I’m kind of ashamed at how long it took me to acknowledge and then finally listen to Carnivore. This came about when Damian from Fucked Up asked me if I liked Carnivore when he found up I grew up in Bensonhurst. I told him Pete Steele and Type O Negative kind of left a really bad taste in my mouth as a kid so I just never had any interest in hunting down and checking out Carnivore. Damain said that “was a shame”. Man was he ever right, what a mistake I had been making fo so long! Depriving myself of this sheer metal paradise, what a fool I had been!

Those of you like me who still solely associate Pete Steele with Type O Negative, and comical melodramatic Goth Metal, leave all of that at the door because Carnivore is NY Thrash of the highest order! Like most NY thrash bands Carnivore mixes equal parts Metal with Hardcore, but the real defining element for me is that they sneak so much Doom Metal into their songs. Songs will go on for blistering speeds and then seamlessly come to a grinding halt and drop to a deep sludgy pace as they build back up tension for another hard pounding Thrash assault.

Retaliation is Carnivore’s second and final album before disbanding. It’s political, tongue in cheek and just overall a brutal album! At the office whileit was on Brian at onepoint asked “If this was an early Fucked Up album?”. Until he said that I didn’t realize the influence nor how much of a mark Carnivore had left on Hardcore and Thrash!

Carnivore – Retaliation

- My Pal the Crook