Carnal Ruin's Death Metal Shreds Eternities on "Soulless I Remain" (Early Track Stream)
Successfully creating death metal with a sense of atmosphere isn’t always about synth interludes and intro tracks: carefully layering instruments and how songs are structured can make all the difference when trying to capture the truly dismal quality of death metal’s usual subject matter. Carnal Ruin, hailing from Tampa, Florida, have focused their upcoming album Soulless I Remain on the journey of a twisted soul to an unexpected afterlife, and appropriately their vicious approach to death metal hits with the doomed impact of a tortured existence’s conclusion. We’re premiering the title track below as an excellent starting point to a horrific end.
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There’s trace elements of early melodeath here, but punishing, bombastic death metal remains at the forefront, powered by classic guitar tones that wouldn’t be out of place in 1990. However, the band executes their style with unusual depth, taking advantage of their dual guitar formation to layer riffs on top of riffs. This is especially true in the second half, as the band’s melodic side takes a bigger role and the song escalates from whirling riffs to a powerful progression. This helps cultivate the dark, moody atmosphere that permeates the record — perfectly suited for the album’s concept, which the band explains further:
This record has been in the works since 2020. We wanted to further expand upon some of the ideas put forth on our last release, The Damned Lie Rotting. We took inspiration from several of the old Swedish death and black metal bands we love while also putting song structure, melody, and presentation at the forefront.
Lyrically, the album draws from many sources including literature, history, philosophy, religion, and conceptual horror. The title track, Soulless I Remain, details the journey of one whose soul has been corrupted by various forces during their mortal life. Upon their passing, they realize they have been abandoned by their creator and condemned to a realm not unlike Pandemonium. Or perhaps their creator never existed at all, and they are only now seeing death’s true face.
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Soulless I Remain releases September 2nd via Redefining Darkness Records.
