Pressure Pleasure

Frank Zappa once asked his audience: "Does humour belong in music?" I believe this is a very valid question. Often, rock (and metal) musicians take their work a bit too seriously and a healthy dose of sarcasm and comedy somehow brings out a new perspective to art. On the other hand, jokes do tend to become as stale as last years Pringles if it's overdone or poorly executed. It is my opinion that, when you incorporate humour as an essential part of your music, it's a fine line you're walking and should be combined with fine musicianship and original ideas.

The Dutch death metal outfit Carnal Leftovers have always proclaimed not to take themselves too seriously. "Putting the 'Fun' back into 'funeral'" has been their credo since day one. Their demo "Fluffy Little Teddybears" (2003) certainly was testimonial to this statement, but lacked in tight musicianship and original ideas. Still, their live performances were 100% high octane and their new material held a promise of better things to come. Not in the least because of freshly acquired members Wilfred Heerspink on guitar and Matthieu Nijboer on bass, who gave the band a renewed melodic depth.

Two years after their debut, Carnal Leftovers unleashed their EP "Pressure Pleasure" upon the dutch death metal underground. And yes, this time around the band has managed to tighten up their playing, come up with some fresh approaches musically (instead of ripping off Entombed or Carcass whenever they had the chance) but maintain their trademark tongue-in-cheek mentality.
Four new tracks were recorded for "Pressure Pleasure", and every one of them stands the test of the discriminatory old school death metal fan. "Lactose Intolerance" blasts of furiously with vocalist Matteman spitting out his growls on the dangers of milk allergy. There's riffing here that would suit any Cannibal Corpse release and a great breakdown to a six eigths groove in the middle. Easily my favorite track on the EP.
Another song that stands out is "The Green Solution". Carcass explored the idea of using bodies as fertilizer ("Inpropagation"), but it's still quite something to discover an environmentally friendly death metal song. Again, it's Cannibal Corpse/Hypocrisy emporyum, but Carnal Leftovers does a very decent job to combine sheer brutality with typical 90's death grooves.

Overall, this album has a great and balanced production, fine musicianship (notably Misha's drumming, who combine um-tah and blastbeats with excellent precision) and especially Michel Mattemans' vocals that simply are top notch. Think Corpsegrinder Fischer and Mike DiSalvo in the mix.
In short, if you like your death metal the 90's Swedish/US style and care for a joke or two (or twenty), you will not be dissapointed by "Pressure Pleasure". Carnal Leftovers is definitly one of Hollands' best kept death metal secrets and should be wrecking a stage near you if there's any justice in this world.