Carnifex - No Light Shall Save Us ft. Alissa White-Gluz


Key Facts

Country: ðŸ‡ºðŸ‡¸
Genre: Blackened Deathcore
Release Date: 7th June 2019
Record Label(s): Nuclear Blast
Album Release Date: 2nd August 2019

Band Members;

Scott Lewis – lead vocals
Shawn Cameron – drums, keyboards
Cory Arford – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Fred Calderon – bass
Jordan Lockrey – lead guitar

Carnifex - No Light Shall Save Us ft. Alissa White-Gluz



Review
Rating (out of 5🤘): ðŸ¤˜ðŸ¤˜ðŸ¤˜ðŸ¤˜

Carnifex are back with an all destroying new single No Light Shall Save Us, featuring the awesome Alissa White-Gluz from Arch Enemy. I remember seeing Carnifex as part of the Impericon Never Say Die! Tour way back in November of 2016, they shared the bill with some bands you might have heard of; Whitechapel, Thy Art Is Murder, Fallujah, Obey The Brave, Make Them Suffer and Polar. It was a phenomenal night, and I just remember Carnifex crushing the stage under their blackened deathcore weight. They'd released sixth album Slow Death in August and hearing Dark Heart Ceremony live is an unforgettable experience! So, I'm super stoked that they've come back with another stellar single!

I love the slow discordant intro with Alissa's floating vocal melodies over the top, so when the song does come in it slaps you in that face with anger. One thing Carnifex never fail to bring to the table is, thick, heavy, groove laden riffs, No Light Shall Save Us has them aplenty. The more deathcore sounding riffs are where the main groove of the song sits and it has seeming this sightly off beat feel all though with a drummer as good as Shawn Cameron standard drum beats do not exist, either way definitely got my head banging! The black metal elements have always made Carnifex stand out for me, because I think it gives them more flexibility to explore their sound as deathcore these days has become quite similar from band to band. I think the synth elements really open up the song and add some background texture with Alissa's vocals floating over the top.

The message in the lyrics, if I've speculated correctly is quite interesting. From my interpretation it feels like Scott Lewis telling us about us that we are bringing our own downfall and we kind of like it. Obviously, there is the anti-religious sentiment in this, so by turning our backs on organised religion we are free to reek havoc in anyway we please and take control of our own destiny. We are stealing all the lights from the world we can't get watched by the man upstairs, which would descend the world into complete chaos in terms of organised religion. Again this is only speculation, but one lyric that sums it up for me is "We might find the light, but we'll never find our way back", so once we "free" ourselves, we'll never go back and that's kind of true from accounts I've heard from ex-catholics.

Another awesome mix on this single too, Carnifex know their sound well and consistently produced well mixed singles and albums that sound raw and powerful. Especially in the slower more chuggy sections all the low end you can feel through your chest. Overall though the sound of this single is massive, mainly because of the various synth elements that mainly take on the form of strings and horns, which add to the eternal doom feel of the song. I'd have liked to have heard a bot more of Alissa's vocals though, as much as they're there to float around in the higher end my personal preference would have been to hear more but I think thats more of a compositional thing than a production thing.

Overall, Carnifex have released another awesome single, and I'm definitely getting hyped for World War X which will be dropping on the 2nd August!

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