Review CARNAL TOMB ‘Embalmed in Decay’

Carnal Tomb are from the German capital, Berlin, where the band was founded in 2014. With ‘Rotten Remains’ the debut album was released in 2016. Now, with ‘Embalmed in Decay’, the third album of the Berlin-based band is available in the record stores and the four-piece can convince with the new song material all along the line.

Already with the actual opener ‘The Putridaroium’, which follows a short but sinister intro, it becomes clear that the guys maintain their trademarks. With roots in Scandinavian as well as American death metal, the four guys ram down everything that stands in their way.

However, the fact that they also come up with clever songwriting is evident in the following ‘Cataclysmic Maze’. A dark and atmospheric intro is what you get to hear first, before the metallic steam ram hammers in the usual fashion into your ears. In addition, there are some melodic leads and nuanced solo parts, which make the song a very varied headbanger.

Massive, that’s how the ruthless ‘Draped in Disgust’ can be described and once again it becomes apparent that aggressive sounds don’t have to do with a high tempo. Overall, the track is kept in the moderate pace and still engraves itself in the mind of the listener.

It gets faster with the very straightforward ‘Celebral Ingestion’ before the morbid gloom of the underworld unloads with ‘Morgue Usurper’. With ‘Eyes of the Chasm’ the album also has a very accomplished closer, which with a playing time of six minutes once again shows the entire potential of the four-piece. Heavy, fast and yet varied, so the song bursts out of the speakers and meets all expectations of a well-made death metal track.

All in all, it can be said that Carnal Tomb have taken with their newest album a further step towards the spearhead of German death metal. Well crafted songs, a powerful production and a lot of passion, that’s what makes ‘Embalmed in Decay’ stand out and if the third album is trend-setting, then the band’s path is pointing upwards.