Aren't You Dead Yet?

Another year (2004), another album (Aren't You Dead Yet?), another ten songs spewing unremitting intensity…that's right, it's Carnal Forge time again. Tell you what: it's hard to believe such a chubby, almost cuddly group of Swedes can muster this much anger! But seriously, it must be the atypical three-guitar attack fueling the group's frantic neo-thrash, which stockpiles reams of staccato riffs while considering things like harmonies and melodies to be accessories of last resort. It's neck-snapping thrashers like "Decades of Despair," "The Strength of Misery," and the particularly face-melting "My Suicide" that rule the day here, proving that At the Gates remains a clear and inescapable source of inspiration for Carnal Forge (that intensity thing mentioned earlier). Bucking the trend for the sake of it, "Burn Them Alive" strikes a slower, more measured (if no less taught) brand of harmony-driven metal slightly reminiscent of the Gothenburg gang, and the surprisingly groovy "Exploding Veins" and "Totally Worthless" at times approach Entombed's rot & roll. Rather more forgettable are the borderline black metal of "Sacred Flames" and textbook thrashers like "Inhuman" and "Final Hour in Hell," which combine to form a very dull string midway through the record, and are only barely saved by the odd strong harmony bridge or blinding solo. But then, nobody's perfect, right? And, that unfortunate ten-minute span aside, Aren't You Dead Yet? represents another (here's that word again) reliable if not quite brilliant outing for Carnal Forge — may there be many more. [Aren't You Dead Yet? also features two live video clips of the band performing old favorites "H.B.F. Suicide" and "Welcome to Your Funeral."]