Wow, these guys really managed to impress me with this 2 track 7" EP! Never heard of KARNARIUM before, but through my "investigations" I found out that this Swedish horde already released two demos ("Demo # 1" in January 2000 and "Breaking The Manakles Of Malkuth" in November 2000) as well as a split tape with Germany’s BETRAYED. Don’t know if they were already of similar quality back then, but all worshippers of violent, raw, blasphemic old school Death Metal with strong similarities to INCANTATION, KAAMOS and GROTESQUE should definitely give them a listen right away. The band definitely combines the best elements of the US and European Death Metal scene! Even though they still seem to be pretty young folks, the members of KARNARIUM already have the right feeling for this kind of music and obviously don’t give a fuck about polished mainstream productions and trends in general. Remember how controversial the sound on "Onward To Golgotha" and early AUTOPSY releases was discussed back in those days? Well, if you belong to those who love that kinda stripped to the bone and raw as fuck sound (like myself!), then you’re adviced to invest the requested 4,-€ / US$ in this piece of black vinyl right away. It comes with a cool embossed logo on the b/w sleeve. Label contact: BUIO OMEGA, Viale della Cittadella 73, 41100 Modena (MO), Italy, website: www.nuclearabominations.com, email: michele@buio-omega.it

Formed in Sweden back in 1998, it is until now, 11 years after, that they release their debut album. I suppose it is one of the longest waiting times for releasing an album, given the fact that the band was never considered dead, but dreaming… I mean on hold. Previously a couple of promos and EP’s have been dwelling to keep the name alive. I have somewhere the “Tänk På Döden” compilation CD, but to be honest I can hardly recall it as something memorable, if maybe just above average Death Metal with a nod to the old school of Svensk Döds Metall, but also some touches of the brutish doomy Death Metal. Well, on their debut album, few things have changed. Their style is still a brutal Death Metal assault with some more doomish approach. They tend to have a distinct Swedish sound, like early ENTOMBED (or should I mention more CREAMTORY) but also I can foresee a good chunk of INCANTATION in their music and also some early DEATH in there. A song like ‘1000 I’s’ does possess a supreme main riff which evokes darkness and obscurity only few Death Metal bands can create. Same can be said for the song ‘(III) Hammer Of Darkness’ which is an instrumental raging at 9:42 minutes of pure darkness and damnation. One thing to notice is the heavy bass use on this one. Many bands get lost using the bass in a high volume but KARNARIUM does a very good job in doing so, to add an even a more abyssal depth in their music. Also, I can feel a few Black Metal touches here and there, most likely related to depressive and suicidal Black Metal, yet melt together in perfect darkness with the macabre Death Metal atmosphere omnipresent in all the album. I suppose it al comes related to the origins of some of the band members, whom seem to be related to bands like KILL, PAGAN RITES and CHURCH BIZARRE. The overall production on one hand is raw and primitive, which might as well fit this kind of music, but on the other hand I just think that they could have improved the power a lot on this with a fuller guitar sound. Some complains can be found in some of the more Deathgrind parts as they sound more noisy due to the nature of the raw production, and yes, as many Death Metal bands of this dark style, some songs / riffs / passages sound very, very similar. The final product is more than welcome in these days, as a very powerful and obscure Death Metal release. At first it might sound like another generic Death Metal band with some good riffs here and there, but for those that dare to put time in it to grow, it will fully show the horror darkness it breeds. www.bloodharvest.se, www.myspace.com/karnarium