Review by Carl on October 27, 2024.

In my opinion, Holland's brutal death metal squadron Korpse has set out quite the milestone with their "Unethical" release from 2016, showing the competition how it's supposed to be done right. The spirit of that album is also present in this one, the first full-length outing of Korpse guitarist Floor van Kuijk, going at it on his own. So how does that pan out, one might wonder? Pretty damn well, actually.

it is of course to be expected that "Process of Disorderly Conduct" shows quite some resemblance to Floor's main venture Korpse. The brutal down-tuned riffing, the pulverizing slams, and the guttural vocalizations are all present as expected while being poured into bludgeoning tracks going from blast beat ferocity to double kick stomp and chugging staccato slam parts while being fleshed out by the tight playing of this project's main protagonist. It all goes in smoothly, but at the same time, I also have the feeling that Carnifloor is a kind of a device to do something productive with the rejected parts for Korpse. It has somewhat of this 'Korpse light' vibe going on. While thoroughly punishing in both sound and execution, this album comes across as somewhat less thought out than an album as "Unethical" turned out. Does this make this album a bad effort, you might ask? Well no, certainly not. This album delivers oodles of stomp and slamming delight throughout, it's just noticeable that this is the work of only one man, whereas "Unethical" was a group effort, with more angles of expertise involved, and that's where the difference lies, I think.

Indeed this has the spirit of Floor's main band present, but there are also some subtle differences there too. Listening to this a couple of times in a row, one starts to notice that the guitar playing adds a bit of an old-school vibe to the riffing. Besides the usual strike of crushing riffing and pinch harmonics, there is a certain darker style of guitar playing incorporated into the mix, winking back at the older, harsher death metal bands from the past such as Sinister, Incantation, Barnes era Cannibal Corpse and of course Suffocation. Just check out the riffs in a track like "Cannibalistic Masturbation" and the album closer "Regenerate", and you'll definitely hear that 90's vibe churning underneath the pulsing brutality on offer, which is a pretty valuable addition to the crushing sound presented here.

As is usually the case with me, it's not all cuteness, candy, and puking puppies here, because there are some things that have me doing a spat of frowning here and there. There is the typical programmed clinical drums (that could've sounded way worse, really), but there are also quite a lot of bass drops present here, and I'm well aware that those have become kind of a fixture in the world of slamming brutal death, but did these have to be so numerous? It gave me a serious drinking game vibe. Whenever one drops, you take a shot, that kinda thing. Mind you, it isn't unbearable, but I get this 'here goes one again' vibe throughout, but I'll let the remorseless battering music at play wash away that particular sorrow.

I can totally recommend "Process of Disorderly Conduct" to all who are into the slamming death metal style because I know for a fact that you can do a whole, WHOLE lot worse than Floor and his solo venture. It combines great playing and tight execution with all the stuff you want to hear on an album in the style, while even adding some subtle surprise moves into the mix. If you like this sort of brutality and Korpse in particular, you won't go wrong with Carnifloor.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Felix on April 11, 2023.

Salt is known to be an indispensable ingredient in every kitchen. Every beginner cook recognises it as a pillar of his spices and soon makes a covenant with it. Balmog has also realized this. To be honest, Covenants Of Salt is more or less the identical twin of Pillars Of Salt. To put it this way: the difference in length (18:26 to 18:23 minutes) is greater than that in the musical approach. If someone now asks what this shit is all about and whether Covenants... isn't superfluous, we should send him to Angus Young (because unfortunately the Ramones are all dead) and he'll explain the basics to him again.

Balmog (and with them the audience) wallow in a mixed bag of emotions during the whole time of their salt-sequel. Melancholy and despair, fury and impulsiveness go hand in hand. They are complementing and contrasting each other in an absolutely coherent manner. Despite the remarkable number of breaks and the changes in atmosphere, Covenants… does not sound bulky or overloaded in any way. Once again, the Spanish quartet has found a very resilient balance between the differences between the individual currents that characterize their music. Abysmally deep to blatantly aggressive, the demonic harmonies cut into the listener's brain and even if it all seems as if Pillars... has peeled itself out of its skin, it never gets tiring at any second. Soon no one asks about the necessity of the second part, but only about the timing of the appearance of the third section.

Needless to say: the production does not give reason to any complaint. There is pressure, there is transparency, there is heaviness. Progression and psychedelia may play a role in Balmog’s cosmos, but they cannot usurp the throne where metal sits above all. The efficient riffing or, to go one step further, the entire guitar work speaks a clear language, even though weird synthesizers want to take us into another dimension from time to time. In a nutshell: Covenants Of Salt is a worthy second part and a place where sugar totally fails. Should part three also succeed as well, I suggest "Triumph of Salt" as the title.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Felix on April 11, 2023.

Salt is known to be an indispensable ingredient in every kitchen. Every beginner cook recognises it as a pillar of his spices and soon makes a covenant with it. Balmog has also realized this. To be honest, Covenants Of Salt is more or less the identical twin of Pillars Of Salt. To put it this way: the difference in length (18:26 to 18:23 minutes) is greater than that in the musical approach. If someone now asks what this shit is all about and whether Covenants... isn't superfluous, we should send him to Angus Young (because unfortunately the Ramones are all dead) and he'll explain the basics to him again.

Balmog (and with them the audience) wallow in a mixed bag of emotions during the whole time of their salt-sequel. Melancholy and despair, fury and impulsiveness go hand in hand. They are complementing and contrasting each other in an absolutely coherent manner. Despite the remarkable number of breaks and the changes in atmosphere, Covenants… does not sound bulky or overloaded in any way. Once again, the Spanish quartet has found a very resilient balance between the differences between the individual currents that characterize their music. Abysmally deep to blatantly aggressive, the demonic harmonies cut into the listener's brain and even if it all seems as if Pillars... has peeled itself out of its skin, it never gets tiring at any second. Soon no one asks about the necessity of the second part, but only about the timing of the appearance of the third section.

Needless to say: the production does not give reason to any complaint. There is pressure, there is transparency, there is heaviness. Progression and psychedelia may play a role in Balmog’s cosmos, but they cannot usurp the throne where metal sits above all. The efficient riffing or, to go one step further, the entire guitar work speaks a clear language, even though weird synthesizers want to take us into another dimension from time to time. In a nutshell: Covenants Of Salt is a worthy second part and a place where sugar totally fails. Should part three also succeed as well, I suggest "Triumph of Salt" as the title.

Rating: 8 out of 10