If you're one of those people that cringes at anything with the suffix “-core” attached, take heart. San Deigo deathcore outfit Carnifex are back to grab you by the throat & prove once & for all that deathcore is not watered-down metal for the kiddies but a respectable genre in its own right.

    For those who aren't aware, Carnifex formed in late 2005. A self-titled demo soon followed courtesy of Enclave Records. This was going to be a stepping stone for the boys, who hoped to use this to gain a bigger record deal in the future. 2007-2008 saw changes in lineup & touring with bands such as Whitechappel & others. The success of debut full-length studio album Dead in My Arms  & rising popularity of  the deathcore genre saw Carnifex sign with Victory Records. Now-current members bassist Fred Calderon  & guitarist Ryan Gudmunds were on-board by this time. June 2008 saw the birth of 2^nd studio album The Diseased & the Poisoned... & more touring, this time with bands as diverse as Obituary, Finntroll, Parkway Drive & others. Released Feb 2010, 3^rd studio album Hell Chose Me sold over 3000 copies within the USA alone in its 1^st week.

   In August 2011 vocalist & founding member Scott Lewis announced the imminent arrival of their 4^th studio album. Scheduled to drop in late Oct, it would be entitled Until I Feel Nothing & seek to combine all the best bits of their previous albums. Were the lads successful in consolodating their sound?

Overall, yes.

    Take, for example, Lewis' vocal efforts. In the past he might've dabbled in a variety of styles, for this album he primarily stuck to low growly vocals which helped to give a consistency of sound.

   My only real complaint w/ the album was that opening track “Deathwish” was perhaps a bit short. Sure, after a while the album got a bit repetitive. Let's face it, this is a pitfall of a lot of deathcore. However, in the case of  Until I Feel Nothing, this merely set the listener up to get his head smashd in by the brutality of 5^th track “Creation Defaced”. Arguably this is one of the album's fastest tracks, although it contains enough melodic interludes to let you come up for air.

   Until I Feel Nothing serves as an example of what deathcore could, & perhaps should, be. Here's a gem stuffed full of the blast beats, killer riffs, & slick breakdowns that are typical of the genre, but Carnifex manage to raise the bar to that next level. Produced by As I Lay Dying's Tim Lambesis, it's definitely worth a repeat listen.

I'd rate this one a solid 6 out of 10.