In 2022, Nothing More released their album Spirits, and carried out a plethora of tours named after it across the world in the next year and a half. With their newest release CARNAL, Nothing More pushed themselves enough to break the “Spirits” ties, but not beyond the horizon to break out of the shadow from that fantastic album.
With the release of singles, in order: “If It Doesn’t Hurt At All”, “Angel Song ft. David Draiman”, and “House on Sand ft. Eric V. from I Prevail” these set up the listener with a high expectation for the album. With the release of the fifteen song track list, you are met with five, minute long interludes, multiple applications of EDM style beats, and one track that pushed the boundaries for the band.
One track shocked me the most, and it was “Stuck ft. Sinizter”. It was unlike anything Nothing More has put out, deep screams coming from both lead Johnny Hawkins, and Sinizter as well as heavy hitting guitar riffs. It was refreshing for the album, but a shame that it landed at number thirteen on the track list and was followed by the final song that was not heavy or light, and ended abruptly with a little over a minute instrumental, followed by a closing interlude.
I believe that one downfall for this album was the singles chosen for release, as stated before, they set the bar very high. Which made it hard for me to accept the rest of the album as it did not meet the expectations garnered by the singles. You will find the same gang vocals found in all their albums before, and songs that command crowd participation. Undoubtedly, it again will be an album that will perform well live.
Rating: 7.0/10.0
