Decapitated: Carnival Is Forever – new video

 

 

Well who knew… Poland's ultra-technical death metal band, DECAPITATED, do have a sense of humor. They even marinade and barbeque their chicken just like the rest of us. ‘Carnival Is Forever’ is the title-track from the group's fifth album, self-released in Poland by DECAPITATED and issued worldwide in 2011 through Nuclear Blast Records. The album can be bought here (Nuclear Blast USA), here (Nuclear Blast Europe) and via Amazon and iTunes. The eight tracks-long album was produced by Wacek Kiełtyka and engineered by Malta Arkadiusz Malczewski. Drums and mixing duties were handled by Daniel Bergstrand. The author of the album's lyrics is music journalist Jarek Szubrycht, author of “No Mercy” (orig. “Bez Litości”) - the world's first biography of thrash metal legends SLAYER (or so claims the press release). The cover art is the work of photographer and designer Lukasz Jaszak (“Very intriguing and quite strange for a metal album, but surely staying in memory. A vital thing is that it’s a photo. We did not want any computer graphics this time or anything artificial or plastic,” commented guitarist and founding member Wacław “Vogg” Kiełtyka). The group has previously released two videos in promotion of ‘Carnival Is Forever, ‘Homo Sum’, directed by Marcin Halerz, and ‘Pest’, directed by Dariusz Szermanowicz and produced by Grupa 13; both videos are available for your viewing pleasure below:

“ ‘Carnival Is Forever’ is overflowing with intent and purpose, getting an eyeful of the sun in the shadow of the legacy of the band that made it. Phoenixes and ashes aren’t exclusive to HATE ETERNAL, after all,” [wrote MetalSucks' Sammy O'Hagar] … “Any awkward wobbling the new band could be doing has been corrected well before DECAPITATED laid the album down: it’s deeply rooted in polished ferocity, sounding well-oiled and fluid, advanced to a degree that even a few spins later is still hard to predict. Take the album's centerpiece, the lumbering and epic title track: after two songs' worth of tech-death grooves and blasting, the song starts at an uneasily still point, a stuttering, repetitive clean arpeggio building off its own presence until, after a little under a minute, the tunes' chunky main riff arrives, sucking up all the misty ambience created and bowling over everything in its path,” [read the rest here]:

 

DECAPITATED was formed in 1996 in Krosno, Poland, by then 12 - 15 years olds: guitarist Wacław “Vogg” Kiełtyka and his younger brother drummer Witold “Vitek” Kiełtyka, vocalist Wojciech “Sauron” Wąsowicz and bassist Marcin “Martin” Rygiel. These young talents released a couple of demos, 1997's ‘Cemeterial Gardens’ and 1998's ‘The Eye Of Horus’, before signing with Earache's Wicked World imprint. DECAPITATED's debut full-length, ‘Wind Of Creation’, was released in 2000:

“In the dark, murky realm of death metal, perhaps no band is more worthy of taking hold Excalibur's hilt and leading the next charge down the mountain into fiery oblivion than Poland's DECAPITATED,” [commented AllMusic's Matthias Sheaks] “and one need look no further for proof than on the band's 2000 debut. Much has been made of the band's supposed “tender” age, and in fact, early on, they were slighted from the respect they would have otherwise been due because of this; however, it must be remembered that a certain gruff-throated, engine-wristed young vocalist/guitarist for another certain popular metal band was only 18 when his band's debut, [METALLICA's] ‘Kill ‘Em All’, was released, and needless to say, as is the case here, tender had nothing to do with it.” [Read the rest here]

The band's sophomore album, 2002's ‘Nihility’, was praised by AllMusic's Jason D. Taylor who described it as “of the strongest metal albums since MORBID ANGEL's ‘Covenant’” (more here). DECAPITATED's third album, ‘The Negotiation’, followed in 2004. Vocalist Sauron left in 2005 and was replaced by ATROPHIA RED SUN's Adrian “Covan” Kowanek, with whom the band recorded 2006's ‘Organic Hallucinosis’. During their tour in 2007, DECAPITATED's tour bus was involved in a traffic accident, which left both drummer Vitek and vocalist Covan seriously injured; Vitek tragically succumbed to the injuries, age 23. Due to the slow improvement of his condition (find out how you can help Adrian “Covan” Kowanek and his family here and here), as Covan was unable to continue with the band, Vogg decided to reform the group in 2009: “It has been the hardest thing for me to move on without Vitek by my side, but he would have wanted me to continue with the band. Finally, I have found some great musicians who can continue the work of Vitek and Covan,” stated the guitarist. Drummer Kerim “Krimh” Lechner, vocalist Rafał Piotrowski and VESANIA's bassist Filip “Heinrich” Hałucha were drafted to reform DECAPITATED later that year.

DECAPITATED features: Rafał Piotrowski – vocals, Waclaw “Vogg” Kieltyka – guitar, Pawel Pasek – bass and Kerim “Krimh” Lechner – drums