would recommend it.