CARNAL - FEELS AS GOOD AS IT SOUNDS

NOTHING MORE - CARNAL

Released June 28, 2024

Nothing More. A band I absolutely love but continues to annoy me by having everything on their Spotify in all caps. That's a minor complaint though as musically they are one of the best modern metal bands out currently. This release is no different, with the same crushing instrumentals I've grown to expect and love with Jonny's iconic vocals. Enough ranting though let's get into the review.

This album makes me feel like I went to a Panic! at the Disco cover show, and it was Ice Nine Kills doing the covers. This is perfectly done pop metal. Not much else to say, just listen to the album.

| CARNAL |- SMASH. Great slow and theatrical opening track. Great teases of the metal elements to follow. Perfect opening track.

HOUSE ON SAND- SSSSSSSMMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHH. PERFECT TRANSITION BABBBBYYYYYYY. This is one of the singles, and its so fucking good. This one has a feature from Eric of I Prevail, and man his screaming compliments Jonny's voice so well. The melodic chorus on this song is amazing. Its a perfect mix of heavy, melodic, theatrical, angry, everything. This song is just amazing. Go listen to this at the very least if you (for some ungodly reason) don't want to listen to the album.

IF IT DOESN'T HURT- SSSSSSSSMMMMMMMAAASSSSSHHHHH. The first single off the album to be released. Another absolute banger, sounds almost like a heavy Fall Out Boy song. The chorus is amazing and Jonny's voice is just incredible on this record. MAN THAT BREAKDOWN IS HARD AS FUCK. This was one of those songs where just the release as a single told me this album would be amazing. Off to an incredible song.

ANGEL SONG- SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSMMMMMMMMMMMMMMAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH. THIS SONG IS SO FUCKING GOOD I CANT EVEN EXPLAIN IT PROPERLY. EVERYTHING HERE IS PERFECT, THE INSTRUMENTAL IS AMAZING AND THE VOCAL FEATURE FROM DAVID OF DISTURBED COMPLIMENTS JONNY'S VOICE PERFECTLY. THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST SONGS OF THE YEAR SO FAR. IMMEDIATE GOLD. THAT SOLO LITERALLY GIVES ME CHILLS. LISTEN TO THIS FUCKING SONG AWARD.

FREEFALL- SSMMMASSSHHHH. A much needed pace changer. Not quite a ballad but much slower and emotional than the last few, and like I said, much needed to help pace this album even better. Jonny has the voice of a pop star and he really shows it off here. This sounds like a heavy Panic! song with even better vocals.

BLAME IT ON THE DRUGS- SMASH. Worst yet but that is saying a LOT because this song is great. The breakdown is alot slower and melodic but still heavy and the guitar is face crushing. Great song but weak in comparison to everything else so far.

| HEAD |- Smash. Intermission instrumental but sounds pretty cool. Its a speech over an electronic instrumental.

EXISTENTIAL DREAD- SMMMASHHHH. PERFECT TRANSITION. This song starts off electronic and gradually gets more metallic then the chorus hits. This is a PERFECT pop-metal hybrid song. Nice little metallic explosion after the first chorus. Great song and fits perfectly after the intermission track.

| HEART |- SMASH. Another intermission track. This time its a speech over a simple calming ambient acoustic instrumental with some very feint quiet electric guitar. Slowly starts to build up then explodes with the pop metal instrumentals we have been hearing this whole album. Best instrumental track by FAR.

DOWN THE RIVER- SMASH. Sounds weird at the start but picks up FAST and picks up where we left off. The vocal style sounds a little off, and the instrumental is much more acoustic focused. Not bad at all just different.

GIVE IT TIME- SMASH. Another slower track but sounds more like what we have been hearing up to this point. This one is 100% a ballad but really isn't needed nearly as much here. This song is pretty good just a little out of place.

| SIGHT |- Smash. Intermission track. This is getting a little old. This one is super short though, so cant complain but its been literally 2 songs since the last one. This one is solid but not nearly as good as the last one.

STUCK- SSMMMASSSHHH. FINALLY ANOTHER HEAVY METAL BANGER. This one has a feature from Sinizter, and his screaming compliments Jonny's cleans well but not as good as some of the early features. Honestly I'm not a fan of his clean verse but it doesnt take away too much. The song is solid but doesn't compare to some of the others on here.

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE- SMASH. Super slow but melodic start. THEN SCREAMING BREAKDOWN EXPLOSION. For some reason the mixing on this song makes it super quiet, which really takes away from it. Then it fades back into a slow melodic track. The song isn't bad but the mixing is TERRIBLE. This song is so quiet i had to keep turning the volume up and down depending on the section of the song. Only complaint though. Weird ass techno trap section near the end.

| SOUND |- Smash. Closing with the last of these intermission tracks. This one has a decent electronic instrumental behind the rest of the speech. Then it picks up a bit with a loud metal section with Jonny repeating the choruses of the previous 5 songs. Cool closing song.

This album is great. Is it album of the year? No, because Knocked Loose exists (coming soon I promise). But any other year this would be a strong contender. This album definitely has its ups and downs, but the downs are far from bad.

Sorry for the long wait, I was waiting for this album then got busy as soon as it did. I promise we will have more reviews in the coming weeks however, including the Knocked Loose review. I've been putting it off because that album is extremely hard to review. The reasons for that though are because the songs all sound very similar and are all fucking INCREDIBLE. With that though thanks for reading, and please leave feedback/ recommendations for future reviews.

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