bartosso Decapitated revived

Almost four years after Vitek's tragic death and Covan's departure due to a slow recovery, Decapitated has returned with 5th record released by Nuclear Blast. I bet that many fans of the band felt a slight prick of anxiety at the sight of CARNIVAL IS FOREVER cover art. Samara from "The Ring" wearing a bunny mask does not bode well. Fortunately, Vogg & Co do not ply us with pretentious metalcore crap. What's more, the cover art actually turned out to be a great complement to the album's obscure ambiance.

Besides being a very talented guitarist and composer, Vogg knows how to make extreme metal sound good. CARNIVAL IS FOREVER assaults the listener with organic, selective and brutal combination of technical death metal, post-thrash metal and... wait, hardcore vocals? Yep, that's what everybody was so upset about. Hardcore vocals are so untrue. I can't say I do not miss Covan's growling, but Rafał's thrash/hardcore roaring is absolutely acceptable. So stop complaining, please.

Having the amazing ORGANIC HALLUCINOSIS still ringing in my head, I was somewhat underwhelmed with the offering from the reborn Decapitated. While they continue with the djenty/post-thrash style known from the previous album, I was hoping for another step towards their own musical identity. Rather than that, they made thrash metal the prevalent element and thereby recorded a post-thrash metal album with a sharp death metal edge. Now, I'm not by any means saying that they lost their identity. Decapitated still sound like Decapitated, a band with style influenced by artists you can easily point at. That's the point, the influences are still a bit too obvious. Besides that, I have nothing else to complain about. CARNIVAL IS FOREVER is a great record that has grown on me after repeated listens. Fantastic riffs and breaks are what Decapitated were always best at. The main theme from "A View from A Hole" is a proof that nothing has changed in that matter.

CARNIVAL IS FOREVER is a great post-thrash/death metal album and if only it was a little bit more daring and experimental, I'd call it a masterpiece. Despite an interesting atmosphere, songwriting is a tad too restrained and I can't help but hope for some more spontaneity from Decapitated on their next stay in the studio.

UMUR "Carnival is Forever" is the 5th full-length studio album by Polish death/ thrash metal act Decapitated. The album was released in July 2011 by Nuclear Blast Records. The lineup on "Carnival is Forever" is almost completely different from the lineup that recorded "Organic Hallucinosis (2006)" as Decapitated were involved in a serious tour bus accident in October 2007 in Gomel, Belarus where drummer Witold "Vitek" Kieltyka and lead vocalist Adrian "Covan" Kowanek were badly injured. Covan survived the crash but was seriously injured and was unable to continue playing music while Vitek died from his injuries on the 2nd of November 2007. Bassist Marcin "Martin" Rygiel also left the band following the tragic incident. So guitarist/ main composer Waclaw "Vogg" Kieltyka (brother of Vitek) put the band on hold and spent some of the intermediate years touring with Vader. For a long time the future of Decapitated was uncertain. However in March 2009 Vogg announced that he was looking for new members for Decapitated as he had opted to continue the band. New members of the lineup are drummer Kerim "Krimh" Lechner, lead vocalist Rafal Piotrowski and bassist Filip "Heinrich" Halucha.

Even though Vogg was always the main composer in Decapitated, the music on "Carnival is Forever" has changed quite a lot compared to the older material. There was never a question that all four previous releases were death metal albums but "Carnival is Forever" tests the boundaries of death metal and much of the album should probably be tagged thrash metal rather than death metal. While there are some growling vocals on the album they are not many. The vocals are in the aggressive vein of a vocalist like Jens Kidman (Meshuggah) rather than the barking Barney imitation of former vocalist Covan. Musically speaking Meshuggah is actually also a rather valid reference. Razor sharp odd metered chugging technical riffing and a generally powerful and aggressive sound. Decapitated are more straight forward/less twisted than a band like Meshuggah though but that shouldn´t be interpreted as if Decapitated play simple or that their music is structurally simple. The music is very technically complex and as always it´s hard not to be extremely impressed by Vogg´s ability to write crushingly heavy and razor sharp riffs. The man is a riff meister extraordinaire. The three new members also deliver with conviction, but especially the vocal style of new lead vocalist Rafal Piotrowski, will probably divide the waters. Personally I would have preferred a more regular growling vocal style but there´s no denying that Rafal Piotrowski´s vocal style fits the new thrashier direction pretty well.

Decapitated always understood the art of limitation and that virtue continues on "Carnival is Forever". 42:45 minutes of playing time distributed over 8 tracks. That´s what you get. And that is IMO a perfect length for an album featuring music that is as relatively extreme as the material is on this album. The length of the album ensures that it has impact all the way through and that you want to give it more spins when it is over. "Keep the listener hungry" seems to be the motto.

"Carnival is Forever" is the proof that Decapitated have survived the serious crisis that was a consequence of the fatal tour bus accident in 2007. They´ve developed their style in a thrashier direction but they haven´t lost their identity or their trademark sound. Vogg´s clever riffs and playing style ensure that something like that will never happen. A 3.5 - 4 star rating is warranted.

Wilytank 2011 sees another release by Decapitated. This is one Polish band that has made some pretty interesting, but 'Carnival Is Forever' shot and missed.

One of the bigger problems is present even with the first song, "The Knife". I really don't like the sloppy djent chugs in the music here. Come on, Decapitated! There was a point where you didn't need that! I really don't care for the hardcore sounding Phil Anselmo style vocals either. In fact, in some songs like "Carnival Is Forever", sound like sped up deathcore!(?)

This was a failed experiment here. Nothing about this album is very memorable after you get done listening to it. Sure the production makes it sound heavy, but it lacks the essential content to go along with it.

Skip this.