Review Summary: A valiant return
Whether "Carnival Is Forever" is a good album or not, Decapitated and specifically guitarist Vogg, deserve a great deal of admiration for continuing despite the tragic death of drummer Vitek in 2007. As well as being Vogg's brother, Vitek was an integral part of Decapitated's sound right from the beginning when they released their debut full length "Winds Of Creation" in 2000 and so any new material by the band would have a lot to live up to. So after a lengthy hiatus, Decapitated have returned with a new line up and a new album.
Listening to "Carnival Is Forever", besides the absence of Vitek's distinctive drumming style, there is not a great difference between this and the band's earlier material. However, whilst "The Negation" and "Organic Hallucinosis" sounded like Decapitated by numbers, "Carnival Is Forever" is overflowing unstoppable hooks that remind the listener just why Decapitated are one of the most revered bands to emerge in the last fifteen years. The song-writing is back up to the kind of standard displayed on the first two Decapitated albums.
Grinding, frenetic riffs and hyperspeed drumming provide the backbone for s truly stunning set of songs that are almost as diverse as they are brutal. The album's title track is an epic nine minute long behemoth led by a doomy, discordant riff that brings to mind the likes of
Immolation and opener "The Knife" has an almost Meshuggah esque groove, not that Decapitated have gone in the djent direction. The differences between the material on "Carnival Is Forever" and the material on past releases are only subtle, but it is without a doubt a step forward for the band musically and a more than worthy return for Decapitated.
If I have one gripe, it would be the vocals, performed here by Rafal Piotrowski, which can begin to grate after a while due to their slightly one dimensional nature, however the other musicians play flawlessly throughout. Ultimately, the best thing about "Carnival Is Forever" is that Decapitated sound fresh and cutting again, probably due to the new line up, but this undeniably an reinvigorated Decapitated making a valiant return to the metal world.
