Let’s discover Carrion, a Norwegian industrial metal band through Testament Ov The Exiled (Revised Edition), their first album. Released on January 18, 2021 on Brutal Resonance Records label, the album is available in digital edition, but also in limited-copy cassette edition.
I must admit that I certainly did not expect to hear such a sound. I’ve been writing reviews for El Garaje de Frank for several months, and Carrion is one of those rare bands whose musical universe surprised me. In Testament Ov The Exiled, there is a terribly dark atmosphere in which one cannot help but revel in relish. Heavy riffs of buzzing electric guitars, wriggling sound monsters, bass magma and scratched vocals make this trip with Carrion a violent and confusing sound experience between metal and industrial.
“With Nails” immediately sets the tone. The sounds are born from a muffled and troubling atmosphere. They screech horribly like fingernails scraping a surface. In “To Eat Crow,” the electronic elements create a very interesting static sound background, on which evolve a squeaky melodic ostinato and a guttural voice, hidden in the shadows, which whispers words.
The atmospheres, although they are all gloomy, even morbid, are very varied. Thus, “Putting Tape Over Martyrs Mouths” evokes the image of a dark, heavy-footed procession, “Order Diptera” offers a very vast atmosphere, like a large underground space. Some titles are very short: “Ghost in the Machine” and “Alkahest” are very similar to the first song. They punctuate the album with phases of “rest,” with their different structure and their location. Finally, with its saturated and tortured sound spectrum, “Dogs Ov Hell” flirts with the inaudible, which gives it a particular identity, a bit like a skinned monster. “The Blood ov Saints” and “Let Us Bleed” are the tunes which marked me the most. They both explore some simple, but effective rhythmic shifts. Asymmetry renews the musical discourse. The three remixes of “The Blood ov Saints” enrich the album’s palette with new colors.
Between scratched voices, teeming guitars, shattering drums and swarming electronic sounds, Testament Ov The Exiled (Revised Edition) is a musical creature with an indefinable silhouette evolving in a deliciously dark universe. Musical alienation or morbid fresco, while Carrion’s offspring may not be made for the sensitive soul and ears, we recommend that you listen to it.
