Indiana based Carrion Vael started off playing a blend of melodic death metal and thrash with some hints of technical death metal, often coming in somewhere between Swedish classics like At the Gates and American contemporaries like The Black Dahlia Murder on their two full-length albums. For album number three, Abhorrent Obsessions, it’s clear that the group has opted to switch gears and inject a significant amount of tech into their melodeath foundation. Filled to the brim with fast tempos and mesmerizing guitar, bass, and drum work that does its best to bludgeon you into the dirt with each song, Abhorrent Obsessions does start to run out of steam by the end but it’s still likely to keep fans of this type of death metal coming back for more.
Carrion Vael’s previous two full lengths established a strong foundation that felt right at home between the American and Swedish variants of melodeath, touching upon that faster, thrashier side and bursts of technical riffs and solos. For Abhorrent Obsessions it’s clear the decision was made to write material that was intense as possible, as the flurry of riffs and blasting drums have just as much in common with modern technical death metal as they do the melodic side. The sound here is gigantic and once the speed ramps up each song rarely lets up until it has reached its conclusion, resulting in a rollercoaster ride of instrumentation that seeks to bludgeon everything in its path. Carrion Vaelis able to shake up how they reach this fury, sometimes settling into a slower yet still brutal groove while other moments go for sheer speed. It’s impressive just how precise and polished the guitar, bass, and drums work, and it’s clear that the band has worked at this technical precision while also ensuring their riffs and solos have some staying power. There are also some orchestral effects present in the background of many of these songs, which not only adds to how immense they feel but helps to differentiate the group from some of their peers. However, while there’s plenty to like about Abhorrent Obsessions there are also a few elements that hold it back slightly. While the approach is varied, it does feel like you’ve heard most of the band’s approaches during the first half and this does make the second half not stand out quite as much. The production also feels just a bit too polished, making each instrument come through with the same level of loudness, and this obscures some of the nuances at times. It’s not enough to derail the experience, but a few tweaks could help to take this from a great album to a truly top notch one.
One area that Carrion Vael nails throughout Abhorrent Obssessions is the vocal work, as it manages to be diverse and intense for the entire album. While the regular move between higher screams and lower growls is sure to immediately bring The Black Dahlia Murder to mind, but as you make your way through it’s clear the band has much more to offer. The high and low pitches shift naturally from song to song, with the lows even hitting some gutturals that are closer to brutal death metal, and shortly after the halfway point clean singing comes into play which was an unexpected surprise during that first listen. This aspect works to Carrion Vael’s advantage, as even though the second half felt like it was falling into some patterns instrumentally the singing did catch my attention and almost made up for it. With more and more bands in the tech death space incorporating singing, it can take some extra effort to stand out, but the way they soar on this album makes it clear these guys have thought about how they fit in rather than adding them as pure window dressing.
Album number three showcases some genuine expansion to Carrion Vael’s established sound, pushing them much further into tech death territory while retaining the melodeath/thrash foundation of their previous material. The sheer force and thrill ride of the riffs and vocal work goes a long way, and while it does have a stronger first half there’s still plenty to like about what this band is doing. It’s the precision and level of musicianship on display that help this album stand slightly above some of the others I’ve heard this year, and if they can continue this experimentation and tweak their production values a bit, I expect even bigger things down the road. Abhorrent Obsessions is available from Unique Leader Records.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg
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