Carnivore
Retaliation

THE REVIEW

Currently, Peter Steele is known as a rock star, the singer of Type O Negative, boasting a remarkable success, particularly in the nineties (when it was still credible). His depressed-macho attitude has been his calling card for years, and his distinctive low and peculiar voice turned him into a wealthy and famous man.

But before 1991, the year Type O Negative debuted with the album "Slow Deep And Hard," Peter Steele was the mind behind another band: Carnivore. 'Retaliation' is their second album. This New York band is characterized by raw sounds, dark guitars, a pounding drum that in its time did not disdain to occasionally include the primordial blast beat and an irate voice.

All this is included in an album recorded in a semi-amateur manner, full of performance errors and small naiveties. The way I see it, this doesn't mean trash; on the contrary, I like the album. It's known that in 1987 (the year of the album's release), it didn't matter so much if you were not a perfectionist musician, what mattered was explaining the "concept" well and that it was seasoned with pure extremism. Carnivore was not excellent in technique, but the message they conveyed was strong and clear. Their lyrics can be disturbing for many people; there are no half words. They were young and, on top of that, it was Peter Steele who wrote the lyrics, so you can imagine how much sexism, racism, and violent messages can be described in their songs.

It starts with "Jack Daniel’s and Pizza," a non-musical track, just sounds of a guy vomiting, moving on to the other eleven tracks this time all played with an extreme attitude between Thrash Metal and Hardcore. Among the most famous tracks, you can find "Angry Neurotic Catholics" or "Ground Zero Brooklyn".

If you're not bothered by these not entirely "civil" themes and you particularly love fast and noisy music, you can easily purchase the album. But if you don't fit the description just mentioned, stay away from this record.