It was the second half of the 90s, the years between 1990 and 1997 when the death metal was at its
peak in the underground realms, many bands and listeners packed up their shit and took a path to
alternative worlds, honestly, to the world of different trends of the mainstream from underground. I can
name some paths like gothic,alterno-doom, electronic music and industrial or even pop. We’d started
to hear words like ‘’Are you still listening to death metal?’’,’’What a waste of time!’’,’’It is boring.’’etc. from some of our big brothers and other listeners and unfortunately we couldn’t have avoided hearing the similar words from some similar so-called old fans and listeners in the 2000’s. In fact, this situation is reflected and mentioned as a song called Trendkiller in Dismember’s Death Metal album. I would like to point out the facts that Death metal is counterculture and a metal music style raised from the core of the heavy music. There is no place for trends here. Let’s start to talk about the old school of European-Scandinavian Death metal, because out the topic is OSDM and Carnation’s first full-length studio album called Chapel of Abhorrence.
This Belgian OSDM band, Carnation, was founded in 2013. I can say that Belgium has a good scene
and bands especially for underground metal music, although it does not have a mainstream metal
environment and lots of metal bands as big as neighbour countries have. The style that the band
played is Scandinavian death metal like old-Entombed and Dismember and influenced by mid
European and Brit death metal bands like Morgoth, Cancer and Gorefest marked death metal sound
at the end of the 80’s and 90’s.When a generation of some from the underground scene was faded away
from the hall, a new generation started to follow underground rules of death metal in the 2000’s.The
old veteran death metal bands and second wave lunatics who hold their guns for death metal were a
reason which helped this new generation raised in all world. Carnation is a product of this new
generation and OSDM wave which is attracted a lot of attention in the underground scene in recent
years. You can even find bands like Carnation not only in underground ones but also in the
mainstream companies rooted from underground, such as Season of Mist, recently. This new wave of
OSDM orientation is probably depended on to the respect of the roots and the new generation’s
loyalty to original sound and spirit of death metal and in a way that may be a reaction to some of the
technical and progressive obsessed generic modern death metal.
You can’t find differences or new innovations in the songwriting of Carnation, it is total OSDM
worshipping and they do it in the best way. Sometimes songs sound pretty familiar, but they have
obviously beautiful riffs created with catchy compositions and this is what Carnation promises to you
as their trademark. There are absolutely no black metal or blackened interactions like some new
bands do in the present, all chaotic parts are entirely structured from the death metal of 1990. I agree
upon the Aristotelian perspective’s imitation understanding. Even if you can’t create a new thing on
art, imitate the old in the best way to produce art. That’s why I have no bad intentions for Carnation.
Because of excessive repetition of some old tricked riffs and similar up and downs, having a generic
production-although the sound is good – and not paying more attention to the original catchy death
metal riffs-they should produce them more-, Carnation’s first full-length scored 7 points out of 10.
7/10
