If you look back at the state of deathcore in 2007 compared to where it is in 2017, you’ll notice a few different themes. Many of the more prominent bands of that era aren’t around anymore (TTEOTD, Underneath The Gun, Suffokate), are still around but radically changed their sound for better or for worse (Bring Me The Horizon, Whitechapel, Job For A Cowboy, Suicide Silence), or are still flying the metaphorical flag of the genre. Despised Icon and Carnifex in particular fit this category (even though the former isn’t really deathcore to some people) quite well, and the latter continues to get better with each album – culminating in 2016’s career highwater mark Slow Death. Boasting the highest first-week chart numbers of Carnifex’s career to date, it’s an album that revels in incredible musicianship as much as it does continuously evolving songwriting.
It even helped land the band a spot on the Vans Warped Tour this year, and though it just ended, it’s clear that the best is yet to come for Carnifex. I caught up with vocalist Scott Ian Lewis to discuss the band’s early days, their continuous musical evolution, and what it was like soldiering on despite being torn apart on tour by Obituary fans. Check it out below.
Potato Hate Explosion is a one-man cybergrind/metalcore/spudcore hybrid from Missouri. New album “Flowerviolence” out now.
