Carnal Forge are a Swedish band, best classified as
thrash metal
Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...
with some
melodic death metal
Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...
influences.
Their name originates from a song on
Carcass
Carcass or Carcase (both pronounced ) may refer to:
* Dressed carcass, the body of a livestock animal ready for butchery, after removal of skin, visceral organs, head, feet etc.
*Carrion, the decaying dead body of an animal or human being, also c ...
's album ''
Heartwork
''Heartwork'' is the fourth studio album by English extreme metal band Carcass. The album was released in the UK by Earache Records on 18 October 1993, and in the United States on 11 January 1994 by Columbia Records, making it the band's only m ...
''.
History
Carnel Forge was founded in
Sala in 1997 by Jari Kuusisto and Stefan Westerberg as a side project to their band In Thy Dreams.
They released their debut album ''Who's Gonna Burn (War Music)'' in 1998, then signed with
Century Media Records
Century Media Records is a German heavy metal record label with offices in Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million.
Background
Century Media was founded by R ...
in 2000 and recorded ''
Firedemon'' (2000) and ''
Please... Die!'' (2001).
In 2000, guitarist Johan Magnusson left and bassist Petri Kuusisto took his place.
Lars Lindén replaced Petri on bass and made his debut at the 2000 Decibel Festival in
Bengtsfors
Bengtsfors () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Bengtsfors Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 3,080 inhabitants in 2010. Bengtsfors Church is in Bengtsfors.
References
Populated places in Bengts ...
, Sweden and at the
Wacken Open Air
Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a Heavy metal music, heavy metal music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all ...
Festival in
Wacken, Germany. Around this time, the band went on tour across Europe with
The Haunted and
Nile
The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...
. The releases of ''
The More You Suffer'' (2003) and ''
Aren't You Dead Yet?'' (2004) came just prior to the departure of vocalist
Jonas Kjellgren
Jonas Kjellgren (born 4 July 1977) is a Swedish musician and producer, now residing in Grangärde. He has been lead vocalist for Carnal Forge and Dellamorte, played guitar for Centinex, and played bass for October Tide. He is most famous for ...
just prior to the band's European tour with
Pro-Pain
Pro-Pain is an American heavy metal band based in New York City, formed in 1991 by vocalist and bassist Gary Meskil and drummer Dan Richardson, both former members of Crumbsuckers.Strong, Martin C. (2001) ''The Great Metal Discography'', MOJO ...
.
Jens C. Mortensen was chosen as their new vocalist in a matter of days.
In addition to Europe, the band also toured the USA and Japan and played a number of festivals, including the
Sweden Rock Festival
Sweden Rock Festival is a rock festival outside the town of Sölvesborg in Blekinge in southern Sweden. The festival offers the best possible mix of classic rock, hard rock, metal, blues and related genres.
The first version of the festival, k ...
, Metal Meltdown (USA),
Fury Fest, Pressure Festival (Germany), Kaltenbach Open Air (Austria)
Summer Breeze Open Air
Summer Breeze Open Air is an annual German heavy metal music festival. It was first held in 1997. The festival had been held in Abtsgmünd until 2006 when it was moved to its new location of Dinkelsbühl, Bavaria. The festival draws around 40,00 ...
, and Fuck the Commerce (Germany). They released a 2004 DVD "Destroy Live" of concerts in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
,
Kraków
, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
, and
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
. In January 2007, the band signed to
Candlelight Records
Candlelight Records is a British record label based in London, founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bass guitarist Lee Barrett in 1993. The record label originally specialized in black metal, but quickly expanded to various other forms of hea ...
and released the album ''
Testify for My Victims'' later that year.
Owe Lingvall, who the band had worked with before on previous music videos, directed the videos for "Burning Eden" and "Numb (The Dead)," both of which were filmed in
Umeå, Sweden.
In November 2007, Mortensen and Jari left the band because they were "fed up with the music industry;" other Carnal Forge members were grappling with personal problems too.
Dino Medanhodzic (guitar) of Construcdead and Peter Tuthill (vocals) of Soulbreach were brought in to replace them.
In September 2009, they released their next album's first single, "Blood War," and filmed the music video the next month.
It was edited by Tuthill and mixed by Medanhodzic, then released the following summer.
Not long after, in January 2010, Westerberg left the band and was replaced by Chris Barkensjö. In 2011, Lindén announced the band would be taking an indefinite hiatus for personal reasons and because they "weren't having much fun anymore." They reunited in 2013; Mortensen and Jari returned and Lawrence Dinamarca joined on drums. They released a single, "When All Else Fails," in 2014.
Mortensen became a father and withdrew from the band again in 2015 while recording their next album.
He was replaced by Tommie Wahlberg.
In 2018, after a 12-year hiatus, Carnal Forge released ''Gun to Mouth Salvation'', its seventh album, with ViciSolum Production.
Jari departed again in January 2022.
Band members
Current members
* Petri Kuusisto – lead guitar ; rhythm guitar
* Tommie Wahlberg – vocals
Former members
* Stefan Westerberg – drums
* Jari Kuusisto – rhythm guitar
*
Jonas Kjellgren
Jonas Kjellgren (born 4 July 1977) is a Swedish musician and producer, now residing in Grangärde. He has been lead vocalist for Carnal Forge and Dellamorte, played guitar for Centinex, and played bass for October Tide. He is most famous for ...
– vocals
* Johan Magnusson – guitars
* Dennis Vestman – bass
* Lars Lindén – bass
* Jens C. Mortensen – vocals
* Peter Tuthill – vocals
* Dino Medanhodzic – guitar
* Chris Barkensjö – drums
* Lawrence Dinamarca – drums
Timeline
Discography
Videography
References
External links
*
Carnal Forge at Encyclopaedia MetallumCarnal Forge at YouTubeCarnal Forgeat
Relapse Records
Relapse Records is an American independent record label based in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania. It was founded by Matthew F. Jacobson in 1990. The label features many grindcore, death metal, metalcore and sludge metal artists.
History
The ...
*
AllMusic band entry
AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the datab ...
{{Authority control
Swedish musical quartets
Swedish musical quintets
Swedish thrash metal musical groups
Swedish melodic death metal musical groups
Musical groups established in 1997
Candlelight Records artists
Musical groups from Västmanland County
Sala, Sweden