Hello Metalheads! This is John back with another early album review! I had the pleasure of listening to Slay Utterly by Carrion Vael which comes out on January 16, 2026. These melodic death metal veterans have been churning out music like nobodies business and giving us new music every two years like clockwork.
For their sixth album Carrion Vael keep with their trademark sound: melodic death metal with technical aspects littered through all of their music. Slay Utterly starts off with a track that encompasses their sound perfectly called 19(fucking)78. This track starts off with a pummeling, super groovy riff that instantly punches listeners right in the face. 19(fucking)78 is melodic, fast, technical and features some clean singing which their vocalist does a nice job with. Travis has some of the best high shrieking vocals I have heard, his lows are brutal but not overly deep and like I said, his clean singing is very nice!
One aspect of Carrion Vael I just have to mention is the stories that they tell in every track! This album specifically dives into serial killers and the things that they did. Another band that comes to mind that touched on subjects like this is The Black Dahlia Murder and I can hear an awful lot of influence from them. But Vael puts their own spin on a lot of mechanics and aspects of prior melodic and technical bands that have come before them.
I think my favorite track on this album is 40 Echoes Upon The Parolor! The eerie and spooky singing and ambience of the chorus is my favorite part of the track. That combined with the absolute break-neck speed of 2/3 of the track just makes the whole thing absurdly good! The solo section is slowed down just a bit but still equally as headbangable. Ryan Kuder gets to show off his shredding really well on this track. Ryan graciously agreed to answer some questions, I will have that coming out in a few days!
So overall, I would give Slay Utterly a 9.5/10! It is one HELL of a way to start of this years music for me personally. Carrion Vael have been and certainly been a band that I will keep listening to and be excited for new music! As always don’t forget to stream, listen and bury their music! Links will be below!
https://www.facebook.com/share/1AsjBTn7Lu/?mibextid=wwXIfr
https://youtube.com/@carrionvael?si=W2g3x1agjKlR22j6
https://www.instagram.com/carrionvael/?hl=en
https://open.spotify.com/artist/6FUd4s6HqtYH5qDLxjvQ7n
https://music.apple.com/us/album/slay-utterly/1844930327
https://uniqueleaderrecords.bandcamp.com/album/slay-utterly
Courtesy of technicalmusicreview.com.
