Deadly Carnage - Endless Blue

Angry Metal Guy

Deadly Carnage are a band who have really evolved. Beginning—as their vicious-sounding name might imply—in the bleakest of black metal, they have progressively moved into post-black territory, and their music seems only to have strengthened throughout. As they have substituted more and more harsh vocals for clean singing, dissonant chords for layered harmonies, and blastbeats for swaying, doomier rhythms, their sound has grown more introspective and intriguing. Their cover art has also improved, beginning with 2017’s Through the Void, Above the Suns, and following with that gorgeous spectacle you see before you now. Endless Blue likewise continues the group’s trajectory into the mellower post-metal climes of the black metal world, with a lean into the sludgy instrumental styles favored by much modern post-rock, complete with cleaner, more atmospheric production. The band’s various incarnations inform their music powerfully, and very significantly, setting them apart from many of their peers.

Endless Blue’s iteration of post-metal is lush, expansive, and very pretty. But don’t misunderstand, this is no wishy-washy Deafheaven-worship, emptily glittering like cheap jewelry. It sparkles with genuine beauty and emotion. The whole thing carries a wistful, nostalgic sensibility, enhanced by the croons that float over warm, hazy chords, rolling drums, and softly uplifting melodies. These golden, happy-sad feelings reach apexes in soaring layered-vocal refrains (“Dying Sun,” “Sublime Connection,” “Swan Season”), but they also carry through the more urgent, echoing riffs that ebb away into atmosphere (“Dying Sun,” “Mononoke”) and mournful instrumentation brought to peaceful solemnity by the sounds of whalesong (“Blue Womb”). The novel and beautiful ensembles of mandolin, lute, bouzouki, and erhu, accompanying or replacing guitar entirely add a further strange familiarity and allure, particularly on instrumental tracks “The Clue,” and “Unknown Shores.” The solemn, gentle ethereality often recalls Alcest, but Deadly Carnage’s style as a whole is a little more snappy, and hard to place. It may be dreamy much, or most, of the time, but there are more than enough urgent themes and core-shaking heavy riffs to generate—like the waves of the ocean—a powerful and sweeping host of emotions.

Endless Blue by Deadly Carnage

What Deadly Carnage do well, they do very well. The sung and instrumental melodies are stunning, as is the group’s ability to pull gossamer, angelic harmonies from sludgy, almost aggressive post-rock (“Dying Sun,” “Mononoke” “Moans, Grief, and Wails”), and moving climaxes from deceptively basic sedateness (“Blue Womb,” “Swan Season”). These are a testament to their successful evolution from straight-black metal to post, their instrumental and emotional command evident throughout. Tremolos don’t just hover flatly, they actually go somewhere, and the drumming is just the right kind of intense, dynamic, and smooth—and more importantly, it’s all the right level of audible. No muffled guitars, no clacky percussion, no washed-out singing. Including not only the sounds of the ocean, seabirds, and whales to set the scene for the listener, but also unusual and traditional instruments mentioned above as significant elements in musical themes helps to make these songs memorable, and uniquely compelling. This album just has a special sort of character that brings you back to it again and again, easy enough too, when it’s but thirty-nine minutes long.

The only thing that gives me pause about Endless Blue is its structure. There’s a tad too much focus on the fully instrumental, whether that’s whole songs (“The Clue,” “Unknown Shores”) or most of them (“Moans, Grief, and Wails”). The music is lovely—especially that erhu melody on “The Clue”— but they would undoubtedly be elevated by vocals, not to mention that their nature slightly impacts flow. Confusing also, is the order of “Sublime Connection,” “The Clue,” and “Blue Womb.” While the first and last of these end and begin respectively with whalesong, making it seem like they ought to run concurrently, they are split by the pretty different in vibe “The Clue.” It’s not a big problem, just odd, especially given how perfectly the soaring note and mournful, blastbeat-carried surge that ends “Dying Sun” continues, unbroken with the cry that begins “Sublime Connection.”

Configurational issues aside, Endless Blue stands out as a post-metal album that sticks with you. It’s beautiful, compelling, and unique, with a character of its own that brings its listener inside its world of contemplative melancholy and reverie. Deadly Carnage are following a strong upward trajectory, and this outing guarantees not just an emotional ride, but a charming and enjoyable listen. If my words and the gorgeous art don’t convince you, you’re gonna be seriously missing out.

Rating: Very Good
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: A Sad Sadness Song
Websites: deadlycarnage.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/DeadlyCarnage
Releases Worldwide: September 15th, 2023

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