UMUR "Carnival of Killers" is the 6th full-length studio album by US extreme metal act Macabre. The album was released through Nuclear Blast in November 2020. It´s the successor to "Grim Scary Tales" from 2011 and as always features the trio lineup of Corporate Death (guitars, lead vocals), Nefarious (bass, vocals), and Denis The Menace (drums). It´s not often you come across an act formed in the mid-1980s, who have never experienced a lineup change. So it´s not the number of lineup changes which have caused the many years between album releases. 8 Years between the release of "Murder Metal (2003)" and "Grim Scary Tales (2011)" and now a 9 year wait between "Grim Scary Tales (2011)" and "Carnival of Killers". That´s only 3 albums in 20 years...

...oh well I prefer quality over quantity any day, and in that department Macabre have always delivered. Stylistically "Carnival of Killers" continues the eclectic combination of musical styles that Macabre have been exponents for since day one. Death metal, grindcore, thrash metal, punk, blues, country music/bluegrass, folk/traditionals, children´s songs/lullabies, and all sorts of other bits and pieces from various musical styles are put into the melting pot, and out comes the sound of Macabre. The lyrics are as always about real-life serial killers/mass murderes like Ted Bundy, Richard Ramirez, John Wayne Gacy, and Richard Speck. Some have been the lyrical subject of tracks featured on preceding releases by Macabre, but they´ve also found new unpleasant and vile stories to tell. One of them ("Tea Cakes") about female Italian serial killer Leonarda Cianciulli, who murdered three women and then turned their bodies into soap and tea cakes, which she distributed to friends and neighbours.

Some of the real-life stories told on "Carnival of Killers" are so nauseating and vile, that they are hard to believe, and they are much, much worse than anything your typical goregrind/gore themed death metal act can cook up (because they are actually real). Macabre handle the source material in a bizarre humorous fashion, which makes listening to the album a sort of forbidden guilty pleasure. For example take a listen to how Ted Bundy´s story is told on "The Wheels On The Bug", using the traditional children´s song "The Wheels on The Bus", Macabre handling another track about German serial killer Fritz Harmann singing in German on "Warte Warte", or "Richard Speck Grew Big Breasts" about mass murderer Richard Speck eating hormones and growing breast in prison, to be better able to sexually satisfy his fellow inmates. It´s as morbid and bizarre as it gets.

The stories are told in the usual manic and diverse vocals style of Macabre. Clean vocals, high pitched screaming vocals, deep death metal growling, and aggressive raw snarling vocals. Sometimes layered, sometimes not. The musicianship is on a high level. The vocals are well performed and creative, the guitar riffs are sharp and the solos well played, the bass audible and active, and as the icing on the cake the incredibly skilled drumming by Denis The Menace. The latter is an unique extreme metal drummer, who is able to blast away, and play fiercely fast double pedal, but also add more original touches to the rhythm part of the music. His greatest asset though is how he is always able to drive the music forward in the most powerful way possible. The tracks are often pretty simple in both idea and structure, but he is able to get much out of little.

Macabre know they have something special in Denis The Menace and his drums are placed very high in the mix. "Carnival of Killers" is overall a well produced album, and although the drums are high in the mix, the guitars, bass, and vocals are also clearly audible. Upon conclusion the 9 year wait was worth it as Macabre have again produced a high quality release loaded with material in their unique style. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.