Review: Carnifex – Hell Chose Me

Sergio reviews Carnifex’s Hell Chose Me.

Artist Name: Carnifex
Album Name: Hell Chose Me
Year: 2010
Genre: Deathcore

Let’s be honest, deathcore is the new “it” genre, much like metalcore in the early 2000s and nu-metal in the late 90s – and just like the trends before it, it has become overpopulated with way too many average bands who try to ride on the coattails of the pioneers.

Thankfully though, Carnifex’s Hell Chose Me has more elements of death metal than deathcore. Tracks, such as ‘Sorrow Spell’ and ‘Hell Chose Me’, feature heavy and technical metal riffage throughout – not just a bunch of hardcore-entrenched breakdowns for the scene kids to kick to. At times, you’ll probably have to make sure you’re listening to Carnifex and not Deicide.

The pace of the album is manic. It starts off at 200 miles per hour and ends off at the same speed, so you can expect your face to be melted off by the intensity and ferocity of the Carnifex beast. The title track, ‘Hell Chose Me’, is a perfect example of how relentless this assault can be on your senses. The slick tremolo sections, which induce good memories of early-Cradle of Filth material, and the changeovers are done eloquently – the sludgy guitar segment at the end of the song is sure to get the pits swinging in full force.

Amongst the death growls and blast beats, the only real negative is that it does get tedious after the 6 track mark. You start to feel like you’ve heard it all before elsewhere. It’s only really the tandem guitar team of Ryan Gudmunds and Cory Arford that manage to keep you entertained until the end of ‘Genocide Initiative’, otherwise you will find yourself skipping tracks.

All in all, Hell Chose Me is a solid release to start the year off, but there will probably be better albums in the forthcoming months. Buy it if you already own all the Suicide Silence or Bring Me The Horizon albums.

Best Tracks: ‘Hell Chose Me’, ‘Sorrow Spell’, and ‘Dead Archetype’

60/100

- Sergio Pereira
sergio@musicreview.co.za
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