Bonecarver – Evil (Review)

Bonecarver are a Spanish death metal band and this is their debut album.

Evil features 39 minutes of modern brutality. The band, (previously known as Cannibal Grandpa), have a style that encapsulates elements of slam and deathcore, but primarily consists of a modern brand of brutal death metal that has simply absorbed these other strains of heaviness into itself, along with a few other elements as we’ll see.

Bonecarver know heaviness, and know how to wield it. Whether this be via huge downtempo breakdowns or ultra-savage blast beats, Bonecarver crush, maim, and destroy with the ease of professional killers.

The songs are well-written slabs of aggression, and the band have a clear passion for their work. Bonecarver’s core brutality is augmented by deathcore dynamics that allow the songs to have greater energy and agility than many simple brutal death metal acts manage to achieve. The slam aspects of the music add a crushingly heavy side that is as infectious as it is destructive. This is then further enhanced by a suite of additional creative flourishes that occasionally appear – examples include sections of melodic death metal, serrated blackened riffs, evocative keyboard highlights, richly colourful solos, etc. Bonecarver appear to be quite talented at what they do.

In a similar vein to the music, the vocals are more diverse than those of your average death metal band. The singer screams, growls, shouts, grunts, belches, and pig squeals with the best of them, and his performance is exactly what it should be for an album like this. Top work.

The end result of Bonecarver’s efforts is a collection of songs that has a lot going for it, and Evil is an extremely enjoyable album because of it. Fans of high-speed ferocity will take to it readily, deathcore fans will appreciate its memorable song compositions, slam fans will be crushed in the best of ways, and anyone into modern death metal will relish discovering what Bonecarver have delivered here.

There’s a whole lot to like on Evil. For fans of modern brutality, this is some essential listening.