CARNIVORE — Carnivore (review)

Album · 1985 · Crossover Thrash

4/5 · 2016-12-31
UMUR

"Carnivore" is the self-titled debut full-length studio album by US crossover thrash metal act Carnivore. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in January 1985. Carnivore are probably mostly known for featuring Peter Steele in the lineup, who later achieved great success with Type O Negative. Carnivore were only active for a relatively short time in the 80s but managed to release this self-titled album and "Retaliation" (1987)" (and two demos) before disbanding.

The music on "Carnivore" is aggressive hardcore punked speed/heavy metal with doom metal sections thrown in. The music features great energy and it´s raw and organic. The lyrics, and how they are delivered by lead vocalist/bassist Peter Steele, is one of the greatest assets on the album. It´s not that the lyrical topics aren´t of the usual death and destruction type (which is pretty obvious when reading song titles like "Legion of Doom", "God Is Dead", and "Thermonuclear Warrior"), but Peter Steele makes sure to deliver the lyrics with a rare biting sarcasm/humour and great punch and conviction. For example I´ll never be able to say the word "Carnivore" again and not think of oral sex...

The sound production is decent and suits the music well, even though the guitar sounds a bit thin and the drums are placed a bit high in the mix. That also goes for the vocals, but that works to great effect that they are placed as high as they are in the mix. The bass is clearly heard in the mix too, which is a very nice feature.

The material are generally well written and it didn´t take me more than a couple of listens before I could remember each track just by looking at the song title, which is a sure indicator that this is memorable and catchy music. It´s not over simplistic though and Carnivore make sure to vary their music throughout the album. Especially the doomy sections and the occasional more atmospheric part work really well within the generally more up tempo hardcore punked speed/heavy metal style. Peter Steele´s vocal style is mostly raw, shouting, and aggressive but we do get a few samples of his warm clean vocals a couple of times during the album´s playing time. They are most prominently featured in the middle section of "Male Supremacy".

There are two ways to come to "Carnivore" and how you experience the album probably depends a great deal on which way that is. For some people Carnivore was a band they listened to in the 80s and they grew up with, but for most people they probably give Carnivore a shot because they are fans of Type O Negative and are curious to know what Peter Steele did before he formed that band. If you belong to the former camp Carnivore are probably right up your alley, with their hardcore punked speed/heavy metal style with occasional doomy sections and humourous/sarcastic/provocative lyrics, while the most conservative Type O Negative fan might not find what he/she is looking for here. Sure there are hardcore punk traits in Type O Negative´s music (especially on "Slow, Deep and Hard (1991)"), but not at all to this extent.

It´s pretty obvious that already this early on in his career Peter Steele had something very special about him in terms of voice, songwriting, and sarcasm/humour, and while he would develop and refine all those features on subsequent releases with both Carnivore and Type O Negative, and "Carnivore" overall isn´t the most sophisticated or mature release that he has been involved in, it´s still a great listen and a promising start to Peter Steele´s career. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

more than 2 years ago
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Vim Fuego wrote:

more than 2 years ago

This is one of those albums you can use to sort out the metal fans from the pretenders. The production job was about as good as it got back in it's day. Usually unless you were a big band like Metallica, you got a crappy job, but this is pretty good. Stick it up alongside SOD's Speak English or Die.