Soul Carrion - Infernal Agony

SOUL CARRION - Infernal Agony (GODZ OV WAR - CD 2021)

Here's another new band, which is debuting on the infamous Godz ov War catalogue. Well, a "band" may be a bit too big word for Soul Carrion, as there are just two guys involved, so there are no proper "band activities" such as rehearsing or live performances... I suppose it is more like a bedroom thing, but who cares. Music is the most important thing, whoever it's coming from doesn't matter. But I am afraid that Soul Carrion debut album didn’t convince me so much. Obviously I tried to find as many positive aspects in that music as possible and generally I could agree that it is a solid piece of death metal. But the more I listen to it, the more I am convinced of how mediocre and just forgettable "Infernal Agony" is. And not much is working in favour for them..

Anyway, I suppose that the biggest problem here lies in the fact that it all sounds so much like a home-project, especially with the production quality. It does have that amateurish feel, something "artificial" if I can use this word for lack of another... I mean, it's that sound, which anyone could really achieve in home enviroment, but which lacks that organic, deep studio sound. For me, guitars sound weak and programmed drums are even worse. Such production would be OK for a demo, but "Infernal Agony" is an album, so as such it just doesn't work for me.

But even if I take the production weakness away and just focus on the music, there's still not much positive to tell. Songwriting of "Infernal Agony" is just nothing special. OK, it's brutal and nasty, mostly fast death metal, in the vein of European bands like Sinister or Houwitser. But it is just nothing special. Maybe Soul Carrion has some solid riffs, you could quite enjoy the ferociousness of these songs and how they combine fast tracks with some slower, more crushing parts and even some lunatic guitar leads. The vocals are also quite good. But the thing is, it's not enough for me. I demand more, especially in times, when so much amazing death metal is released.

And well, I don’t want to be a bad prophet, but this may be one of those releases, which will be quickly forgotten. It is for die hard collectors of everything what's death metal only. But do not expect anything spectacular here.

Verdict: 60/100