Carpathian Forest - Morbid Fascination of Death
Much like their previous album (I hear both were recorded around the same time but released almost a year apart), Morbid Fascination of Death sounds a lot like Celtic Frost. The whole thing just reeks of Frost, down to the production. The guitar tone has that familiar sound to it and the only other place I’ve heard it was on Morbid Tales. Carpathian Forest isn’t a direct Frost clone, however. There are other elements that play with the traditional Frost sound though none of it really changes the fact that you can tell who the most glaring influence is. There is a bit more experimentation here and there on Morbid Fascination of Death, but on the whole, if you liked the stuff this band has done since Black Shining Leather, you’ll probably enjoy this album too. The standout stuff for me is the darker, more atmospheric stuff they do towards the end. Track 7, “A World of Bones,” in particular struck me as being able to capture a feeling of darkness, nihilism and a touch of pure evil somewhere inside it. The music is slower, and the atmosphere is heavier. Unfortunately, they immediately throw off the vibe by making the next song (“Carpathian Forest”) sound so much like Sodom that you’d swear that Tom Angelripper was guesting on the album. They then go back to the dark, atmospheric stuff with “Cold Comfort” (a track that features a saxophone, of all things…). As a collection of songs, this is quite good. As a full album, however, these guys still have a ways to go before they can come up with a “complete” album - one that actually goes somewhere instead of being just a collection of tunes. They seem to be getting closer but when you start to build an atmosphere, you want to continue with that vibe rather than throw a song so completely opposite it right afterward. If there is any one fatal flaw in this album, that’s it.
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