Band:	Karnivore
Album:	In The Halls Of The Wicked
Style:	Death metal, Blackened thrash metal
Release date:	May 2014

01. Under Ground
02. Feast Upon The Living
03. An Era Of Decay
04. Ut Ur Askan
05. Psycho
06. The Warden
07. In The Halls Of The Wicked
08. Mr. Gein

Ranging from death-thrash to blackened thrash, Karnivore's second album, In The Halls Of The Wicked, is a vicious assault of frosty destruction.

There isn't a great deal to say about In The Halls Of The Wicked, other than that it has my full endorsement. Echoing Skeletonwitch and Goatwhore all around, Karnivore ferociously tear through these eight tracks of hybridized thrash with the ease and veracity of a veteran metal outfit. While Karnivore's debut only hit the streets in 2012, they have been tearing up their native Sweden since 2002; evidently, all that time was well-spent honing their skills before the advent of their long-overdue discography.

Karnivore pack sinister, tremolo-picked riffs together with wailing leads, underpinned by ample double-bass and blastbeats. If what I've described to you sounds like any one of a hundred metal bands you could find in your local grocery store, then congratulations: your eyes work and you have a reasonable understanding of what constitutes heavy metal. I've spent quite a few hours and a few dozen episodes of Futurama trying to come up with more interesting ways of explaining it, but words elude me about as much as failure eludes Karnivore.

Some bands look great on paper and fall flat on record. Thanks to my outstanding skills as a? whatever it is I do around here, Karnivore don't look too good on paper, but this carnivorous, crushing offering makes quite an impression. Karnivore is nothing fancy, but songs like "The Warden" and "Under Ground" will chill you to the bone. Just go listen to them already. Prepare to have your face kicked in.