Carrion
The Crime of Idle Hands
McCarthyism
Carrion has created a real jewel here. The cover artwork is a fairly accurate depiction of what to expect aurally: pasty looking, red-eyed slaves struggling against what appear to be ropes, with demented looking faces all around.
Such a struggle is found within Carrion•s music. They combine stoner metal, sludge metal, hardcore punk and math rock, but no one style seems more prominent. The tracks are played at a fairly slow pace, plodding along without an identity, other than being •heavy.• The guitars seem to be tuned down a bit to add to their already overwhelming crush. Interesting enough, there are hints of Melvins• influences in various spots (see •Gongs of Violence•). The vocalist is the star of Carrion. He has a raspy scream which is quite welcomed, given that one would expect growls and gurgles from such a band. The guy can actually sing, too, as evidenced by the second half of •Gongs of Violence,• a slow melodic breakdown which is free from destruction and terror.
As a whole, this album is more than I thought it would be, in a positive way. I have their 7•, and it blew me away, but I wasn•t prepared for how much more controlled and menacing their attack would be here. This full length makes their 7• sound amateurish and confused. Fans of anything heavy and mathy will eat this up with a fork and spoon, and beg for more.
McCarthyism: http://www.mccarthyism.org
