Carnal Forge are a Swedish thrash metal band with melodic death metal influences. They are named after a song on Carcass's album Heartwork.
History Jari Kuusisto and Stefan Westerberg formed Carnal Forge in Sala in 1997 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 in 2000 and recorded Firedemon (2000) and Please... Die! (2001).
In 2000, guitarist Johan Magnusson left and bassist Petri Kuusisto replaced him. Lars Lindén replaced Petri on bass and debuted at the 2000 Decibel Festival in Bengtsfors, Sweden, and at the Wacken Open Air Festival in Wacken, Germany. Around that time, the toured Europe with The Haunted and Nile. The More You Suffer (2003) and Aren't You Dead Yet? (2004) were released before vocalist Jonas Kjellgren's departure prior to the band's European tour with Pro-Pain. Singer Jens C. Mortensen joined the band in a matter of days.
In addition to Europe, the band toured the USA and Japan, and played a number of festivals, including the Sweden Rock Festival, Metal Meltdown (USA), Fury Fest, Pressure Festival (Germany), Kaltenbach Open Air (Austria) Summer Breeze Open Air, and Fuck the Commerce (Germany). They released the 2004 DVD "Destroy Live" of concerts in New York City, Kraków, and Tokyo. In January 2007, the band signed to Candlelight Records 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 , bass Tommie Wahlberg – vocals
Former members Stefan Westerberg – drums Jari Kuusisto – rhythm guitar Jonas Kjellgren – 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 Title Release date Label Sweet Bride 1997 Demo Who's Gonna Burn 22 September 1998 WAR Music/Relapse Records Firedemon 14 April 2000 Century Media Please... Die! 22 October 2001 Century Media The More You Suffer 22 April 2003 Century Media Aren't You Dead Yet? 21 June 2004 Century Media Testify for My Victims 21 May 2007 Candlelight Records Gun to Mouth Salvation 25 January 2019 ViciSolum Productions
Videography Title Release date Label Destroy Live 2004 Metal Mind Productions
References
External links
Carnal Forge at Encyclopaedia Metallum Carnal Forge at YouTube Carnal Forge at Relapse Records [ AllMusic band entry]